It’s a telling sign of the Government’s difficulty in getting to grips with matters that a minor clerical error has placed the Taoiseach at the centre of renewed controversy just a week from polling day.

A police authority will uncouple the close relationship between the justice minister and Garda commissioner, says Cormac O’Keeffe.

The Taoiseach didn’t kick Martin Callinan out the door, says Cormac O’Keeffe, he opened it and gave an encouraging cough.

The manner in which Taoiseach Enda Kenny confronted Martin Callinan on Monday suggests the Garda commissioner was “pushed” into resigning, according to a top legal expert.

The Government is under intense pressure to explain how details came to light that phone calls in and out of Garda stations were being recorded, after it emerged that the attorney general was informed of the practice last November.

Girls as young as four think they are cleverer, try harder and are better behaved than boys, according to new research out today.

Researchers say unskilled work has become much harder to find in recent years.