The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that it is appropriate that Sinn Féin Northern Minister for Finance Conor Murphy make an apology to the Quinn family for suggesting that their son Paul, believed to have been murdered by the Provisional IRA, had been involved in criminality.

The number of children waiting more than 12 months to see a consultant paediatric rheumatologist jumped 80% in a single year, against a backdrop of Government inactivity implementing a plan to improve patient care.

The Taoiseach strongly defended Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald in spite of her decision to resign over a failure to act over a Garda management strategy to discredit whistleblower Maurice McCabe.

By helping children with educational needs, special needs assistants play a key role in mainstream schools, writes Andrea Mara.