A former lord mayor of Cork has launched a scathing attack on some outspoken opponents of the city boundary extension, accusing them of damaging the region’s reputation and likening some to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

Homeless people being illegally sheltered in the Nama-owned Apollo House building should be allowed to stay there until after Christmas instead of facing trespassing notices, a Government minister has said.

Fine Gael and opposition TDs have accused Fianna Fáil of turning new politics into “farce” after insisting the party agreed in private to take next week off before back-tracking when it came to a public vote.

Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin teamed up yesterday against the proposed location of an incinerator in Cork Harbour, claiming such a plan would cause irreparable damage to the area.

Hundreds of mourners are attending the funeral of Eoghan Culligan, a Government Minister said there will be no referendum on abortion before the next election, Sean McComb has earned Ireland’s second medal of the European Games in Baku and we pay a musical tribute to the late James Horner. These are some of the latest and most read stories on irishexaminer.com.

The Cabinet is to reconvene at 7:30pm this evening to discuss plans to remove the threat of jail from people who refuse to pay water charges.

Health Minister Leo Varadkar said that the Fianna Fail Government produced horror stories in hospital emergency departments on an almost daily basis, when it was in power.

A Government Minister has said that the Government must reduce the cost of childcare - which he described as being "like another mortgage".

Government Minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin is to be congratulated for his criticism of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) over their diktat on how proposals on extending marriage rights to same-sex couples might be discussed on radio.

A former Government Minister says he fears for Irish politics, following the results of yesterday's by-elections.

It is astonishing and frightening that the Central Bank feels obliged to intervene in the mortgage market to outlaw practices at the root of our economic collapse.

There is a scene towards the end of Oliver Stone’s movie JFK where Kevin Costner, playing the role of District Attorney Jim Garrison, walks, defeated, out of the courthouse, telling his son that he will have to wait at least 30 years before finding out if his theory about the pPresident’s assassination was correct.

The Oireachtas banking inquiry will "inevitably descend into a show trial", Shane Ross has warned.

It is too late to think about setting up a UK National Health Service model in Ireland, a Government Minister said today.

Local authorities across the country have been forced to write off at least €500m in commercial rates over the course of the recession as businesses collapse under the weight of their debts.

A Government minister believes Taoiseach Enda Kenny should have taken part in a TV debate to fight for the abolition of the Seanad.

A Government minister has compared the expulsion of Fine Gael TDs for their revolt against contentious abortion legislation to a death in a family.

Tensions are growing between the Coalition partners over the handling of last week’s announcement of exemptions to the property tax, which one junior minister admitted was “a mess”.

A suicide bomber driving a vehicle packed with explosives rammed into a bus carrying Shiite Muslim pilgrims in south west Pakistan, killing 17 people.

Authorities are investigating a cough syrup believed to have killed 33 people in eastern Pakistan in the past three days.

A Government minister has accused the umbrella body for credit unions of trying to dilute a bill which would improve governance of the troubled sector.

A Government minister has said allowances for public servants could be put back on the table, as part of a wider review of the Croke Park deal.

Tranport Minister Leo Varadkar said the Government has learned a lot from the campaign on the household charge.

Parents should be held accountable by the courts for their child’s antisocial behaviour, a Government minister has said.

Ireland remains opposed to any financial transaction tax, unless it is imposed by all EU states, a Government Minister said today.

The former Fianna Fáil Government Minister of State Ivor Callely remains in Garda custody this morning.

The troika warned that a financial “bomb” would go off in Dublin, if Anglo senior bondholders were not repaid, a Government minister has said.

Government Ministers have approved a plan to allow them to drive in bus lanes.

The Government's Chief Whip and Fine Gael TD Paul Kehoe has denied that there is a rift within the party following Fine Gael's poor performance in the Presidential election and the Dublin West by-election.

DEFENCE solicitors in child abuse cases which go to court are increasingly looking for therapy notes in a bid to “get their client off the hook”, a children’s support group has said.

It has been reported today that Government Ministers have given themselves the green light to use bus lanes when on official business.

A Government Minister said today that it would be unwise to impose a single salary ceiling on the directors of semi-state companies.

A Government minister has said he is hopeful cheaper interest rates for the state’s €85bn bailout will be agreed within 10 days.

The PSNI have confirmed that the van bomb on the A1 route near Newry was a “substantial” device.

A agreed motion of censure in Tipperary TD Michael Lowry has today been announced by the Government Chief Whip for debate in the Dáil tomorrow morning.

THE blame game within Government over last week’s botched communications effort has intensified after the Taoiseach’s spokesman said Brian Lenihan’s department was responsible for handling the issue.

FINANCE Minister Brian Lenihan has been told state pension payments are off limits in his quest to find €6 billion in cutbacks.

THE Government was accused of “giving the two fingers” to thousands of voters around the country by holding off three outstanding by-elections until April.

IT is sad and a terrible waste of potential that young people are having to leave rural communities because of their sexual orientation, a Government minister said yesterday.

Government Ministers are this mmorning rejecting suggestions that the Taoiseach's leadership is under threat.

A Government Minister is dimissing suggestions that there won't be enough money to pay social welfare benefits.

THE Government will meet stiff resistance if it attempts to press ahead with a plan for a banking inquiry that will investigate in secret.