There must be a general election in the air…..as TDs’ attendance for votes in the Dáil has dropped significantly in recent months.

Fine Gael Oireachtas party chairman Dan Neville TD, who has announced that he will not seek re-election to the next Dáil, can claim to be the greatest survivor in Irish politics.

The thatcher who reroofed one of the two Adare cottages destroyed in a fire at the weekend spoke yesterday of his sadness and shock at the destruction of his handiwork.

Extending civil marriage rights to same sex couples will reduce levels of self-harming among gay youngsters, the Dáil heard. 

Community psychiatric services need to be available 24/7 to address the country’s high suicide rate, general practitioners urged yesterday at their annual conference in Limerick.

A second person appointed by Arts Minister Heather Humphreys to the board of the Irish Museum of Modern Art (Imma) has links with Fine Gael.

A woman who lost her husband, son, and unborn daughter when their car was rammed by a suicidal taxi driver is to help gardaí to train to deal with suicidal people.

One in five children or teens admitted to a mental health facility are still being placed in "inappropriate" adult wards — despite the policy being outlawed since 2011.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore publicly snubbed the Taoiseach by refusing to match his offer of a blanket election transfer deal.

Dan Neville has been elected as the new Chairperson of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party.

A HSE group tasked with battling Ireland’s suicide epidemic failed to spend almost a third of its budget last year due to serious delays in finding someone to lead the organisation.

The president of the Irish Association of Suicidology has called on banks to train staff how to deal with struggling mortgage-holders and warned that more people are taking their lives because of debt.

Hopes were fading last night for 169 jobs in Rathkeale as it emerged the company which took over costume jewellery maker, Andersen Ireland, has racked up losses in the region of €7m since December.

Limerick company Andersen Ireland is to go into voluntary liquidation - putting almost 170 jobs at risk.

Independent TD Denis Naughten says his expulsion from the Oireachtas committee on health and children is an effort by the Government to “muzzle” him.

A leading campaigner on suicide awareness has acclaimed as “brave, courageous, and professional” the decision of a school principal to suspend 28 students for cyberbullying.

Former taoiseach John Bruton has called for an end to cyberbullying of politicians and said abusive tweets should not be read out on radio stations.

People who take their own lives do not think about the hurt and sorrow they leave behind, a coroner has said.

A suicide charity has lodged a formal complaint with gardaí and suspended one of its employees over alleged financial irregularities.

A leading suicide charity has been rocked by a suspected embezzlement scandal.

The actual numbers of people dying by suicide in Ireland could be much higher than thought.

The number of people dying by suicide has surged by 7% in just 12 months — a rate 14 times higher than murder levels for the same period.

Sitting TDs criticise old system that saw parts of Limerick and Kerry put together, writes David Raleigh

Fresh controversy linked to the Government’s decision to close its Vatican embassy has erupted, as a senior US cleric has turned down an invitation to a St Patrick’s Day event at which Taoiseach Enda Kenny will speak.

Waterford County Council is to host a conference on mental health and suicide in a fresh bid to “help remove the stigma still attached to such conditions”.

THE Government should consider adding lithium salts to tap water in an effort to lower depression rates, a consultant psychiatrist has suggested.

“DEEP concern” has been expressed that many psychiatrists are excluding family members when treating those suffering from a mental illness.

A TRANSATLANTIC romance blossomed when two thalidomide survivors began to share their life experiences over the internet.

Gay Mitchell has been selected as the Fine Gael candidate for the presidential election.

WITH debt depression a growing concern, banking and debt collection staff should receive mental health awareness training, a leading anti-suicide campaigner has urged.

PERSONS with an intellectual disability are often educated and articulate and want to live independently and the legal community needs to recognise that and engage with them, the head of Down Syndrome Ireland (DSI) said yesterday.

FINE GAEL fears of two of its candidates in close proximity in Limerick proved to be unfounded as newcomer Patrick Donovan joined long-serving colleague Dan Neville in the Dáil.

With all bar four of the 43 constituencies in the General Election finished counting, the country’s political scene has undergone a sea change.

Former Minister for Tourism Mary Hanafin has failed to retain her seat in Dun Laoghaire. Richard Boyd Barrett won the seat, bringing the haul of seats for Independents and others to 17.

The election of Fine Gael's Mary Mitchell O'Connor in Dun Laoghaire brings to 141 the total number of seats filled so far (from a total of 166).

There are 70 seats filled so far.

ENDA KENNY breezed into the new Limerick (county) three-seat constituency yesterday with Fine Gael sails billowed by the fair wind of the latest opinion poll.

The President of the Irish Association of Suicidology has said the Government is spending more on roads than on suicide prevention.