Bean Ní Chocláinn beats Ban Ki-moon to job of earthing sparksDÁIL SKETCH: THE MAN for the Job was just across the way in a committee room when Eamon Gilmore got to his feet to explain the…Wed Jul 08 2009 - 01:00
No flight of fancy as Miliband sets bad example for our MinistersDAIL SKETCH: WHAT DID David Miliband think he was at? In fairness to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, he kept his composure…Thu Jul 02 2009 - 01:00
Not a word let slip about Bord Snip, but pain delayed is only pain anticipatedDÁIL SKETCH: AND STILL we await word from Grandmaster SnipWed Jul 01 2009 - 01:00
Chrysalis Cowen awakens to float like a butterfly, sting like a beeDÁIL SKETCH: PLEASE. NOT another chrysalis Cowen and butterfly Biffo moment. We’ve had far too many of them.Thu Jun 25 2009 - 01:00
Beaks v Biffo - what a case it could be . . .DAIL SKETCH: STANDING ROOM only in the courtroom.Wed Jun 24 2009 - 01:00
Cowen's technique lets him down on high-flying travelDÁIL SKETCH: BERTIE HAD a way with those tricky questions about ministerial transportThu Jun 18 2009 - 01:00
Poor George - huge mandate but no sign of a blooming officeDÁIL SKETCH: ENDA SHOULD have given Wandering George a straw boater and waved him away from Leinster House for the morning.Wed Jun 17 2009 - 01:00
Miriam Lord's WeekNow that the voting is over and we await the results, here are our election awardsSat Jun 06 2009 - 01:00
Have you heard the one about the TD flattened by a lorry on Kildare Street?A MEMBER of Dáil Éireann is flattened by a lorry on Kildare StreetSat Jun 06 2009 - 01:00
Soft-shelled Brian in 'fight for every vote'ON THE CANVASS with BRIAN COWEN: The Taoiseach seems to spend most of his time electioneering in a controlled environmentSat May 30 2009 - 01:00
Even Fine Gael party pup Leo cannot inject boldness into yet another stimulus packageDAIL SKETCH: IT SOUNDED promising. Indakinny was announcing “a bold planThu May 28 2009 - 01:00
Shay's running for the Dáil, Aoife the locals, and Eanna like a man possessedON THE CANVASS with SHAY BRENNAN: Canvassing is a family affair for the Brennans, down to the use of the late Séamus’s blueprint…Wed May 27 2009 - 01:00
Gormley leaves others to talk horse manureDÁIL SKETCH: A LOT DUNG, more to poo. That phrase has a familiar ring to itThu May 21 2009 - 01:00
Opposition's anniversary bash for BiffoDAIL SKETCH: TAOISEACH Brian Cowen is a year in the job today.Thu May 07 2009 - 01:00
Narrow escape for DonohoeDUBLIN CENTRAL: FINE GAEL’s candidate in the Dublin Central byelection narrowly avoided serious injury yesterday afternoon when…Wed May 06 2009 - 01:00
Fine Gael hearts are raised . . . by their own lovely LeePolitical parties have long lusted after the economic lustre of George Lee. FG landed the catch of the dayWed May 06 2009 - 01:00
A year in the life of BrianPREDICTIONS ARE the bane of a political correspondent’s lifeSat May 02 2009 - 01:00
What we really need right now is to win the EurovisionDÁIL SKETCH: THIS IS all to do with the Eurovision Song Contest.Thu Apr 30 2009 - 01:00
Gormley waltzes in and put on the writs, after much foot-draggingDÁIL SKETCH: IF YOU’RE Blue and you don’t know when the vote’s due, Why don’t you go where the Dáil sits, Puttin’ on the Writs…Wed Apr 29 2009 - 01:00
Too many spanners and a shortage of sharp tacks in the tool boxDAIL SKETCH: EVERY GOVERNMENT needs its ministers – a vital assortment of tools required to ensure the smooth running of any…Thu Apr 23 2009 - 01:00
Discounted developments replace old-fashioned national assetsDAIL SKETCH: YOUNG PEOPLE are our greatest national asset.Thu Apr 09 2009 - 01:00
Coughlan's half-car handmaidensDÁIL SKETCH: HOW MANY Ministers does it take to run the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment? No, this is not a joke…Thu Apr 02 2009 - 01:00
