FIANNA FÁIL senator Ned O’Sullivan has come to the defence of fellow Kerryman John O’Donoghue, claiming he was driven out of office by lazy journalists with nothing better to do.

CEANN COMHAIRLE John O’Donoghue has announced he will resign next week after Labour ended his slim chances of survival on a dramatic day in the Dáil by claiming his position was no longer tenable.

AS a lover of the race track, John O’Donoghue would have been all too painfully aware the odds on him keeping his job were lengthening with dramatic speed.

Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue has announced that he is to step down from his position.

The Ceann Comhairle, John O'Donoghue, is set to face more pressure this week to consider his position following the latest revelations about his expenses claims.

In the run up to the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty, the opposition parties obviously had little stomach for a political confrontation over the extravagant expenses of John O’Donoghue as Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism.

A GARDA-DRIVEN Audi A6 travels from Dublin to collect John O’Donoghue at Kerry Airport when he flies home to his constituency for weekends at the expense of taxpayers, it has emerged.

The Labour leader Eamon Gilmore is seeking an urgent meeting of all party leaders to discuss the controversy surrounding the Ceann Comhairle's expenses.

TAX rises are unlikely in December’s budget with Taoiseach Brian Cowen admitting his government will focus on spending cuts rather than further levies on workers to fill a €4 billion hole in the public finances.

IT is amazing how exercised some people are about John O’Donoghue’s expenses when he was Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism. He provided an abject apology during the week to those who were paying the bills — the taxpayer.

Embattled Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue today apologised and admitted he was embarrassed by lavish expenses he ran up while a minister.

THE huge expenses bill run up by John O’Donoghue during his time as Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism was indicative of the broader “carry on” in Fianna Fáil that was “fast and loose with the tax payers’ money”, according to Fine Gael.

AN overhaul of Dáil expenses was demanded last night as Ceann Comhairle John O’Donoghue was accused of spending taxpayers’ cash like “royalty” while he was a minister.

FREE travel in Ireland for all European Union senior citizens would encourage millions of visitors to visit Ireland, say the country’s hoteliers.

Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism Martin Cullen is safe today after a helicopter he was travelling in was forced to make a precautionary landing in Kerry.

Former Government Minister Seamus Brennan has died this morning at the age of 60 following a battle with serious illness.

One of the Government’s longest serving ministers resigned from the Cabinet tonight.

ARE you aware that, despite an apparent policy of discouraging the involvement of children from the addictive gambling habit — prohibiting entry to casinos and certain arcades — the Government-sponsored Tote, if not actively promoting the practice among youngsters at venues such as the Punchestown festival and probably elsewhere, does nothing at all to prevent them from laying bets?

I HAD a dream the other night that quickly turned into a nightmare. A prominent Dublin barrister, Michael McDowell, formerly Minister for Justice, had somehow been returned to the Dáil and was appointed Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism.

The High Court has reserved its decision in a legal action brought by a Dublin GAA club against a decision that the new Shamrock Rovers stadium in Tallaght should be developed as a soccer only venue.

Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin will today begin a three-day networking visit to France.

Rip-off Ireland has been warned that it faces the full wrath of the law if it tries to cash in on the Ryder Cup, Sports and Tourism Minister John O’Donoghue said today.

A HIKE in funding for most major arts organisations in Ireland was revealed by the Arts Council yesterday when it announced its revenue funding decisions for 2006.

A SENIOR Fianna Fáil minister has claimed that Ireland would be a ‘banana republic’ if Sinn Féin was in Government because it still retains a private army.

GAA President Sean Kelly reckons the Association's new Hurling Development Plan, which will see €2.6m invested in the game, will show the sporting public how serious the GAA are about hurling.

Animal welfare campaigners today called for the hare coursing finals at Powerstown Park, Clonmel, to be the country’s last live coursing event.

Ministers are appointed to represent the whole country, but some members of the Government have engaged in the naked preferment of their own constituencies, especially in matters like decentralisation and the allocation of sports grants.

ANGLERS may win an exemption from tough new rules on salmon fishing which are due to be imposed in September.

IRISH property owners in Spain are driving the surge in the number of foreign holidays we take each year, the Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) said yesterday.

Despite John O’Donoghue’s successes in both his ministries, he still remains first and foremost a Kerry TD, writes Political Editor Harry McGee.

FERGUS FINLAY (Irish Examiner, Nov 11) took the opportunity to criticise the Minister for Finance in the weeks coming up to the budget.

Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism welcomed the latest tourism figures published by the Central Statistics Office for the first quarter of 2003.

Ireland's positive image as a tourist destination for Europeans could suffer if the Nice treaty is rejected a second time.

An interim board has been appointed to put a new National Tourism development authority in place. It was announced by the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism, John O’Donoghue.

Holiday companies are calling on the new Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism to assist independent Irish holiday companies.