Taoiseach Enda Kenny has ruled himself out leading Fine Gael into the next decade and rejected comments by chief whip Paul Kehoe that he would seek a third term as Taoiseach.

For a government that promised to put an end to the cronyism and stroke politics which brought Irish politics into disrepute, the performance of the Fine Gael–Labour Coalition in this regard has been truly abysmal.

A European parliament committee has written to Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney seeking an explanation for why his department is continuing to ignore a critical ombudsman’s report.

The Fine Gael/Labour Coalition has invested so much of its political capital in getting a better deal from the European Central Bank on the Anglo Irish Bank promissory notes that unless it succeeds in a transparent way its survival will come into question.

TAOISEACH Enda Kenny said Irish people would not respond to bribes when voting on the forthcoming fiscal treaty, but what would he call the promise of access to the ESM bailout fund if a yes vote is returned — or can that assurance be, more properly, called blackmail?