Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has strongly dismissed the possibility of forcing an early election to take advantage of the bounce in his popularity.

Andrea Mara reports on a disturbing increase in food allergies among children and talks to a leading expert in the field who warns there is no validated test for intolerences.

Israel may be wrong in many of its policies, especially in colonising the West Bank, but we are hypocrites, writes Gerard Howlin

Senior Fine Gael members are courting the possibility of a grand coalition with Fianna Fáil as talks to form a government intensify. The two parties are to ramp up their negotiations with Independents and smaller parties this week in a bid to form a minority government.

Energy minister Alex White claims proposed planning guidelines to distance windfarms from communities by at least 1km would “kill off” wind farm production.

While Europe is getting fatter, the Netherlands is getting thinner. It’s the only country in which the World Health Organisation (WHO) is predicting a decline in obesity rates.

Government chief whip Paul Kehoe has dismissed the "kicking" in the polls for the Coalition and insisted the public are happy with new reduced water charges for households.

I’m not a risk taker. I don’t do roller-coasters. When I got a book deal I took a two year leave of absence rather than quit my job because I need the safety net.

Labour will have an "opportunity to reflect" after this week’s local and European elections, according to deputy leader Joan Burton, as the party prepares for a drubbing by disenchanted voters who are turning to Sinn Féin and a mostly left-wing group of Independents.

Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte has admitted it’s been “a bad week for the Government” as Labour and Fine Gael brace themselves for a backlash in the local and European elections over controversies surrounding Justice Minister Alan Shatter.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has called on Rehab to reveal the salaries of its executives and for one of his party’s chief advisers to co-operate with an Oireachtas committee’s examination of the charity.

Many parts of the country are counting the cost of weeks of stormy weather, but Met Éireann has said the worst is over.

They may be under-represented on the airwaves here, but Irish female broadcasters have been flying the flag abroad for years. Dave Kenny looks at the women who have made an international impact

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has warned that public service workers face forced pay cuts unless unions agree €1bn in savings in an overhaul of the Croke Park deal.

Ireland would expect similar terms if the EU steps in to shoulder Spain’s bank debt, a minister has said.

At least one in five homes will not be able to fitted with water meters, the Government has admitted as a minister apologised for “scaring” people with confusion on the issue.

A re-negotiation of the promissory notes, or IOUs, on bank debt is under way and any deal could also see banks freed from some loss-making mortgages, the finance minister has said.

Michael Clifford on the demise of Custom House Capital and the missing €56 million

NEW PHASE, winner of the contest a year ago, repeated the trick at Cork yesterday when landing the Follow Us On Facebook Hurdle.

THE Department of Social Protection admitted €62.5 million was wrongly paid out in benefits last year while just €33m in overpayments were recovered.

VOTERS are set for a second bumper election day in two years with the Government signalling its desire to run at least four separate ballots together later this year.

A SENIOR Government minister has urged Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray to “make the appropriate decision” on whether he should resign, after the Murphy Report criticised his handling of abuse allegations.

THE tribunal was back as the most popular show in Dublin this week. But this time it was not as a drama but as pure farce.

THE mini skirt should be hung up for good before the wearer is the age of 28 years old, according to new research.

THE new EU working time directive for junior doctors will not be implemented in three weeks because of the “absolute intransigence” of the IMO, the Government chief whip Mary Hanafin claimed last night.

LIAM LAWLOR used his time in Mountjoy prison earlier this year to get fit and do some paperwork, but still feels he should not have been there.