Fianna Fáil TDs are split on whether a national government to tackle the coronavirus outbreak could work.

In the normal course of events Brian Cowen, who has just turned 60, might well have been a formidable candidate in last Saturday’s election. It was not to be. He, like so many of his peers, called time on his political career almost a decade ago.

His wife Mary and daughters, Sinéad and Meadhbh, provided an update on his health at the Laois-Offaly election count in recent days.

We still live with the scars of that time and those traumatic memories [of the horrendous austerity] will live on, writes Alison O'Connor.

Thirty-eight patients were on trolleys during one inspection at University Hospital Limerick’s Emergency Department. The agreed safety cap is 29.

Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen has been cleared of any wrongdoing over 'votegate' while the case of three other TDs has yet to be decided.

The Committee on Members Interests will meet to discuss whether three Fianna Fáil TDs caught up in the Dail voting controversy should be reprimanded.

McDonald’s missed Wall Street estimates for profit for the first time in two years as more investment to spruce up US restaurants and speed up delivery weighed on the world’s biggest fast-food chain, sending its shares down sharply.

Minister of state Damien English and Fianna Fáil’s Barry Cowen are the latest politicians to be dragged into the ‘phantom voting’ controversy.

The duo have said they were in the Dáil on occasions when their button was pressed but they were not in their seats.

There she stood in a largely empty Dail chamber. The day after the budget is the graveyard shift when it comes to contributions from opposition backbenchers.

Carbon taxes, the first-time buyer's grant and landlord taxes will be on the agenda when Fianna Fáil meets the Finance Minister for their first budget discussion tomorrow.

We take a trip down memory lane and check out what happened on this day in years gone by by looking back at some Irish Examiner front pages and highlighting other events which went down in history across the world.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has been accused of being "all talk and no action" when it comes to tackling firms at the centre of building scandals after a company being sued by the State won a new contract to build a multi-million euro hospital unit.

We take a trip down memory lane and check out what happened on this day in years gone by by looking back at some Irish Examiner front pages and highlighting other events which went down in history across the world.

The proposals for the facility in Shannonbridge, Co. Offaly would have seen it fuelled with biomass as well as peat.

Former taoiseach Brian Cowen's family have said the seriously ill ex-politician has a "long road ahead" after confirming he is slowly recovering from a bleed on the brain earlier this month.

It’s not often golf takes precedence over Gaelic games for me but this was an exception — and oh what an exception.

Michael Healy Rae hit out at anonymous commenters online targetting former taoiseach Brian Cowen, who remains in a very serious condition in hospital.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has wished a speedy recovery to his predecessor, Brian Cowen, who is seriously ill in hospital.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has wished a speedy recovery to his predecessor, Brian Cowen, who is seriously ill in hospital.

Former Taoiseach Brian Cowen is being treated in the Beacon Hospital in Dublin after falling seriously ill last night.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney has insisted “magic money” is not being used to pay for overruns for the children's hospital while pledging that cash will be found to fund the project.

Rory McIlroy left Pebble Beach Golf Links with his 20th top-10 finish at a major championship, but that was small consolation for the Northern Irishman.

Apple shares, which have fallen about 7% since the US made moves to curb Huawei Technologies earlier this month, have a near-term floor at $160, about 10% below price they were trading yesterday, according to analysts at Morgan Stanley.

The €3bn State investment in the controversial National Broadband Plan has been labelled “the worst deal ever seen” after it emerged that the private operator chosen to deliver it will only invest €200m equity in it.

The event, at Lahinch Golf Club, the venue for the forthcoming Irish Open, is attended by members of the Oireachtas past and present, as well as staff and the media.

The chair of the National Competitiveness Council has called for "better data" from the CSO on insurance and the legal profession if soaring costs for SMEs are to be tackled.

Fianna Fáil have sought a meeting with the Government to seek an explanation on the rising cost of the National Broadband Plan.

Two senior Fianna Fáil TDs have ruled out any snap election until Brexit is over, saying it would be wrong to force a national vote while the "period of deep uncertainty" remains.