Taking the pledge can lead to a political hangoverDÁIL SKETCH : Fee issue sees Coalition patience tested as they get a harsh lesson on the perils of promisesThu Nov 17 2011 - 00:00
Chaos in chamber as everyone wants to know - 'where's Willie?'“WHERE’S Willie?” That’s what everyone wanted to know in Leinster House yesterday.Wed Nov 16 2011 - 00:00
High drama in Dáilton Abbey as respect urged for FG bluebloodsONE SIMPLY can’t get good staff in Leinster House these days.Wed Nov 16 2011 - 00:00
Cross-party singing group bridges troubled waters to help suicide charityFine Gael’s Peter Mathews seemed the best candidate for the mantle of BonoMon Nov 14 2011 - 00:00
Nation held rapt by haunting verse on day of true joy and blessingsPoliticians and diplomats sat transfixed as the tears of friends and colleagues were discreetly wiped awaySat Nov 12 2011 - 00:00
No brass bands as McAleese makes last official engagement at homeless hostelAND NOW, the time had come and so she faced that final velvet curtainFri Nov 11 2011 - 00:00
Cometh hour of doom, cometh Winston Shankill, set for battleDÁIL SKETCH: SHANE ROSS stood on the burning deck, Whence all but he had fled, The flame that lit the Euro’s wreck, Shone round…Wed Nov 09 2011 - 00:00
Walkout shakes Coalition - and they shook until they could laugh no moreDÁIL SKETCH: THEY FLOUNCED from the Dáil in high dudgeon, marching bravely towards a long period in the wilderness.Thu Nov 03 2011 - 00:00
Farewell, old comrade, and yes, we'll try to give up our aul cynicismIT WAS only when his friends began to say goodbye that Michael D really realised his life is changedMon Oct 31 2011 - 00:00
Last stand for candidates with president elect as acrimony and angst melt awayMichael D looked shell-shocked. So did some of the beaten candidates. But they were gracious in defeatSat Oct 29 2011 - 01:00
Michael D proves your only manPRESIDENT MICHAEL Daniel Higgins turned off his mobile phone and tried to concentrate on his acceptance address.Sat Oct 29 2011 - 01:00
Galway Gaeilgeoir right back in the rás as Slick Seánie slips upMICHAEL D sits on his bus, a salad sandwich in a brown bag on his lap, about to hit the road on the second last day.Wed Oct 26 2011 - 01:00
TV debate pushes the envelope as battle for presidency finds its biteIt’s a pity they didn’t have this debate at the start of the campaignTue Oct 25 2011 - 01:00
Davis gets in swing of things but new dark horse is waltzing off with votesWHEN THE “Undertakers’ Song” struck up they piled onto the dancefloorWed Oct 19 2011 - 01:00
Michael D's all right, say the kids, as Gallagher talks himself downANOTHER DAY, another presidential forum.Mon Oct 17 2011 - 01:00
Dana bombshell another twist in the taleIT ENDED with a tantalising twist in the tale and left the nation agog.Thu Oct 13 2011 - 01:00
All kinds of suspicious serendipity on walkaboutON BACHELORS Walk, a young woman wheels her buggy with purpose through the small knot of journalists.Wed Oct 12 2011 - 01:00
Gallagher's gift of the grip and grabThe ex-soldier of destiny is a skilled salesman, especially when it comes to himselfMon Oct 10 2011 - 01:00
Senator hopes taking to the bus will put campaign train wreck behind himTHE DUBLIN Writers Museum provided a fitting setting for the launch of David Norris’s presidential election campaignThu Oct 06 2011 - 01:00
Surgeon refuses to bury Michael D's croí at Wounded KneeGAITGATE STRUCK at the top of Grafton Street.Wed Oct 05 2011 - 01:00
All aboard the election bus for the story of Mother Teresa of Dublin 8AS THE youngest of a clatter of barefoot children born into the notorious slum known as The Black Hole of Inchicore, plucky Gay…Tue Oct 04 2011 - 01:00
Pious waffle and touchy-feely aspirations set charisma-free tone as seven face offAFTER A 14-year lapse, the Charismatic Movement (presidential branch) underwent a strong revival yesterday.Thu Sept 29 2011 - 01:00
With a last gasp and at the 11th hour Dublin city allows Senator to try againIN THE Rotunda, the air was heavy with expectation. Much juggling of phones and anxious men pacing around the pillars.Wed Sept 28 2011 - 01:00
Foot-soldiers offer lifeline to struggling Dana and NorrisDÁIL SKETCH: THEY ARE the overlooked footsoldiers: those men and women who put in the hard yards at the unglamorous end of politics…Thu Sept 22 2011 - 01:00
