Sparks flew at a meeting of Fianna Fáil's party meeting this afternoon amid a backlash from TDs over a bad general election and concern about the direction leader Micheál Martin is taking.

Seanad nominations for inside candidates closed yesterday with a number of failed election candidates given a second chance at public office by their parties.

Units from the local fire brigade on duty all night pumping water away from housing areas.

Fine Gael’s approach to the 2020 election campaign has been dismissed as “project fear” by the party’s lead opponents, who have described it as “the sign of a party becoming increasingly desperate”.

For the first time, more than 30%of candidates will be women.

“Sure even the dogs in the street are Fianna Fáil in Longford,” the delighted owner of a pair of cute pomeranians reassured party leader Micheál Martin in a canvass that was marked by quite a few canine encounters.

Almost half of all site visits made in Ireland by multinationals looking to set up or expand operations were to the greater Dublin area.

Creches are to be given a financial bailout after the Government bowed to pressure to intervene in the insurance crisis that is threatening childcare providers.

The loss, within a matter of days, of more than 800 jobs at two US multinational companies highlights, once again, the nature of Ireland’s unbalanced economy and the urgent need to assist, promote and encourage indigenous industry.

The Government’s climate action transport targets have been labelled a “joke” after it emerged the State’s fleet includes just 13 electric vehicles out of thousands registered across departments and agencies.

Transport Minister Shane Ross has ordered his officials to “make immediate inquiries” into revelations that Dublin Port managers spent hundreds of thousands of euro on company credit cards for flights, restaurants, and entertainment.

Frustrated commuters will have to wait until 2023 for new rail carriages to cater for a significant increase in passengers.

The entire FAI board is facing cross-party demands to quit after politicians insisted that John Delaney’s decision to “step aside” while an FAI review takes place fails to go far enough.

As spring turns to summer, it’s timely for John Delaney to offer to take on a spell of gardening leave, as his future in Irish football is now up in the air.