Next weekend, EU leaders meet in Brussels for what, in the lexicon of diplomacy, is expected to be a four-shirter — a streetwise description of a meeting unlikely to conclude quickly. Whether discussions to form a government here become as bitter remains to be seen.

Politicians from all parties in Galway West have expressed opposition to a gold and silver mining bid in protected Connemara habitats.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has sacked Galway West TD Eamon Ó Cuív from a senior frontbench post, after it had appeared he had decided to spare him.

"Deputy Ó Cuív’s continued membership of the Party’s Front Bench is no longer tenable."

Some months before America’s transformative presidential election, David Axelrod, the chief strategist for Barack Obama’s election campaigns, used an all-too-smart phrase that is remembered for all the wrong reasons.

Good morning. I would like to take the opportunity of this column to announce that I will not be running for the office of the presidency.

With incredulity, I listened to Galway councillor, Oliver Crowe, of Fianna Fáil, on RTÉ’s Drivetime radio show.

Ireland will remain “frozen in time” if people do not vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment, Tánaiste Simon Coveney has said.

Pro-life Fianna Fáil TDs say they will back any legislation allowing abortion for rape, incest and fatal abnormalities if the referendum is passed in a major concession on the deeply divisive potential post-referendum laws.

Health Minister Simon Harris was confronted by heckles and calls for him to resign at a referendum event which had to be cut short after the interruption.

A grant to help first-time buyers refurbish derelict buildings in rural villages and towns has yet to be rolled out, more than a year after being announced.

The Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring, has been accused of putting rural Ireland “under review” with promised projects still on ice.

The Government’s ambitious plan to transform the country is great in theory but rural Ireland must not be forgotten, writes Elaine O’Loughlin.

The Government’s plan for growth over the next two decades will “kill” rural Ireland and walk the country into “economic and social imbalance”, a coalition of TDs has warned.

Leading Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen has said his decision to support repeal of the Eighth Amendment and access to abortion up to 12 weeks was “agonising and difficult”.

Planning for war but preparing for potential short-term peace, the soldiers of destiny are attempting to work two strategies to address the latest political crisis.

Well done to the plain-talking rural representatives who warn that National Planning Framework Ireland 2040 proposals add up to abandoning people in the countryside.

Michael Ring, the Rural Affairs Minister, is understood to have launched a “ferocious” broadside at Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at last Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, the Irish Examiner can reveal.

The Government has been accused of neglecting rural Ireland after it was revealed that just 0.06% of grant funding available has been awarded to help communities.

Fianna Fáil TD Eamon Ó Cuív will deliver the keynote speech at this year’s commemoration of Gaelic scholar and activist Dónal Ó Loingsigh in Baile Mhúirne, Co Cork.

Fianna Fáil has called on the government to put aside an inter-departmental “turf war” and clarify which department has ultimate responsibility for the National Broadband Plan after recent comments added to confusion over the issue.

EU access for South American beef could see Irish beef prices fall by 30%, said Éamon Ó Cuív, Fianna Fáil agriculture spokesperson.

A senior Fianna Fáil figure believes his party needs at least 12 Independents to vote with them in order to lead a minority government and oust Fine Gael from power.

Fianna Fáil should consider supporting Fine Gael’s bid to re-elect Enda Kenny as Taoiseach when the Dáil resumes, because the move would create a lame duck leader.

Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen has declared his desire to follow his brother Brian and become leader of the party.

Éamon Ó Cuív has “complimented” Labour for “having the good sense” to implement Fianna Fáil’s policies.

Fianna Fáil’s Eamon Ó Cuív has hit out at Labour for claiming his party crashed the economy.

Unions and representative bodies have been called upon to disclose the salaries of senior staff.

All new Government quangos will be barred from cities and ordered to set up in rural Ireland under Fianna Fáil measures to create 30,000 jobs outside the capital.

Tax credits for working parents and state-paid subventions for private creches are among proposals for childcare support set to be launched at this week’s Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis.

The Government has come under renewed fire for not doing enough to ease the homelessness crisis, with opposition parties blaming cuts to the rent allowance.

Fianna Fáil TD Eamon Ó Cuív has said it “breaks his heart” that his party is not making more progress.

Dissenting Fianna Fáil TDs have been urged to “stay off the public airwaves” if they want to protect the party’s future, a senior frontbencher has claimed.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has lashed out at colleagues “sniping from the bushes”, a reference to claims from Eamon Ó Cuív about the party facing demise.

Fianna Fáil has said that Eamon Ó Cuív’s assertion that the party could be facing demise will be dealt with internally.

Senior Fianna Fáil members have rejected a suggestion by Simon Coveney, the agriculture minister, that they could go into coalition with Fine Gael after the next general election.

The justice minister has warned that if a prison officer leaked details of Fianna Fáil TD Éamon Ó Cuív’s visit to Limerick Prison to the media, that officer breached the Official Secrets Act and could face prosecution.

The public spending watchdog has criticised the outlay on a €21m greyhound stadium in Limerick, which has significantly increased the debt owed by the state body that oversees greyhound racing.