The first eight candidates to run for Renua Ireland in the upcoming general election have been confirmed.

Conditions in child detention facilities and how juveniles are treated in the justice system will be addressed, newly appointed Minister for Children Charlie Flanagan has pledged.

Fianna Fáil is accusing the Government of an unfair campaign of targeting the elderly for cutbacks.

Rural dwellers living in areas that have never been flooded are being blacklisted by insurance companies, even if they have never or rarely made a claim.

Coolderry forward Cathal Parlon has praised his side's collective work ethic as one of the main reasons why the small Offaly club are contesting their first ever AIB All-Ireland Club Senior Hurling final this St. Patrick's Day.

The wait for rural development grants in Gaeltacht areas continues, following the liquidation last September of Meitheal Forbartha na Gaeltachta (MFG).

Fine Gael TD Charlie Flanagan is calling on Bishop John Magee to answer questions raised by the Cloyne report in front of the Justice Committee.

I am proud and grateful to have served with... my party colleagues

A post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out today on the body of a man found shot dead in the first gangland-style killing of the year.

Ireland will be condemned to a frozen economy if the State’s new ’bad bank’ isn’t set up, Brian Cowen warned today.

ONE of Ireland’s most eligible bachelors tied the knot at the weekend when he married his long-term sweetheart.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen will announce his junior ministers today amid speculation he will jettison several veterans in favour of up-and-coming TDs.

Brian Cowen is set to be elected as the new Taoiseach in the Dáil this afternoon following Bertie Ahern's formal resignation from the job yesterday.

The Progressive Democrats' national executive has decided not to choose a new leader for the party for at least another three months.

Fianna Fáil and the Green Party are reportedly considering a transfer pact for the upcoming Seanad elections.

Former Laois-Offaly TD Tom Parlon is being hotly tipped as the new leader of the Progressive Democrats this morning.

The second count in Laois-Offaly has failed to elect another candidate.

LIVE exports caused the first agriculture policy row in what is likely to be the closest of general election races.

Progressive Democrat TD Tom Parlon claimed today that he had strong support to take over as party leader following Tánaiste Mary Harney’s sudden resignation.

People who abuse or threaten nurses or doctors in hospitals across the country should face fines of up to €1,000, a Government TD claimed today.

Macho Mayo Man. I want to be a Macho Mayo Man. The testosterone levels were high among the Blueshirts in The West at the weekend, resulting in a peculiar odour in the packed auditorium for Enda Kenny’s triumphant match on his near-enough-to-home turf.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern will today try to allay Fianna Fail backbenchers’ fears about economic cutbacks and also seek their active support in the upcoming Nice referendum campaign.

The sixth count has yielded a final declaration of the five seats that will be filled for the next Dail, and contrary to the pundits, it’s Fine Gael who lost out to Tom Parlon and not Fianna Fail as was widely predicted.