Fianna Fáil say bigger farmers can afford to take cut at the expense of smaller farmers.

Éamon Ó Cuív’s decision to stay in Fianna Fáil “for all its faults” was hardly surprising given his family lineage and lifelong involvement with the party founded by his grandfather.

The Fianna Fail Chief Whip has welcomed Eamon O Cuiv's decision to remain as a member of the party.

Rebel Fianna Fáil TD Éamon Ó Cuív will not actively campaign against the European fiscal treaty, it emerged today.

Fianna Fáil TD Eamon O'Cuiv will not face expulsion from the Parliamentary Party after declaring that he is campaigning against the EU Fiscal Treaty.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has apologised for his party’s role in leading Ireland from boom to bust.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has apologised for the mistakes of the party in past Governments.

Ireland will maintain diplomatic relations with the Vatican through an ambassador based in Dublin, it has been confirmed.

The three failed Fianna Fáil leadership candidates today rallied around Micheál Martin claiming he would be an energetic and capable leader.

Newly crowned Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin tonight said sorry for the party’s past mistakes – but insisted they did not get everything wrong.

Former Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin has this afternoon been elected as the new and eighth leader of Fianna Fáil.

The new leader of Fianna Fáil will be voted in today in a secret ballot. Seventy-two TDs will vote after the re-admission of Jimmy Devins last night.

MICHEÁL MARTIN was first out of the blocks after the Fianna Fáil leadership became vacant — announcing his candidacy for the position and then watching as a steady stream of TDs declared support for him.

Four senior politicians will begin to round up support for the leadership of Fianna Fáil today after Taoiseach Brian Cowen dramatically resigned.

WEALTHY pensioners should not be exempt from budget cuts simply because of their age, according to Minister for Social Protection Eamon O Cuív.

FIANNA FÁIL needs to keep “ministers and their Mercs” out of Donegal South West if it is to have any chance of winning the by-election there, a senior party source has said.

IT seems Social Protection Minister Eamon O Cuiv and the Green Party have finally discovered the long sought-after panacea for unemployment – force people to work for their social welfare payment.

IN response to Eamon O Cuiv’s proposal to make social welfare recipients work for their entitlement, I’ve been unemployed for two years and I’ve written to him volunteering to work in the Standards in Public Office Commission.

DOLE claimants would have to work in the community in order to receive benefits under a Government initiative.

Unemployed people claiming the dole could be made to work in the community for their benefits, it emerged today.

THOUSANDS of people will still be unable to afford college places because of Government cuts despite a slight relaxation of eligibility criteria for one support scheme, the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) claims.

THERE are almost 22,000 appeals currently being processed by the social welfare appeals office – a figure which is expected to reach 35,000 by the end of the year.

A DEFENSIVE Minister for Social Protection stoutly defended the Government’s bank bailout against criticisms yesterday and told carers and their families the collapse of financial institutions could have been catastrophic.

SWEEPING welfare cutbacks for lone parents and the jobless were not unveiled in a “sneaky” way, the Taoiseach yesterday insisted.

SOCIAL Protection Minister Éamon O Cuív has said no plans are in place for means-testing the Contributory State Pension.

FIANNA FÁIL backbenchers have warned the Government targeting pensioners in the budget could have a disastrous effect on the party.

PENSIONERS who have separate incomes of €50,000 or more could face cuts to their state entitlements at the next budget.

PARENTS will have to prove that they live in the country and are entitled to the Children’s Allowance as part of a crackdown on payments to families who are no longer living in Ireland or cannot prove habitual residence here.

A TOTAL of 910 farming families have been awarded a payment under the Farm Assist scheme since the start of the year.

ALMOST 6,500 reports of suspected social welfare fraud were made to the authorities by members of the public last year, a 600% increase on the previous year.

THE Minister for Social Protection yesterday ruled out reviewing the four-year lead-in time for a new retirement age of 66.

THERE were over 2,700 anonymous tip-offs to a Government department over suspected welfare fraud in the first three months of this year, more than double the figure for the same period last year.

I REFER to the article by Dr Liam Weeks on electoral systems (April 9) in which he states: “This sometimes results in a desire among candidates to be near the top of the ballot paper, explaining why at elections rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Minister Éamon O Cuív drops the ‘O’ from his surname.”

THIS week’s decision by Minister for Social and Family Affairs Éamon O Cuív to overturn a decision made by his predecessor, Mary Hanafin, epitomises so much of what is wrong in this country. It proves, as if it needed proving, that the monkey with the biggest stick gets all the coconuts.

THE farming community have warmly welcomed the Government’s decision to reverse controversial plans to cut entitlements and claw back state pension payments from hundreds of elderly farming women.

THE Irish Farmers’ Association is to seek an early meeting with the new Social Protection Minister, Éamon O Cuív, in a bid to resolve a vexed pension issue for farm women.

OUT with the old and in with the, er, old.

ONE of the most heavily criticised ministers in Brian Cowen’s Cabinet has downplayed suggestions that he will be axed by the Taoiseach in the forthcoming reshuffle.

A COMMUNITY group has accused the Government of extravagance, waste and a lack of vision because it rejected a state-of-the-art building as headquarters for decentralised offices of the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen has revealed he will cast aside another standout recommendation made by An Bord Snip Nua.

THE sturdy Connemara Pony has coped with difficult terrain and the vagaries of the Irish weather along the western seaboard for thousands of years.

RURAL isolation will be heightened by a government decision not to renew funding for a night-time transport scheme, it has been claimed.

WALKERS will have a far greater choice this year of well-maintained walkways countrywide because of increased participation in the Walks Scheme, which is based on mutual agreement and co-operation.

Hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren will stand in silence next month at a poignant tribute to those who died during the Famine, it was announced today.