Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has admitted housebuilding figures announced in the budget have been known for weeks.

If in doubt, spin it out. So appears to be the primary approach of the Government to the housing crisis and homeless emergency.

Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald accepted that the referring of 12 homeless families to Garda stations on Tuesday night was “completely unacceptable”.

Department of Finance confirms figure will have to be taken out of next year’s spending proposals

Two weeks of squabbling, a bitter war of words between TDs and a lot of time and resources expended which could have been dedicated to more worthy issues, such as the housing or health crises.

Households leaking or wasting more water than others will face higher penalties under proposals by Fine Gael, which the party insists are needed to comply with EU laws.

Two hours of heated debate and wrangling behind closed doors between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil over water bills has led to calls for a report on water to be delayed and the need for legal advice.

Attempts to agree on the future of funding water services have already divided TDs, after a Dáil row broke out yesterday about a new committee which will examine water charges.

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams has admitted he “made a mistake” when he said he would resign as party leader ahead of the next general election.

After eight punishing rounds, more than a few ring-side pep talks, and what effectively amounts to a technical knockout, Olympic boxing hero and Fine Gael candidate Kenny Egan scraped over the line to gain a seat on South Dublin County Council.

A DVD to help breast cancer patients facing reconstructive surgery was launched yesterday.

Labour have attempted to hit back after a disastrous new low in the polls and warned that large-scale support for Sinn Féin in a general election would turn Ireland’s fortunes into those of Greece.

The Sinn Féin Party has said its leader Gerry Adams wants to debate the EU Fiscal Treaty with Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

DUBLIN city councillor Killian Forde will formally join the Labour Party today after resigning from Sinn Féin on Friday.

Supporters of the jailed Mayo men known as the “Rossport Five” are taking their campaign to the streets of the capital today.

Ten Protestant families have fled their homes in north Belfast as a result of years of alleged republican intimidation.

Detectives today questioned a Sinn Féin member about a 15-year-old murder.

Detectives in Northern Ireland were today questioning a Sinn Féin member as part of an ongoing inquiry.

Bomb disposal experts in the North have defused a pipe bomb found outside a house in a nationalist area of north Belfast this morning.

Up to seven people were arrested today as anti-war protesters tried to block off Belfast city centre.

Dissident republicans who left a huge van bomb near the centre of Belfast have attempted to undermine the Northern Ireland peace process just hours before party leaders met President Bush in the White House, it was claimed today.

The situation at a sectarian flashpoint in east Belfast is spiralling out of control, unionist politicians and Protestant clergymen in the district warned tonight.

Independent monitors must be placed at sectarian flashpoints across Belfast in a bid to identify ringleaders orchestrating street violence, republicans demanded today.

A delegation of Sinn Fein councillors and residents from Alliance Avenue in the Ardoyne today met the US Consul General Barbara Stevenson.

Extra police and soldiers are expected to be drafted into north Belfast tomorrow in preparation for a controversial loyalist parade through a nationalist area.

THE mother of the Catholic man shot dead by loyalists in north Belfast yesterday appealed for no retaliation and said she would pray for his killers.

The mother of the Catholic man shot dead by loyalists in north Belfast today appealed for no retaliation.

Sinn Fein is claiming that an army vehicle deliberately struck a young man in the North last night.

The UDA was today accused of hiding behind a new cover name after a death threat was issued against four prominent Belfast republicans.