MY God, what an effective Taoiseach and Government we have.

THERE are 300,000 "ghost voters" on the electoral register, because the system is an "appalling mess", Environment Minister Dick Roche, has admitted.

DEVELOPER Jim Mansfield’s €50 million West Dublin scheme is back on track.

WATERFORD County Council’s controversial proposal to develop a major landfill has passed the crucial final planning stage following a four-year bitter battle.

AN BÓRD PLEANÁLA yesterday denied it had compromised its independence by meeting with members of the Corrib gas consortium before the controversial project was given final planning approval.

THE board of management of a national school has objected to a multi-million euro housing development because it would not be able to cope with the surge in extra children.

THE company planning to build the country’s first toxic waste incinerator at Ringaskiddy in Co Cork yesterday said Defence Minister Willie O’Dea should leave the matter to the State and judicial agencies responsible for it.

OBJECTORS to the country’s first household waste incinerator are to continue their fight in the courts after An Bord Pleanála cleared the construction of the facility yesterday.

A BORD PLEANÁLA decision to approve plans for 600 homes in Passage West in Cork despite being urged by one of its own inspectors to refuse permission will lead to traffic congestion, locals warned last night.

COMPLAINTS from supposedly concerned readers about the M3 near Tara continue to flood the letters pages.

FOLLOWING the recent landslide in north Mayo, it is not surprising that fresh controversy has erupted among local residents, fishermen, small farmers and politicians in the wake of new moves by Shell to get planning permission to build a gas terminal in the area.

FOR more than 20 years successive governments have neglected environmental issues. They invited pharmaceutical and chemical companies to set up business in Ireland without any obligation to find new production methods in order to avoid toxic waste.

PROPOSALS to fast-track major infrastructure projects through a special division of An Bord Pleanála are a denial of democracy.

TRANSPORT Minister Séamus Brennan yesterday criticised a move by Ryanair to hamper plans to bring thousands of tourists into Ireland next summer.

IT appears that, eventually, people in high places have become aware of the shenanigans and skulduggery that An Taisce have been getting up to for a number of years.

OUTRAGED community groups will seek an oral hearing into yesterday’s decision by the Environment Protection Agency to grant a draft licence to Indaver (Ireland) for waste incineration plants in Cork and Meath.