Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar says he is very “concerned” by allegations of harassment in a row between Fine Gael bosses and ex-TD John Perry.

We have an awful lot of little princesses in this country, and they should hold their tiaras high, because there are many who would prefer to see a world full of scaredy-cat women, writes Clodagh Finn

The latest Healy-Rae to enter the political dynasty says it’s a privilege to be walking in the footsteps of her grandfather.

As he took to the stage to present his party’s €4.1bn manifesto, Fine Gael’s director of elections Brian Hayes attempted to win back voters’ wandering hearts. Noting the February 14 date, the MEP held up the 136-page document before telling the waiting audience of journalists and party colleagues: “Happy Valentine’s Day, I hope your dreams come through.”

Fine Gael are close to poaching a leading Cork councillor who yesterday resigned from the Labour party in frustration at being prevented from running in the general election. Fermoy-based Cllr Noel McCarthy last night told the Irish Examiner he was considering his options after leaving Labour.

There's been an arson attack on the constituency office of Fine Gael TD Michelle Mulherin.

The Taoiseach has been urged to end his party’s "hypocrisy" towards gender equality and show young women that Fine Gael can be a party for them.

Pressure is growing on the Coalition to pave the way for a referendum on whether the constitutional ban on abortion should be lifted or not.

Guns ‘n’ Poses were the order of the day for Enda Kenny on the campaign trail.

BRAZIL NUTS

Long odds-on favourite Briar Hill brushed aside the challenge of sole rival Azorian to land the Grade 1 Navan Novice Hurdle in Navan yesterday.

Political correspondent Shaun Connolly says three new blocs of rebel TDs want more speaking time in the Dáil, and may have designs on forming a new party

Opposition TDs were divided in their response to the proposed X case legislation.

Strikers are halting all operations by a gold mining firm in South Africa, the company said today.

Labour TDs fear a “whitewash” review of the party’s patchy general election performance is being “sat on” by the leadership.

ENVIRONMENT Minister Phil Hogan has confirmed that planning and development regulations which he is putting through the Oireachtas will reduce the exempted development threshold for drainage of wetlands, from 20 hectares to one tenth of a hectare (about quarter of an acre), and reduce the threshold for a mandatory environmental impact assessment (EIA) of drainage of wetlands from 20 to two hectares.

Taoiseach-in-waiting Enda Kenny is facing a one-week deadline to form a new government after Fine Gael romped to an historic victory in the 2011 general election.

FINE Gael has been forced to admit that tax hikes will form a bigger part of its deficit reduction plan than previously claimed.

NAMA chief executive Brendan McDonagh has been accused of performing a major U-turn after saying there is no evidence banks behaved criminally in their dealings with the agency.

PAYMENTS under the Farm Waste Management Scheme must be fast-tracked, according to South Tipperary Fine Gael TD Tom Hayes.

A defiant Enda Kenny tonight vowed to lead Fine Gael into the next General Election after seeing off a leadership heave by his sacked deputy leader Richard Bruton.

THE chairman of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee has expressed renewed concerns about the former Financial Regulator’s pension package.

THE selection of George Lee as a candidate was as much about Fine Gael taking the easy option to win the seat by putting up a celebrity vote catcher.

WORK-HUNGRY TDs are set to agree new Dáil schedules to cut their holidays and get started earlier each morning.

BRIAN COWEN and Bertie Ahern should be summoned before a televised Oireachtas inquiry to explain their role in the banking crisis, Government politicians have said.

A PUBLIC hospital which was paying €6,000 a week to a private hospital because its hi-tech scanner was lying idle will resume its own scanning next week.

POLL-TOPPING Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness will not run in the next Dáil elections but may consider mounting a bid to replace President Mary McAleese when her term ends in two years’ time.

FINE GAEL leader Enda Kenny moved to slap down his director of elections yesterday for claiming the party could go into Government with Sinn Féin.

A DIABETIC who suffered blindness in one eye claims Ireland’s health service was to blame.

THE incoming vice-president of Sinn Féin, Mary Lou McDonald, has warned supporters the party has to re-examine how it sells itself to the public.

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has dismissed Taoiseach Brian Cowen's speech to a business function in Dublin last night.

FINE GAEL accused the Government of making up its banking plan “on the hoof” after last-minute changes were made to legislation giving effect to the state takeover of Anglo Irish Bank.

RELIGIOUS orders that ran children’s institutions where abuses took place will not be asked to contribute more to the state compensation fund despite the likelihood that the cost of victims’ claims will increase.

THE Sunday Business Post poll showing a 4% fall in Fianna Fáil support — to 36% — would normally mean an especially early reveille for the Soldiers of Destiny at their Lower Mount Street headquarters but such are the challenges facing Taoiseach Cowen and his colleagues that they cannot afford to spend too long dwelling on this poor report card.

FBI agents raised misgivings about US interrogators’ mistreatment of terror suspects detained in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay during the three years after September 11, but in some cases were slow to report it, a US Justice Department report says.

Fine Gael TD Olivia Mitchell has told the Mahon Tribunal that she did receive money from Frank Dunlop in the 1990s.

GARDAÍ are expected to question friends and associates of Katy French over the coming days, as well as accessing her mobile phone records, in a bid to reconstruct her movements just before she fell into a coma.

Brian Cowen’s unblemished career to date does not guarantee him the top job in government — in fact, it could very well be his downfall, writes Political Reporter Paul O’Brien.

FAR from eschewing auction politics, Fianna Fáil boasts that’s its new policies on tax and PRSI are more generous than those of Fine Gael and Labour.

FINE GAEL has called for a national register of joint guardianship agreements that would give unmarried fathers greater parental rights.

Fine Gael Leader Enda Kenny paid tribute today to the party’s veteran TD Padraic McCormack who is to retire before the next General Election.