TWELVE-YEAR-OLD Turlough Duffy raised an eyebrow ever so slightly at his teacher’s suggestion that he be on the debating team opposing the motion: “We need a change of government.”

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald is under fire for failing to sanction a party councillor who subjected Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to a personalised attack about his race and family status.

Property price rises are slowing across the state as supply increases, according to the latest Residential Property Price Index from the Central Statistics Office.

The lack of new homes in Ireland is “deeply worrying” and is contributing to the challenges faced by first-time buyers trying to enter the market, according to Brokers Ireland.

Property prices have fallen in Dublin for the first time in seven years but continue to rise outside the capital.

Almost 80 people died by suicide in this country in the first three months of the year, including two children aged between five and 14 years and 17 people over the age of 65.

Residential property prices are continuing to rise nationally but there has been a significant slowdown in the rate of increase in the last 12 months.

Not since the days of Big Tom and the Mainliners Showband tours has the country been traversed as extensively and in rapid-speed.

Irish Water's test results show a further eight supplies across the country had above the permitted level.

A bathing ban remains in place at Dollymount Beach.

Health Minister Simon Harris has said fellow Fine Gael TD Maria Bailey could have withdrawn her injury claim over falling off a swing before the local and European elections.

The British and German owners of the Dundrum Town Centre - the largest shopping and leisure development in the country - are leading the opposition against plans by property investment company IPUT for a new retail and residential development at Carrickmines in south Dublin.

Financial incentives for parties to run more women in the upcoming local elections are set to be agreed by Cabinet this week.

New official figures for 2016/17 have looked at life in rural Ireland from broadband to fertility and binge drinking.

Transport Minister Shane Ross has batted away accusations of engaging in ‘gombeen politics’ over the allocation of sporting grants and, instead, highlighted opposition TDs lobbying for club funds.

The Taoiseach is expected to announce the appointment of Simon Coveney as Tánaiste in the Dáil today.

One in seven (14%) of the population has a disability, while the number of people who provide unpaid care to a friend or family member has increased to 195,000.

The Central Statistics Office has released a new profile on the results of Census 2016.

Fianna Fáil’s grassroots members have strongly backed a motion opposing “any attempt to diminish the constitutional rights of the unborn” despite party leader Micheál Martin calling for a free vote in any referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment.

The Government is to cap rental deposits at one month’s rent and has vowed to crack down on landlords in rent pressure zones who take advantage of tenants.

The founder of an app to help people with Parkinson's Disease has been crowned Ireland's best young entrepreneur.

TDs and other elected representatives across the country have given a mix of recommendations and complaints to the boundary commission ahead of proposed constituency changes this year.

Arrears by social housing tenants have doubled in the last eight years, leaving councils owed a staggering €65m in unpaid rent.

Munster’s boys teams will hope to find the cohesion necessary to challenge at this weekend’s U16 and U18 interpros in Belfast.

The self-styled ‘Ronaldo’ of the Irish property scene, Greg Kavanagh is not giving up in his battle for a contentious €15m development proceeding at Mount Merrion in south Dublin.

So we have peace in our time, it seems, writes Daniel McConnell.

Amid fears that hikes in bin charges could result in a rise in illegal dumping and fly-tipping, many local authorities have stressed that the problem has eased in recent years.

Fine Gael ranks are divided on whether the party should enter any power-sharing deal with their arch-enemies Fianna Fáil.

Cork Church of Ireland were left wondering what might have been after being pegged back from winning positions against powerhouses Monkstown and Banbridge in the EY Hockey League this weekend.

Ex-Fianna Fáil junior minister Conor Lenihan’s bid to return to the Dáil has come crashing down to earth after the TD failed to even be nominated for a key candidate short-list.

The Government has been accused of an “inexcusable” lack of leadership after it emerged that there are 2,600 vacant units across the country in council ownership, despite a mounting homelessness crisis.

Constructing and implementing an austerity property tax at the height of the slump may have been brave. 

On paper, the planned centre-left party has a good-looking lineout that’s far stronger than Lucinda Creighton’s Renua, writes Gerard Howlin.