Saturday/Sunday
The Taoiseach was involved in controversy after making apparently contradictory statements about the decommissioning of IRA arms.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Mr Ahern indicated the Northern Ireland executive could not be established without a start to decommissioning. Later, he said Sinn Fein should not be barred from the executive in the absence of any weapons handover.
The 70th Fine Gael Ardfheis was dominated by the timing of a possible general election against the backdrop of the scandals being investigated by the two tribunals. The party leader, Mr John Bruton, said it was facing a Government "that is in tatters".
The President, Mrs McAleese, met the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, for the first time in Rome.
The bricklayers' union decided to pull out of the employment agreement for the construction industry, prompting fears of industrial unrest in the sector.
Monday
The Taoiseach rejected any suggestion that he had added to the Government's difficulties by making himself too readily available to the media. He was commenting on a suggestion by the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, that he was giving too many interviews.
An appeal by convicted drug dealer Tony Felloni against a 20-year sentence for "wholesale" dealing in heroin was dismissed by the Court of Criminal Appeal.
The chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Dr Patrick Wall, said any genetically modified foods on the market were of no direct benefit to consumers.
Austrian consultants involved in designing the £180 million Dublin Port tunnel were convicted in London of safety failures over a tunnel collapse at Heathrow Airport in 1994.
Six people were arrested in connection with the shooting dead of a community activist, Mr Terry Madden, in the Co Sligo village of Monasteraden last month.
Tuesday
Details of Mr Charles Haughey's financial relationship with AIB in the 1970s, during which he ran up a debt of over £1 million, were disclosed at the Moriarty tribunal.
Documents showed that Mr Haughey warned AIB against taking any drastic action against him, saying he could be "a very troublesome adversary". They also claimed he "became quite vicious" when the bank asked him to return his cheque books. Mr Haughey's £1.143 million debt was settled for £750,000 in January 1980.
The Taoiseach asked two senior officials in the Department of Finance to brief journalists on his role in the G-Tech and tax concession controversies. The officials, who had dealt with the G-Tech Lottery contract and the benefitin-kind concession in the 1994 Finance Act, said there was no departure from normal procedures in either case.
Wednesday
Three former taoisigh - Mr Liam Cosgrave, Mr Albert Reynolds and Mr John Bruton - said they never had bank debts written off. Their comments followed confirmation by Dr Garret FitzGerald that in 1993 AIB and Ansbacher cancelled debts of almost £200,000 owed by him.
Mrs Mairin Lynch, wife of the former Taoiseach, Mr Jack Lynch, who is ill, said her husband never had debts written off by any bank.
The Moriarty tribunal was told that AIB feared any confrontation with the former taoiseach Mr Haughey would have caused "great resentment towards the bank throughout the country".
AIB group results for 1998 showed pre-tax profits of £826 million, an increase of 42 per cent on the previous year.
There was applause and laughter at the Flood tribunal when key witness Mr James Gogarty objected to a counsel describing him as speaking "from the dock".
A Labour private member's motion calling on the Minister for Health, Mr Cowen, to resign over his handling of Tallaght Hospital funding was defeated.
Up to 15,000 farmers took part in protests throughout the State over the proposed reform of the EU Common Agricultural Policy.
Thursday
The Government faced fresh controversy after The Irish Times revealed that a £10,500 interestfree loan was given to Fianna Fail by a passport investor in 1993. The Progressive Democrats expressed satisfaction at the Taoiseach's explanation of the issue in the Dail.
Some £2.15 million was awarded to a six-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who is quadriplegic and blind in settlement of his action against the National Maternity Hospital and a consultant obstetrician. Under the settlement, made without admission of liability and approved by the High Court, a trust will be set up for the child, Blaise Gallagher, from Roundwood, Co Wicklow.
New legislation was announced to compel most convicted sex offenders to sign on a register.
The Independent Radio and Television Commission banned an advertisement for the Irish Catholic newspaper from being broadcast on two local radio stations.
