Tánaiste Mary Harney has admitted splits in coalition policy and warned of the need for reforms of aviation and healthcare services if the Government is to recover from its devastating election defeat.

The Government today applied further pressure on Sinn Fein to force action from their IRA allies to advance the Northern Ireland peace process.

The Tanaiste and leader of the Progressive Democrat party, Mary Harney, has described the publication of the report into holders of Ansbacher accounts as a damning insight into the world of conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion.

The Government’s Attorney General, Michael McDowell, has been elected to the newly created post of party president of the Progressive Democrat party.

The Tainaiste, Mary Harney, says that she and her colleagues within the Progressive Democrat Party will hold a meeting this week to discuss the up-coming abortion referendum.

The death has taken place in Tuam, Co Galway, of Councillor Joe Burke, a prominent member of the Progressive Democrat Party in Connacht.

The Tanaiste, Mary Harney, will face a challenge to her leadership of the Progressive Democrat party this afternoon.