If negotiations are to succeed then Fine Gael can not rule out Mícheál Martin becoming Taoiseach first

It is now clear that Fine Gael’s campaign was fixed on a disastrous course

Anlaysis: Although first count results can be overturned, it is still a rare development

The party as likely to perform as well in the next election coming out of government as they are from opposition

FG have applied British Tory script without adapting appropriately to the Irish context

At this stage, regardless of how you look at it, outgoing government will fall about a dozen seats short of overall majority

McHale is telling the Government that if and when additional money comes along most of it will already be committed to new overhea(...)

Independents’ purposes and objectives are more complex than the crude caricatures

Film tells story of investigation by ‘Boston Globe’ into cover up of clerical sexual abuse

This election is not about choosing who can keep the recovery going because those choices are not made here in Ireland

For almost five years Coalition failed to carry out pre-2011 promise of a “democratic revolution”

Same-sex marriage: referendum didn’t just amend Constitution - it changed lives

Their life stories and their heritage will be part of the narrative of our country’s future

I grew up in a councillor’s home. Our house was the first port of call for many who needed help. Among the typical visitors I reca(...)

The task of seeking to divine national political implications or constituency-by-constituency impact of any particular poll is a d(...)

Nothing concentrates the minds of politicians like the fear of a further election. Next year will be no different.

The fudged, vague agreement with Labour was this week pushed off into the never never

Party will once again warn electorate about dangers of Fine Gael majority government

Weekend Read: Can you campaign without posters? Should well-known gay people be kept out of sight? What will persuade middle-aged (...)

There will be a more pronounced female tone to the election debate next year than ever before

Comment part of strategy to remind voters of how serious crisis was and Fine Gael’s part in turning it around

Concerns about party being in government in Republic reinforced by report on paramilitary activity

The measures will reassure voters the recession is over

Going early is an admission they failed to address homelessness or hospital overcrowding.

Government ratcheting up the sense that lots of goodies are on their way

‘It is as if the Oxbridge university elites, who dominate much of Britain’s political media have determined that Labour is not en(...)

‘Ministerial comments suggest that the record-keeping in government is all very hit-and-miss – and deliberately so’

The Fennelly report found other witnesses more credible than the Taoiseach on key points

‘We haven’t even begun to have a real election debate about the policy choices. Instead we just seem to be lapsing back into old-s(...)

‘You, Hillary, Dinner (Hot Damn!)’ – an email invitation in Texan from the Hillary Clinton presidential nomination campaign

‘This is going to be one of the biggest issues in the general election campaign. Government party candidates on the frontline are (...)

Dáil reform should start with secret ballot on election of Ceann Comhairle

Polls show new political party fatigue is already beginning to set in

Boom time tax cuts reflected broad consensus

Polls suggest Kenny would be better off waiting until spring for election

‘By parking most of their political staff in the Leinster House complex newspapers and broadcasters end up being Dublin-2 -centri(...)

‘The Twitter feed is but one small element of the public effort in which the Consul General Philip Grant and his colleagues engage(...)

‘This country needs a dramatic culture shift towards real transparency’

Noel Whelan: ‘The first principles of public relations, it seems is that when your spokesperson becomes the story you’re losing’ (...)

‘Even on the Yes side many of us had, however, failed to appreciate the true extent to which passing this referendum would matter (...)

How the most extensive and effective civic campaign ever seen in Irish politics was built

‘While some may breathlessly trumpet Gerry Adams’s magnanimity in shaking the prince’s hand, the real bravery for peace was on the(...)

‘They and their families have a real and very human need to be recognised as equal’

‘Byelections always become effectively bi-polar events. The pro- and anti-government electors quickly rally behind the stronger-lo(...)

‘Constitution protects rights of married people, but not rights of people in civil partnerships’

'Many children are already being born with the assistance of surrogacy'

Taoiseach’s conversion is more Augustinian than Pauline

Many of the repossession proceedings are at the judgment stage

It’s too late for Fianna Fáil to recover before the next election

‘Fianna Fáil seems stuck where it was at the 2011 election at about 17 per cent’

Noel Whelan: Sinn Féin is forced to practise grown-up politics where tough decisions must be made scarce resources

Prof David Farrell set out criteria for assessing whether a parliamentary democracy is or can be effective

Fine Gael strategy is to warn of instability and step up attacks on Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin

‘When suggestions first arose that some water protesters were intimidating water-meter installers it was dismissed as establishmen(...)

