The independent Referendum Commission has urged people to register to vote ahead of today’s deadline to have a say in the May 25 referendum.

The independent Referendum Commission has urged people to register to vote ahead of today’s deadline to have a say in the May 25 referendum.

The maltreatment of two civilian analysts working in An Garda Síochána by senior uniformed management has been called a “national scandal” after they raised concern over homicide figures.

The Communications Minister has confirmed he will be signing off on legislation to reduce a levy fee by 50% for Independent Radio Stations next week.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has announced a referendum on abortion will take place in late May and that, if it is passed along with follow-up legislation, terminations will become “safe, legal, and rare”.

Thousands of health care workers could be set to strike on February 12 over pay conditions.

The High Court has ordered the extradition of a man to Northern Ireland in connection with the alleged murder of prison officer David Black.

Latest: A referendum on abortion rights will likely be held next summer, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.

Ireland should begin preparing for “peaceful reunification” to address the long-term consequence of Brexit, an Oireachtas committee has urged.

Tanya Ward says it is in the best interests of all children for Britain to stay within an EU-wide common child protection system.

Environment Minister Alan Kelly is facing fresh calls to publish the legal advice he says prevented him from adopting tough measures on the housing crisis, after experts challenged his claim such action would breach the Constitution.

Academics and sex workers have hit out at the Turn Off the Red Light campaign aimed at criminalising the buying of sex, with one published paper claiming the campaign “silences other perspectives on prostitution”.

Senior civil servants are to face calls to appear again before an Oireachtas committee after a second organisation seemed to distance itself from suggestions that it was “satisfied” with privacy provisions of the postcode to be launched this year.

Government inaction could lead to the closure of hundreds of post offices in the coming years, it has been claimed.

When Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan was asked how he could be 100% sure there was no rogue element in the gardaí who may have been involved in alleged bugging, Justice Minister Alan Shatter intervened, saying: “We are back into what I was talking about last night, the narrative where there is an assumption that there was surveillance.

The difference between last week’s big story — Pantigate — and this week’s — the alleged bugging of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission’s (GSOC) office — is about 100 yards.

The absence of special protection for the rights of children in the Constitution has been detrimental for many of the most vulnerable, writes Dr Aisling Parkes

By any standards, the decision of the 1st US Circuit Court of Appeal to order Boston College to hand over recordings of taped interviews with dozens of former IRA and UVF members, which were conducted on the basis of confidentiality, is bizarre and has significant implications for future academic and journalistic research (US tapes ‘may implicate IRA chiefs’ Irish Examiner, Jul 7).

The author of an ongoing report into symphysiotomy has said it is “very disappointing” that a group representing survivors of the procedure has opted not to take part in a consultation process.

A former psychiatric nurse is hoping a series of nationwide workshops can provide the Government with the necessary tools to reduce a needless average suicide death rate of 500.

Waterford County Council is to host a conference on mental health and suicide in a fresh bid to “help remove the stigma still attached to such conditions”.

Proposals for legislation protecting mortgage holders in danger of losing their homes has been shot down.

The Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn will appear before a Joint Oireachtas Committee on jobs, social protection and education today.

THE Vatican’s effort to deflect blame for the cover-up of child abuse in Cloyne has been dismissed by Justice Minister Alan Shatter.

LIAM HENNESSY, president of Athletics Ireland, refuted allegations that he said he had spoofed and lied on his initial appearance when he was called before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Sport, Community and Gaeltacht Affairs yesterday.

THE Government’s claim that a series of job creation opportunities exist that could re-ignite the economy fails completely to stand up to scrutiny, the opposition has said.

A CROSS-PARTY committee is to examine whether the Constitution should be changed to give TDs and senators greater powers of investigation.

DÁIL deputies and senators are proposing to form a new sub-committee to deal with child welfare issues.

FIANNA FÁIL TD Seán Ardagh is undergoing “very positive” treatment for illness and hopes to return to work in time for the next Dáil session, a political colleague has said.

THERE were fresh calls yesterday for the Government to name the date for a referendum on Children’s Rights, after Minister for Children Barry Andrews said a review of the wording was being carried out.

IRELAND suffered the third-biggest drop in construction output in Europe over the past 12 months, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office.

CHANGES to the Constitution which would enshrine the rights of the child would also cease discrimination on grounds of parents’ marital status and open the way for thousands of children in the care system to be adopted.

The Irish Bank Officials' Association (IBOA) has today welcomed calls for a comprehensive Oireachtas inquiry into what went wrong with the Irish banking system.

THE report of a review group set up by Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith in the aftermath of the dioxin scare almost a year ago will be available in the coming weeks.

TRADE levels between companies in the Republic and Northern Ireland have more than doubled in the past 15 years, a Dáil Committee heard yesterday.

LAND available for development around rural towns seems to dramatically exceed any potential demand in the foreseeable future, according to property investment adviser John Mulcahy, who addressed last Monday’s Joint Oireachtas Committee discussion with Finance Minister Brian Lenihan on draft National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) legislation.

The union representing Irish bank workers today welcomed the recent comments by UCD economist, Colm McCarthy, on the need for a public inquiry into what went wrong with the Irish banking system.

The Financial Regulator today rejected claims by a former internal auditor with AIB that the Regulator know about over-charging in the bank as far back as 2001.

A SPECIAL examiner is expected to be appointed “within the next two weeks” by the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board (CARB) to oversee the body’s planned investigation into the role played by leading accountancy firm Ernst & Young in the directors’ loans controversy at Anglo Irish Bank.

DUBLIN Bus and Bus Éireann have been accused of taking the “soft option” in cutting staff numbers and axing services in response to falling passenger numbers.

THE new chairman of the Cork Airport Authority has pulled out of a scheduled appearance before an Oireachtas hearing today.

I READ with interest Sinn Féin Senator Pearse Doherty’s letter headlined ‘Views sought for west master plan (September 15).

Many people attach blame to young women who are raped, but these girls don’t have the sexual maturity to negotiate such prejudices, writes Conor Ryan.