A breakfast time cocktail of Brexit, Borris, and Big Phil got the final day of the National Ploughing Championships off to a bright start at Screggan, yesterday.

The evidence points to the fact that stringent building controls are needed to protect the interests of citizens, but the current controls appear to be more about optics than anything else more substantial, and a review of these is unlikely to change anything, writes Michael Clifford

Throughout the Carlow-Kilkenny byelection right now, there is a large shadow hanging over the race. So big it comes all the way from the Office of the EU Agriculture Commissioner in Brussels.

Pat Magner was getting stuck into the dinner when the protesters started banging on the restaurant window. Around him, diners at the Labour conference lowered knife and fork, momentarily arrested by shock.

With Irish dairy farmers set to reap a bonanza as the fastest growing milk producers in the world over the next five years, according to Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney, the big challenge foreseen by Teagasc, the science engine room at the heart of Ireland’s multibillion-euro agri-food industry, is that milk prices could fall by a whopping 50% next year.

Mary Lou McDonald’s recent disobedience in the Dáil towards our democracy, has had me thinking of Phil Hogan, someone I never aspired to agree with politically, never mind allowing him inside my cluttered over-taxed head.

Water, water everywhere and not a tear to shed: well not for Big Phil, he’s washed his hands of it; not for Irish Water’s public relations consultants, they’re swimming in it; not for Cool Michael, his party neglected it for years; not for Moustache Willie, he’s turning up the pressure when Irish Water turn his down; not for Alan Kelly, he’s up to his neck in it; not for the young, the aged and unemployed, they are getting free allowances; not for Joe Public, he deserves the shower he elects.

The current controversy regarding Irish Water is completely of the Governments own making.

The appointment of Phil Hogan as European agriculture minister is not something farmers, with a portfolio of less than one 100 acres, should be happy about.

Get a taste of some of the interesting and quirky happenings in Europe from our Europe correspondent, Ann Cahill.

Pints of beer, trays of chicken wings, RTÉ news on the TV. It was a typical Irish celebration of an election victory. Except that it was in Brussels.

Not a puck did we see of Saturday’s All-Ireland hurling final replay.

The autocratic style employed by the Taoiseachis causing disquiet and he would do well to take stock before becoming his government’s biggest liability,reports Special Correspondent Michael Clifford

The selection of an Irishman to head up the Agriculture portfolio at the European Commission will be seen as a major feather in the cap for the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, following a pretty fruitful week on the European front for a Government about to come under renewed attack from the Opposition.

From a minister who looked in danger of being washed away in a flood of Irish Water controversies to the brink of becoming Europe’s €60bn man, it has been quite a year for Phil Hogan.

THE excitement is too much. Over the last few days, a wave of heightened emotion has been sweeping across the country as the citizenry wait with bated breath. Will he, won’t he? No, not Garth Brooks, but Enda Kenny.

In Brazil he is Felipão; the world knows him as Big Phil.

The editorial in ‘Lance’, Brazil’s most important daily sports newspaper, was crystal clear.

Fantasy football and grim reality are set to collide at the 2014 World Cup. Liam Mackey, in Rio de Janeiro, predicts the winner.

Fianna Fáil’s not sorry anymore.

Phil Hogan’s attempts to wash his hands of blame for the latest fiasco his finger prints were all over was harder to swallow than a glass of cryptosporidium-infected water.

It sounds like a typical Irish conundrum — a beach that fails to achieve blue flag status because its water is too clear.

Far from encouraging positivity on climate action, Victoria White (Opinion, Feb 21) instead promotes effective denial of climate science and increases my despair for our future.

Phil Mickelson shot a first round 60 at 11 under par at the Phoenix Open to miss equalling the PGA Tour record by a single shot last night.

The economic twitterati, led by @irishexaminer columnist and professor of finance at Trinity College Dublin Brian Lucey (@brianmlucey) and assisted by Margaret Harrington (@curtainqueen) and @auntiedote, crowd-sourced an Irish-centric Austerity Dictionary, a tongue-in-cheekish look at the words used by us all on a daily basis as we try to make sense of our world.

With the economy sinking faster than the Titanic, Captain Noonan issued the immortal order: “Women and children first!” — but, sadly, he meant first into the financial firing line, not the economic life boats.

In this miserable stretch of Ryder Cups for America, there has been a threesome of common denominators: Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk.

Like 40% of the water supply, he had simply disappeared, but Environment Minister Phil Hogan still dominated the Dáil — for all the wrong reasons. From Big Phil to Feck-It-Up Phil in the space of a couple of months, few ministerial careers have threatened to disappear down the drain so quickly.

Dear Big Phil, I write this letter to you in the faint hope that you would give me a straight answer without any spin or, shall we say, “uisce faoi thalamh”.

‘Telling it simply, just how it is’

The state banquet in his honour was more than lavish, but still Enda craved the Chinese takeaway of his dreams.

IT will go down in the annals of political disaster as the (Household) Charge of the Light(weight) Brigade.

The scale of the mass boycott of the household tax left Government efforts to impose the levy branded “chaotic” as ministers ruled out extending the deadline date to register.

SEPTIC tanks are the latest repository for the foul political culture in which we live. The whole palaver around the issue would be funny if it didn’t give off such as smell.

ARE they trying to kill the woman? In this time of peace process, reconciliation, normalisation, closure, are they trying to grind the British monarch into the ground?

THE old dear must have wondered if there had been a mix-up in scheduling.

THE contestants for the leadership of Fine Gael are only the figurehead for factions in the party.

JOHN TERRY accused his Chelsea team-mates of underachieving under Luiz Felipe Scolari.

WHEN Scolari was appointed and I declared myself under-whelmed by the news, one of my fears was that we would be playing over-elaborate football — that we would sacrifice results for style.

DRIVING back to London from Goodison Park at midnight on Monday I had plenty of time to think about this season’s Premier League campaign.

SO the equaliser was offside; and the same linesman called Kalou offside twice, wrongly, when he was through on goal; and we should have had a penalty.

I NEVER did like the Carling Cup anyway, it’s a Mickey Mouse competition; I’m glad we’re out, it means we can concentrate on the league — have I covered all the cliches yet?