Fianna Fáil MEP Brian Crowley’s controversial hold on his European seat is set to come under intense scrutiny this evening when a party colleague formally challenges him for the role.

A senior Government minister has called on President Michael D Higgins to seek a second term in office.

Fianna Fáil Senator Mark Daly has today calling on people to make their views known on how the State should treat the national anthem, Amhrán na bhFiann.

The prospect of a nighttime ban on hunting and shooting in the autumn/winter period is coming under fire in the southwest, where the issue of criminals lurking with intent, rather than genuinely looking for rabbits or foxes, is of concern.

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny is being urged to contact the President of Egypt to secure the release of Ibrahim Halawa.

Fianna Fáil’s manifesto, ‘An Ireland for All’ said: “The President is an important political and cultural figurehead for the state and nation. As an international figure the position represents an important cultural centre point for the Diaspora and all those who consider themselves Irish across the globe. Irish citizens in Northern Ireland should have the right to cast their ballot in this important election”.

There are new fears for an Irish teenager imprisoned in Egypt after the first execution of a pro-Morsi protester.

Tánaiste Joan Burton has compared anti-water charge protesters who trapped her in a car to fascists.

The Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a special meeting to discuss the American President Barack Obama’s plan to overhaul the US immigration system.

Brian Crowley doesn’t do controversy. He stays out of political fray. There are few issues, policies or positions that he’s associated with.

Criminals from outside Kerry are breaking into houses around the county during Mass times and funerals, according to senior gardaí.

The Seanad has today rejected an attempt by Fianna Fáil Senator Mark Daly to overturn Ireland's laws on organ donation.

Fianna Fáil Senator Mark Daly has been compared to 'Dallas' character Bobby Ewing after recalling the Seanad from summer recess today.

The Seanad is finishing up for the summer today, but Fianna Fáil Senator Mark Daly is trying to force a special sitting next month.

The Tánaiste has welcomed the US Senate's approval of a new immigration reform bill by 68 votes to 32.

A political row has flared among local politicians claiming kudos for a new €8m community hospital in Kenmare, Co Kerry.

Senior management at the Irish Coast Guard has slated parts of the first draft of a report into the service which Transport Minister Leo Varadkar is using to push through major reforms and cost-cutting rationalisation, with the likely closure of Valentia and Malin Head stations.

In summer last year, Senator Mark Daly used parliamentary privilege to name an alleged child abuser. Here, he explains the choices with which he was faced

Renewed plans to close the Valentia Coast Guard Station in Co Kerry and shift its operations to Dublin are being stoutly resisted.

A FIANNA FÁIL senator, who used Oireachtas privilege to disclose how the Sacred Heart Missionaries were not properly supervising a suspected Cork paedophile, has been complained to the Oireachtas Committee on Procedure and Privileges.

UP TO 24 past pupils at a Co Cork boarding school have contacted gardaí with allegations of abuse.

FEARS were growing among victims yesterday that the former principal of a Co Cork boarding school could leave the country permanently after a deluge of victims spoke out about his alleged reign of terror.

FORMER pupils of a Cork boarding school will meet in Dublin this month with the Fianna Fáil senator who used Seanad privilege to uncloak their former principal as an alleged child abuser who flouted his restricted ministry.

FORMER pupils of a Co Cork boarding school during the tenure of Fr Donncha Mac Cárthaigh and Fr Tadhg Daly have described the school as “an educational gulag” and “a school that was run like a concentration camp”.

SENIOR members of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart intend to interview former pupils and teachers at a Co Cork boarding school as part of its efforts to tackle ongoing allegations of sexual abuse by a former principal.

THE first complaint of sexual abuse against the former principal of Carrignavar College and Cork GAA selector, Fr Donncha Mac Cárthaigh, was investigated by his brother, who was then the head of his order in Ireland.

The NAMA Chairman Frank Daly is rejecting claims that developers are buying back their properties from the agency at knock-down prices.

TAX revenues are continuing to improve on last year but are marginally below the Government’s expectations.

There have been some heated exchanges at a special sitting of the Seanad this afternoon.

FORMER Ceann Comhairle and sitting Fianna Fáil TD for Kerry South John O’Donoghue last night held off a strong challenge from a party councillor to win a nomination to fight the next general election.

THE Fine Gael party in Kerry South is expected to adopt a two-candidate strategy for the next election when it holds a convention in Killarney tonight.

IS there a silver lining in the economic storms at our doorstep? Now that we’re poorer, will we produce better teams?

Cypriot authorities have prevented Sinn Féin's Aengus Ó Snodaigh, Fianna Fáil's Chris Andrews and Fianna Fáil Senator Mark Daly from leaving the island join the Free Gaza flotilla.

FOUR out of five senators are double-jobbing or have extra incomes on top of the €70,000-plus paid to them by the State for working just three days a week, 34 weeks a year in the Upper House.

Senators will be thrown out of the Seanad chamber if they don’t turn off their mobile phones, they were told today.

A CALL for a new independent report on Valentia Coastguard station has been made by Kerry-based Fianna Fáil Senator Mark Daly.