The Tánaiste has defended a Labour minister who stormed out of a radio debate as pressure continues to grow on the party.

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

Fianna Fáil were trounced here in 2011, their vote slumping from 47.7% to 28.1%.

The Irish Postmasters’ Union has decided not to run its planned candidates in the upcoming general election.

Forget the hundreds of homes and businesses across the country which have been ruined because of the recent flooding.

Flood-hit areas are facing more misery with further heavy rain due at least into the middle of next week, followed by another round of rising river levels and many more weeks of cleaning up ahead.

Enhanced powers for officials to govern the disclosure of interests and other ethical obligations of politicians have been delayed — after first being mooted by the Coalition over three years ago.

THERE were almost as many scrums at the National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska yesterday as there were during a game at the Rugby World Cup.

Urban gangs who target vulnerable rural areas to commit hit-and-run burglaries are to be targeted under new Government surveillance measures.

Life was one endless winter for former Irish surf champion Fergal Smith.

VISIONS. The modern ones relating to rural Ireland started with Éamon de Valera, when in 1943 in a St Patrick’s day radio address he asserted in what is known as the ‘comely maidens speech’ (wildly missquoted).

EU corporate governance officials have been asked to examine the Government’s Irish Water conservation grant over claims that it is simply an “inducement” to encourage people to sign up to charges.

Two pilot initiatives announced late last week aim to advance existing social farming operations and local markets for food and artisan produce in rural areas.

The Government has announced €1.3m for a range of disability and health groups whose State funding had been cut.

Sinn Féin and Renua Ireland have both insisted they are in pole position to claim the fifth seat in the general election after positive showings in the Carlow Kilkenny byelection.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has finally won a by-election at the seventh time of asking in a badly needed victory that has relieved pressure on his leadership position.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has predicted that the Carlow- Kilkenny byelection will be decided on transfers.

Officially, Friday’s Carlow/Kilkenny byelection is all about replacing former Fine Gael TD Phil Hogan, who was ‘promoted’ to Europe after the Irish Water debacle.

Fergus Finlay (Irish Examiner, April 21) opines that adoption of the referendum proposal on May 22 to lower the age limit of presidential candidates from 35 years to 21 years would be an expression of Ireland coming of age with ‘a young uncynical President’, as if the role of head of state is to become a random and unstructured social science experiment.

Join the Oireachtas and see the world… new figures show that the spend by TDs and senators on overseas travel last year increased from €218,799 to €230,313.

Any political party which gains power in the next general election must ensure its policies undergo strict social and economic tests to examine what impact they will have on rural areas left “devastated” by the recession.

The Fine Gael-Labour coalition and Fianna Fáil have begun an open war for rural votes in the next general election, after launching separate policy documents promising a series of long-delayed measures within hours of each other.

The Labour party national conference has passed a motion calling on the Government to obtain certain guarantees around employment and other issues at Aer Lingus if it is to accept any future offer from IAG.

A leading business group has called for the “blunt instrument” minimum wage to be scrapped to help kick-start the economy, saying the legal pay level is stopping firms employing new staff.

Industrial action could happen “sooner rather than later” following Bus Éireann’s review of its services, a union representing bus drivers has warned.

The Government's travel schedule for St Patrick's Day has been unveiled.

The mood music around the election of left-wing Syriza in Greece changed significantly in the EU as voting day approached.

Gaelic football legend Pat Spillane has hit out at the "painfully slow progress" in implementing rural job-creation ideas put forward by a group he chaired.

The founders of a family-run whiskey distilling company, based in Co Carlow, yesterday turned the sod on what will be the country’s largest independent whiskey distillery, once completed.