THE Government will support former Fine Gael taoiseach John Bruton and put his name forward for the post of EU President, Foreign Minister Micheál Martin confirmed during the two-day summit of EU leaders in Brussels last night.

Ghosts of budgets past, present and future make an appearance, says Political Reporter Áine Kerr.

NEW Labour leader Eamon Gilmore last night pledged to make the party relevant again as he admitted it was failing to connect with voters.

WHEN it comes to finding a replacement for Pat Rabbitte, the “most likely to succeed” list is not a long one, stretching at best to four candidates.

Distortion ... may have had very little impact on voters on this occasion, but such behaviour does pose a fundamental threat to democracy, because any leader who seeks to lead by misleading is not fit to lead.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern issued a statement yesterday complaining that he has been the victim of an unlawful and malicious smear campaign.

All the major political parties are tonight limbering up for the kick-off of the General Election campaign – on a soccer pitch.

Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has rejected Fine Gael claims about massive overcrowding at Cork Prison.

Tough-talking Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has declared his admiration for one of his fiercest critics in the Dáil.

Government and opposition TDs tonight traded insults across a stormy Dáil chamber as they debated a motion calling for an early General Election.

A €70 MILLION prison is to be built on Spike Island in Cork Harbour, Justice Minister Michael McDowell revealed yesterday.

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell contends that our legislative provisions for the granting of bail are very stringent. Our system of justice assumes that people charged with crimes are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

TWO Waterford TDs have clashed over plans to bring radiotherapy to the south-east, based at Waterford Regional Hospital.

ENTREPRENEUR Paschal Taggart has been highly successful at establishing warm political relationships stretching across the party boundaries.

The Labour Party will not raise personal taxes if it is part of the next Government, it was claimed today.

MUCH has been made of the excellent findings of the two Morris reports.

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell yesterday stood over his handling of the Donegal garda misconduct allegations despite the Government’s decision to issue a full solemn apology to the McBrearty family for their wrongful persecution by gardaí.

IT is downright disgraceful that the Garda Representative Association (GRA), the country’s main garda union, has remained tight-lipped in the face of damning criticism from the Morris Tribunal on corruption within the force in Donegal.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell was today branded a bully-boy by the Opposition despite promising a Government apology to families framed by corrupt gardaí in Co Donegal.

A man framed for a murder that never was today dismissed Justice Minister Michael McDowell’s decision not to contest his High Court action for harassment by Co Donegal gardaí.

MEMBERS of the McBrearty family last night accused the Minister for Justice of hypocrisy after he announced the State will apologise and concede liability in an expected multi-million euro claim to be heard later this month.

THERE are not too many bosses who would pay the staff more than themselves, but then Taoiseach Bertie Ahern is a rare one. In more senses than one.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern yesterday defended the employment of special and press advisers by the Government at a cost of €6 million a year.

UNIONISTS and republicans must not allow a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to strike a peace deal in the North slip away, the Rev Jesse Jackson said last night.

Unionists and republicans must not allow a once in a lifetime opportunity to strike a Northern Ireland peace deal slip away, the Reverend Jesse Jackson said tonight.

Civil rights campaigner the Rev Jesse Jackson will today take part in a Belfast awards ceremony recognising the city’s Filipino community following a spate of racial attacks in recent days.

United States civil rights campaigner the Rev Jesse Jackson is to pay tribute to the work of community activists in Belfast during a visit to the city next month.

FORMER Taoiseach John Bruton has been chosen to represent the EU in Washington, where it is hoped he will help rebuild the often difficult relationship between the two main western power blocs.

A new book on Austin Currie’s cross-border political career will set the record straight on key political events of the time, it was claimed today.

IRELAND’S economic achievements over the past decade can not be attributed to the neo-liberalist approach taken by the Fianna Fáil/PD coalition, Labour leader Pat Rabbitte said last night.

MARY DUNDON joins a long list of seasoned political commentators who would claim that, in light of the local elections, Sinn Féin are now a “force to be reckoned with” (Irish Examiner, July 5).

THE Government was under fire last night for failing to fund a scheme to combat potentially fatal levels of a radioactive gas in people’s homes.

EVIDENCE from Tipperary North TD Michael Lowry and businessman Denis O’Brien will bring the curtain down on the Moriarty Tribunal’s extensive probe into the awarding of the country’s second mobile phone licence.

THE OWNER of the Irish Independent, Dr Tony O’Reilly, denied having any responsibility for the Payback Time editorial on the front page of the newspaper on the day of the 1997 General Election.

Anthony O’Reilly, the chairman of eircom and Independent News and Media, has denied approaching former government minister Michael Lowry in relation to the competition for Ireland’s second mobile phone licence.

Sir Anthony O’Reilly, the chairman of eircom and Independent News and Media, is due to give evidence to the Moriarty Tribunal later today.

Former Labour Party leader Ruairi Quinn has given evidence to the Moriarty Tribunal about the awarding of Ireland’s second mobile phone licence in 1995.

FORMER Taoiseach John Bruton has claimed Independent Newspapers threatened in September 1996 to give the Rainbow Coalition bad publicity if the Fine Gael-led Government did not address grievances affecting the group’s interests.

Absent friends and new alliances played an intriguing role in the Government’s humiliating climbdown on electronic voting.

THE speed at which Michael Lowry announced Esat Digifone as winner of the competition for the State’s second mobile phone licence surprised former top civil servant Fintan Towey, the Moriarty Tribunal heard yesterday.

DAMMING figures reveal Ireland landfills 40% more waste than it did eight years ago, making the country twice as reliant on landfill than the rest of Europe.

TONY O’REILLY was so embittered by his company’s failure to land the second mobile phone licence he took revenge on Fine Gael, the Moriarty Tribunal was told yesterday.

NEW Labour leader Pat Rabbitte has appointed Fergus Finlay to be his key adviser.