TAOISEACH Brian Cowen has been accused of being dictated to by state agencies as the bid to bring 300 jobs to Dublin Airport appeared dead.

Ladies of the night, keystone cops and political Pinocchios all featured in the swirl of intrigue as Willie O’Dea battled for his Cabinet life.

JUST as the shabbiness surrounding George Lee’s polarising resignation deepened the distaste surrounding our political system — or our media if you think Mr Lee was wrong — the row between Tánaiste Mary Coughlan and Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary does not augur well for our capacity to rebuild our economy.

RYANAIR boss Michael O’Leary has lambasted Tánaiste Mary Coughlan and the Government for being prepared to let 300 jobs slip through their fingers.

TWO egos crash-landed at Dublin Airport last night leaving 200 jobs dead and 300 more lingering in intensive care.

GARDAÍ are expected to travel to Slovakia as part of their investigation into how explosives were smuggled into Ireland after a botched security operation by Slovak police.

IRELAND’S capital was brought to a near standstill as arctic blizzard conditions forced Dublin airport to cancel more than 50 flights and led to almost all bus services in the city being suspended.

JUSTICE Minister Dermot Ahern has asked for a full Garda report into how explosives were brought into Ireland following a botched security operation by Slovak police.

EASON has taken over the bookshop licences at Dublin and Cork airports, vacated last week by Hughes & Hughes going into receivership.

A STARTLED pilot involved in a late-night near miss at Dublin Airport radioed air traffic controllers to tell them he thought he saw a lawnmower on a runway, it was revealed last night.

IN response to Nick Folley’s letter headlined ‘Ryanair credit card charge no help to tourism’ (February 22), I wish to clarify that Ryanair’s credit card fees are avoidable simply by paying with the widely available MasterCard Prepaid.

THE Government is willing to “bend over backwards” to secure 300 jobs from Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary after Tánaiste Mary Coughlan agreed to meet him today in a humiliating climbdown.

THE hundreds of thousands of unemployed people — 434,700 last week — watching the bun fight between the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and Ryanair are entitled to be angry.

YOUR report headlined ‘Overseas visitors to mid-west down by 27%’ (February 12) highlighted the collapse in tourism there last year.

DEPUTY Michael Noonan is completely wrong to argue that the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) is hostile to the fortunes of Shannon airport (‘Noonan lets fly at Tánaiste over mid-west inaction,’ Irish Examiner, February 2).

TÁNAISTE Mary Coughlan and the Dublin Airport Authority have vigorously defended their involvement in Ryanair’s failed bid to create 500 engineering and support jobs at the former SR Technics site at Dublin Airport.

A HIGH Court judge has given Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary until tomorrow to explain why the court was not informed last month of a letter to Mr O’Leary from the Minister for Transport stating the minister would set up a panel to hear Ryanair’s appeal against proposed charges at Dublin Airport.

Latest: Anti-abortion campaigners have defended their proposed use of graphic images in protests scheduled for Dublin and Cork airports.

The chairman of the daa is looking for more flexibility when it comes to the government-imposed pay cap that might prove restrictive as the semi-state body searches for a new chief executive.

A third legal challenge over a decision extending planning permission for development of a new €320m runway at Dublin Airport has been be fast-tracked by the Commercial Court.