Past is another country for Áras hopefulDÁIL SKETCH: I SAY! We nearly choked on our pink gins in the Dáil bar yesterday (or GHQ as we like to call it) when we heard…Wed Sept 21 2011 - 01:00
FF presidential pantomime far from over - oh no, it's notDÁIL SKETCH: Micheál Martin and co may have found an Independent, Continuity Fianna Fáil candidate but they’ve definitely lost…Fri Sept 16 2011 - 01:00
Enda sheds the Lycra but not his FF-baiting habits of oldDÁIL SKETCH: THE GOOD news is that Enda is finally off the bicycle.Thu Sept 15 2011 - 01:00
Shinners enjoy tea and schadenfreude at five-star affairPHOTOGRAPHERS positioned themselves on the first-floor landing so they could capture Gerry Adams when he passed beneath the sparkling…Wed Sept 14 2011 - 01:00
Soldiers of Despondency soak up the medicine before a return to Dáil frayIT’S A laugh a minute here. Packed agendaTue Sept 13 2011 - 01:00
No way back as harsh political realities hit homeIt was a sad exit for David Norris, the man who would be presidentWed Aug 03 2011 - 01:00
Ladies Day punters spend like it's going out of fashionTHE FASCINATOR is dead. Long live the hatinator. It’s the must have, this season. ApparentlyFri Jul 29 2011 - 01:00
Food fest makes economy report hard to digestIt’s not all bad, being a politicianSat Jul 23 2011 - 01:00
Rebuke of Vatican more hard-hitting than a belt of the crozierDÁIL SKETCH: Enda Kenny, with steely eloquence, has ended decades of government obeisance to RomeThu Jul 21 2011 - 01:00
Five-point plan just a sweet memory as future is full of fudgeDÁIL SKETCH: THAT GERRY Adams one is a cautionWed Jul 20 2011 - 01:00
No time to pull strings as Muppet crisis puts TDs in the spotlightDA IL SKETCH: APPARENTLY, WE’VE been reduced to junk. Whatever that means.Thu Jul 14 2011 - 01:00
Joe puts us off our tea as Enda tries to shimmy out of tights spotD�IL SKETCH: FINE GAEL – Men in Tights. What an appalling imageWed Jul 13 2011 - 01:00
FG generals get a lesson as true blue wins dayCox was the bluebloods’ blueblood, but they don’t understand Fine Gael pedigreeMon Jul 11 2011 - 01:00
Opposition puts spotlight on pledges but Enda justifies the meansDÁIL SKETCH: THEY GOT a bit above themselves before the election. Some promises were made that could never be fulfilled.Thu Jul 07 2011 - 01:00
FF keen to keep score but Enda won't be pinned down, literallyDÁIL SKETCH : IS THAT a metaphor in your pocket Taoiseach, or are you just glad to see us? You have to hand it to EndaWed Jul 06 2011 - 01:00
Healy-Premium-Rate to pay €2,600 while nation enjoys priceless gaietyDÁIL SKETCH: IT WAS a very confusing morning.Thu Jun 30 2011 - 01:00
Dial Éireann controversy prompts an innocent Ring toneDÁIL SKETCH: DÁIL M for Murder.Wed Jun 29 2011 - 01:00
Hi Nicky, it's Kenny, Enda Kenny, that's K-e-n-n-yDÁIL SKETCH : The Enda tapes, or where he tries to soft-soap Nicolas Sarkozy the Mayo wayThu Jun 23 2011 - 01:00
Backbench pups scorn dogged approach of Opposition leadersDÁIL SKETCH: IT’S AN appalling vista. Fourteen weeks and the pups are beginning to emerge from the packWed Jun 22 2011 - 01:00
Mortified Enda tells tales about the neighbours from hellDÁIL SKETCH: FOR THE last 100 days, all they have been doing is apologising.Thu Jun 16 2011 - 01:00
Dapper Senator driven to distraction as councillors keep their counsel: COURTEOUS BUT cagey, the councillors listen.Tue Jun 14 2011 - 01:00
He made it easy for us to forget he was dyingTHE BRIAN LENIHAN I KNEW: BRIAN LENIHAN made it easy for us to forget he was dying.Sat Jun 11 2011 - 01:00
Enda keen to drag up FF's murky past but patient Micheál just counts to 100DÁIL SKETCH: THE PAST has a nasty habit of catching up with you.Thu Jun 09 2011 - 01:00
Noonan the brave in no mood for a twinkle-toed Parisian waltzSKETCH: MICHAEL NOONAN in a crinoline, with a big head of curls on him, waltzing around the fleshpots of Europe in the arms …Wed Jun 08 2011 - 01:00
Bad boy Leo goes missing as Kenny calls time on leaksDÁIL SKETCH: WHEN IT comes to shooting from the lip, Leo Varadkar is a bit too quick on the jaw.Wed Jun 01 2011 - 01:00
Seanad's batch of new talents become Dublin city ramblersSEANAD SKETCH: “WHEN A man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfullyThu May 26 2011 - 01:00