We need more passionate contributions, like those of Pat Carey and Seán Fleming

‘The response of EU governments to new Greek government has as much to do with politics as economics’

This Government should change Dáil rules as part of political reform plan

‘Play ball, rather than the man’ rule would be a good starting point for greater civility

‘People ask whether Varadkar will lead Fine Gael and I offer the view that he probably will’

Political scientists estimate sitting TDs and Senators enjoyed significant electoral advantage even before State funding

‘All the medical evidence available to the High Court at its special hearing on Christmas Eve could or should have been available (...)

‘We may look back at 2014 as the year when, after initial tensions, Ireland shifted gently from civil war politics to a more typic(...)

‘Most of those who will vote will only engage at or near the end of the campaign’

Irish Times poll confirms Fine Gael’s best chance of staying in government after the next election is with Fianna Fáil

‘It would take a lot of political charisma and an impressive set of policies, not to mention lots of funding’

Opinion: ‘Even if Alan Kelly’s package does defuse the controversy about water it will not and cannot assuage the wider mood of a(...)

Opinion: ‘He had a deep sense of the democratic authority held by the people and assumed the role of being their voice in studio’ (...)

Opinion: ‘The EMC has enhanced the role of unelected officials and advisers at the expense of those elected to govern’

Opinion: Senator Feargal Quinn aims to reverse Irish Water’s new power

Opinion: Deputies warned Government of ‘deeply flawed’ water Bill

Opinion: ‘In the newly arrived era of recovery politics Fianna Fáil is finding it difficult to decide which way to turn’

Opinion: ‘The Government is about to launch its first post bailout budget without any detailed overall economic road map’

Opinion: Taoiseach’s avoidance of media debate on McNulty affair is part of a pattern

Opinion: ‘This walks, talks and looks like a stroke. It was stroke. Fine Gael should have the decency to stop digging’

O’Loan warns of peace processes unravelling

Opinion: Is it any wonder Leo Varadkar spoke out on health spending and the budget?

Opinion: Ministers’ signals of tax cuts have fuelled voter expectations

‘The ground has shifted in the last 12 years but not in the direction the pro-life side would like or to the extent the pro-choice(...)

Opinion: Former taoiseach not alone in collapsing coalition relationship

Opinion: If Shatter’s proceedings come to trial they could prove the most politically dramatic court hearings since 1970

Apart from frankness, Varadkar has other assets. He is young, competent and telegenic

Opinion: Seeds may have been sown for a breakdown in relationship with TDs

Opinion: Unemployment and the lack of affordable accommodation are fuelling political instability

Opinion: Giving the European Commissionership to Hogan in line with expectations gives Kenny more space to rebrand his Government(...)

Opinion: Fianna Fáil MEP is most successful Irish election candidate ever

Opinion: Conflict makes for more dramatic television than the calm exchange of ideas

Opinion: Party did not get immediate electoral bounce out of the economic downturn

Opinion: Kenny’s Coalition management skills now look ropey

Opinion: Many of the Independent councillors were endorsed by their local Independent TD

Opinion: Sipo renewed its call for legislative change to require parties to publish full accounts

Opinion: Trumpeting future spending is seen as the best defence against mood of anger

Opinion: As a minister, he squandered political capital on needless spats

Opinion: Sinn Féin has deployed a very astute candidate strategy for the European election

Opinion: Teaching is the real loser in conference spat between Minister and teachers

Opinion: Labour talks up divisions while Fine Gael plays them down

Opinion: Power’s article amounted to a scathing rebuke of her own party

Opinion: A lost opportunity for Oireachtas justice committee

Opinion: Are department and the Cabinet support systems able to deal with a crisis?

Opinion: Ardfheis aims to maximise campaign exposure