This is a time when those in the farming community need to support each other

Permits for drink driving in rural areas should be agreed to ease rural isolation and keep pubs open, according to Kerry TD Danny Healy-Rae, who used his leaders questions in the Dáil to complain about strict drink-driving rules yesterday.

The Government has defended the arrangements of a public meeting on climate change, despite complaints that the public was not told where or when it was taking place.

When thinking about ways in which the Government’s climate action plan could be publicised and discussed by all who will be affected by it, the environment ministry had an inspired idea: An old-fashioned town hall meeting.

A Government ‘town hall’ meeting in Cork to promote its climate action plan was invitation-only and was not publicised in advance.

Elderly people are being warned not to answer their door to someone they do not recognise.

The German Sparkassen public banking system is regarded as a major success, although it could be argued that the cultural and political mores of the Germans might not be easily replicated in this country.

Carers who provide home help to elderly people should be required to have a minimum level of training.

Increased corporation tax revenues should be used to fund a new €100m Fair Deal scheme for home care, a report has recommended.

A simpler CAP is the aim of a raft of EU changes which came into force this week.

Fighting rural migration and worrying levels of unemployment in towns and villages around the country must be a priority, newly promoted Rural Affairs Minister Michael Ring has been told.

A family terrorised in their home by a violent gang who savagely beat the father and threatened to kill the children during a late-night burglary are “free for the first time” since the ordeal after learning that their attackers will remain behind bars.

Irish Rural Link has said services in local communities are being diminished at a time when the Government has launched a number of initiatives aimed at rejuvenating those same towns and villages.

Passengers have been left without a bus service for the foreseeable future as unions begin an all-out strike from today.

Tens of thousands of commuters have been left stranded today as Bus Éireann workers stage an all-out indefinite strike.

The latest report card on the Government’s performance regarding children shows it to be a struggling student, writes Noel Baker.

The Government has been forced to defend plans to rejuvenate rural towns and villages after the opposition claimed the promised €60m cash injection will amount to just €100,000 per community.

Bus Éireann and trade unions were on a collision course last night after workers criticised immediate cost-cutting measures introduced by the state-owned company, which includes a ban on unrostered overtime and an embargo on recruitment.

More than a third of charities have been adversely affected by recent controversies that have hit the sector, with many claiming donations have fallen as a result.

A working group to transform post offices into “social hubs” offering numerous community, financial, and retail services has been established.

Fencing at the centre of a long-running dispute between some landowners on Fenit Island, Co Kerry, and local people, is not exempted from requiring planning permission, An Bord Pleanála has ruled.

VISIONS. The modern ones relating to rural Ireland started with Éamon de Valera, when in 1943 in a St Patrick’s day radio address he asserted in what is known as the ‘comely maidens speech’ (wildly missquoted).

Any political party which gains power in the next general election must ensure its policies undergo strict social and economic tests to examine what impact they will have on rural areas left “devastated” by the recession.

People living near certain bus routes have been told to "use it or lose it", with Bus Éireann warning that some services may be axed because they are not economically viable.

The possibility of some bus routes being curtailed or scrapped has been described as “another nail in the coffin” of rural Ireland by campaigners.

The Fine Gael-Labour coalition and Fianna Fáil have begun an open war for rural votes in the next general election, after launching separate policy documents promising a series of long-delayed measures within hours of each other.

The Irish Farmers’ Association gave the thumbs up to budget measures aimed at encouraging land leasing, but opposition parties and lobby groups claim the Government had failed rural communities.

Irish Rural Link has demanded that the Government prioritise fibre-optic broadband to hundreds of thousands of homes and provide exact figures as to the funding that will be required.

Six of Ireland’s most vital charities have urged the Government to put restoration of essential social services ahead of any plans to cut taxes in the upcoming budget.

Charities are demanding that the Government should focus more on spending money on cash-strapped public services rather than tax cuts.