Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has accused the Government of taking a “highly partisan” and “often tribal” approach to Ireland’s past, as preparations get under way to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheal Martin has rejected claims by Éamon Ó Cuív that Sinn Féin would be their preferred choice as coalition partners in any future government.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen has refused to call on EU Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn to forego her lucrative ministerial and TD pensions – even though several of his ministers have done so.

Dissident republicans have brought shame on the legitimate ideal of securing a united Ireland, the country’s top Catholic cleric said today.

AN inmate in need of psychological care was forced to wait 43 days for a bed in the Central Mental Hospital, a prison visiting committee report revealed yesterday.

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell last night hit back at trenchant criticism of the prison system by outspoken Inspector of Prisons Dermot Kinlen, who had described the system as a “total failure”.

The first-ever attendance of Democratic Unionist Party members at an Anglo-Irish institution set up under the Good Friday Agreement is very significant, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today.

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell has said he is concerned at the low number of convicted sex offenders willing to take part in an intensive prison rehabilitation programme.

Recent talks aimed at resolving difficulties in the Northern Ireland peace process may have been more intense than the Good Friday Agreement negotiations five years ago, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said today.