The Oireachtas committee on the Eighth Amendment is set to recommend a straight repeal of article 40.3.3, its complete removal from the Constitution, and for any future abortion laws to be decided solely by the Dáil.

The all-party Oireachtas committee examining Ireland’s abortion law took many people by surprise when it voted overwhelmingly against retaining the Eighth Amendment

Children’s Minister Katherine Zappone has backed calls for the abortion referendum to be held by February 2018 after saying the Oireachtas committee tasked with setting its scope does not need six months to decide.

A Fianna Fáil senator has spoken of how he has battled with alcohol but is now in a better place and enjoying his life without drink.

Join the Oireachtas and see the world… new figures show that the spend by TDs and senators on overseas travel last year increased from €218,799 to €230,313.

The news has been cancelled.

Cheeky birds dominated the last day of the Oireachtas — no, not just Enda Kenny’s view of the uppity women audacious enough to think at least one of them was worthy of a junior ministerial job — but, seagulls too.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s move to force a Government majority onto the banking inquiry was compared to what happened in Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia by opposition senators.

IF the people abolish the Seanad, in a referendum in October, then that outcome will most likely be traceable to this week’s act of self-sabotage by members of the Upper House.

Fine Gael is expected to lose up to three senators today when the House votes on an amendment objecting to the principle of legislation allowing abortion in limited circumstances.

A Fianna Fáil senator has called for stricter controls for foreign taxi drivers “who do not have a word of English and no clue about the city in which they are working”.

A meeting of Fianna Fáil in Tralee last night saw former ceann comhairle John O’Donoghue elected to one of the key positions in the new all-county organisation.

A relieved Mickey Ned O’Sullivan admitted Roscommon would be feeling “sick” after Kerry edged an entertaining All-Ireland MFC quarter-final at Croke Park.

As the Dáil takes its break, political correspondent Shaun Connolly looks back on a term of tax dodgers, ding-dongs, and declarations of love

Accusations of murder and lunacy rippled through the Seanad as the ghosts of Michael Collins and Éamon de Valera rose once more to do battle.

INDEPENDENT TD Michael Healy-Rae has bowed to pressure to pay €2,600 for thousands of phonecalls made within Dáil Eireann that helped him win a television show.

A FORMER leader of the Seanad brought a close to the election count by imploring newly elected members to fight for the continued retention of the Upper House.

AMID growing concern about the delays in moving ahead with a €500 million project on the Shannon estuary, senior government figures have been asked to get involved.

AMID growing concerns about the delays in moving ahead with a €500 million project on the Shannon estuary, senior government figures have been asked to get involved.

MICKEY Ned O’Sullivan last night insisted that he had no regrets as he brought the curtain down on his five-year tenure as Limerick senior football boss and believed the time was right for ‘a new voice’ to come in at the helm of the county.

MICKEY Ned O’Sullivan has admitted his future as Limerick boss is “up in the air.”

MICKEY Ned O’Sullivan has confirmed that forward Stephen Kelly will continue to juggle Limerick Gaelic football and Shannon rugby commitments throughout the spring.

IT was almost easy to feel sorry for him. When one sharp stab drew the blood from his thick neck and the Bull finally fell, the excruciating pain could be felt through the circle of seats around the Dáil fighting ring.

John O’Donoghue: The outgoing Ceann Comhairle will hold on to a number of perks in retirement.

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.

MICKEY Ned O’Sullivan has been down this road before, as Kerry manager against Cork in the Munster final in the 1990 decider in Pairc Ui Chaoimh, against Clare two years later in the Gaelic Grounds. And now Limerick.

EDUCATION Minister Batt O’Keeffe admitted that the level of teaching delivered to students will be affected by class size increases forced by the budget — but insisted there is no going back on the decision.

THE death occurred yesterday of former Fianna Fáil TD for Kerry North, Kit Ahern (née Liston).

THE Shannon Estuary is on the threshold of a new industrial dawn which promises to transform the entire industrial aspect of the Mid-West and Kerry.

A CALL for action to curb late-night drinking parties and vandalism on children’s playgrounds in Kerry was made yesterday.

FIANNA Fáil yesterday suffered an election year setback.

WITH a general election looming, a warning has been given of a rush to rezone land for housing in Kerry.

WITH a general election looming, a warning has been given of a rush to rezone land for housing in Kerry.

THE highest-paid councillor in the Republic last night insisted the people of Cork got value for money for his €82,000 earnings.

MICKEY Ned O’Sullivan is prepared to soldier on as manger of the Limerick senior footballers for at least another season, according to Limerick’s football board vice-chairman Michael Sheehan.

PLANS for a €1 million civic amenity facility, near Listowel, were yesterday unanimously rejected by Kerry County Council.

MICKEY Ned O’Sullivan is sweating over the fitness of a number of key forwards ahead of the Limerick footballers’ Munster Championship opener against Clare on May 21.

UP to 100 Sinn Féin supporters, including MEP Mary Lou McDonald, crowded into the Kerry County Council chamber in Tralee yesterday for the election of a daughter of Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris as Kerry mayor.

THE daughter of Kerry North Sinn Féin TD Martin Ferris is set to become Kerry mayor as part of a deal with Fianna Fáil.

DESPITE an ongoing row about planning permission arising from a 1.6m restoration of Listowel Castle, the castle is due to be officially reopened by Minister of State at the Office of Public Works (OPW) Tom Parlon on Thursday.

AS Kerry awaits the annual summer influx of Travellers, there was a warning yesterday that some towns and villages will have serious difficulties if temporary halting sites are not provided for those attending festivals in the county.

Donal Hickey