Brian Cowen's wife Mary and daughters Maedhb and Sinead watched from the Dáil's visitors' gallery today as Mr Cowen became Taoiseach.

Brian Cowen is set to be elected as the new Taoiseach in the Dáil this afternoon following Bertie Ahern's formal resignation from the job yesterday.

POOR broadband access in Co Tipperary could result in the loss of up to 150 jobs, the Dáil heard yesterday.

Poor broadband access in Co Tipperary could result in the loss of up to 150 jobs, the Dáil heard today.

Poor broadband access in Co Tipperary could result in the loss of up to 150 jobs, the Dáil heard today.

A BLAZING row flared up yesterday between rival Kerry political dynasties over the An Daingean name change controversy.

AN election poll in Kerry North has suggested Sinn Féin’s Martin Ferris could lose a sizeable amount of his 2002 vote.

BERTIE AHERN yesterday set a new speed record for entering and leaving a pub.

FIANNA FÁIL has a serious chance of winning a second seat in Kerry South in the next election, according to the results of an opinion poll released last night.

THERE is more to the Fáilte Ireland Dublin Horse Show, which begins on Wednesday, than superb jumping and the fashionable social round.

IT may be relaxation time for Fianna Fáil chiefs at Galway Races, this week, but the party’s campaign for the next general election is underway in Kerry.

FEARS that a Government announcement of €16 million for a new community hospital, in Dingle, could be a ‘political gimmick to buy votes’ were voiced yesterday by a potential Fine Gael candidate in Kerry South, Seamus (Cosai) Mac Gearailt.

Irish whiskey could soon gains access to India, the world’s largest whiskey market.

IRISH whiskey makers are trying to crack the world’s largest whiskey market in India with the help of the Irish Government.

ANORAKMAN had to evolve with his political career.

AS a Fianna Fáil supporter, I was amazed by the recent attack on Sinn Féin by Arts, Sport and Tourism Minister John O’Donoghue.

THE Spencer Dock International Conference Centre Consortium was invited to become the provisional preferred tenderer for the building of a National Conference Centre in Dublin.

PROGRESS was reported yesterday on moves to set up a national umbrella body for the sport and leisure horse sector in Ireland.

THE couch potato is a fact of Irish life — and he’s storing up health problems.

THE major recipient of €1.1 million in grants, announced by Arts, Sport and Tourism Minister John O'Donoghue for two arts centres in his Kerry South constituency, yesterday claimed the grant was absolutely justified.

DISGRACED Irish Olympian Cathal Lombard, who tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing drug, wants to devote his energies to tackling drugs in sport.

IT was the veritable mother of all parties to celebrate a local hero with a heart of gold.

RUGBY authorities are prepared to make thousands of tickets to international games available to Special Saving Incentive Account (SSIA) investors who pledge their savings to the construction of a €500m, 65,000-seater national stadium.

THE development of an all weather track, a customer friendly fixture list and “an appropriate commercial rate for media rights and data licensing” are in the five-year strategic plan for the development of the Irish thoroughbred industry delivered by Horse Racing Ireland to the Government yesterday.

FINANCIAL services group Friends First say there are no obstacles to implementing a novel scheme to raise €500 million to build a national stadium using Special Saving Investment Scheme (SSIA) funds.

A NOVEL scheme to raise €500 million to build a new national stadium using the Special Saving Investment Scheme is to be studied by Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy and Arts, Sport and Tourism Minister John O’Donoghue.

PLANS to sharpen the tourist industry’s competitive edge will be examined today by a high-powered think-tank.