Cowen should take heart from how Bertie saved St Luke'sDÁIL SKETCH: WITH THIS Government, it always comes back to the builders.Wed Apr 01 2009 - 01:00
Gilmore pushes all the right buttonsCONFERENCE SKETCH: IN THE run-up to Labour’s weekend gathering, an advance party from headquarters arrived to check out the …Mon Mar 30 2009 - 01:00
No losing sight of the big picture as Portraitgate rumbles onDAIL SKETCH: IT IS not just the recession that has sent the construction industry into a tailspin, we mused during Leaders’ …Thu Mar 26 2009 - 00:00
Gormley goes green as McCaughey news leaksDÁIL SKETCH: JOO DILIGENCE fell off the wagon yesterday afternoon.Wed Mar 25 2009 - 00:00
Tánaiste gets in a bit of practice on budget menusDÁIL SKETCH: SORREEE! WE’RE all out of Happy MealsThu Mar 12 2009 - 00:00
Queasy Greens looking a little off-colourDÁIL SKETCH: DÁIL STATEMENTS on the Challenges Facing the Health Service could not have come at a more crucial time.Wed Mar 11 2009 - 00:00
Cowen stubbornly stands against the oncoming financial delugeDÁIL SKETCH: IT WAS difficult to know whether the Taoiseach was more traumatised by the door falling off Kamikaze Cullen’s helicopter…Wed Mar 04 2009 - 00:00
A country music uplift is stretching things a bit far, DonieSEANAD SKETCH: YES, DONIE. How right you are.Thu Feb 26 2009 - 00:00
A nod is as good as a wink to cornered banker or blind regulatorSKETCH: NUDGE, NUDGE.Wed Feb 25 2009 - 00:00
Letting off some steam on the monster march“BODIES” SCREAMED the billboard above the Ambassador Theatre, just in case we hadn’t noticedMon Feb 23 2009 - 00:00
Race to unmask the Anglo commandos has deputies jitteryDAIL SKETCH: NOBODY KNEW anything about it until well after the dust had settledThu Feb 19 2009 - 00:00
Cowen battles on regardless as 'Joo Diligence' fails to showDAIL SKETCH: THERE WAS widespread shock in Leinster House when news broke that Joo Diligence, through her lawyers, had declined…Wed Feb 18 2009 - 00:00
House agog as angry Green Hornet condemns sharp practicesDAIL SKETCH: Mild-mannered, bespectacled John Gormley may look like an ordinary Minister for the Environment who goes to work…Fri Feb 13 2009 - 00:00
The €7bn man sliced up in bank operationDÁIL SKETCH: “Stand aside Nurse Cowen!” he cried, “I’m going deep into the banking system..Thu Feb 12 2009 - 00:00
Cowen returns to the humdrum after the frenzy of last weekThe media went into overdriveWed Feb 11 2009 - 00:00
Cowen finds his inner ObamaNot a State of the Nation speech once again; big Haughey clan turnout; mystery of the Swedish model; and pretender to Bard of…Sat Feb 07 2009 - 00:00
Joan turns her guns on hapless Tánaiste and stunned colleaguesDÁIL SKETCH : THE TÁNAISTE went for a Burton yesterday. And no, she didn’t have another Dáil mishap.Thu Feb 05 2009 - 00:00
Late in the day Cowen lets his passion showAfter a depressing performance in the Dáil, the Taoiseach finally spoke clearly at teatimeWed Feb 04 2009 - 00:00
Tribalism and petulance rule as Ministers carry on regardlessDAIL SKETCH: "I'M OFF!" Two words from the Minister for Transport summed up his Government's attitude yesterday to discussing…Thu Jan 29 2009 - 00:00
Cool Hand Cowen's huge personal gambleDÁIL SKETCH: What has he got? Has he anything at all? Is he bluffing? Tension has been building for weeks, but Brian Cowen has…Wed Jan 28 2009 - 00:00
'Sooty and Sweep' offer little in way of hopeIt was an unusual message of hope, to put it mildly. Very tough times lie ahead, said Brian CowenWed Jan 21 2009 - 00:00
Offaly poor showingWith a political year as dramatic as this, who could blame the Taoiseach for wanting a bit of Bertie’s luckSat Dec 27 2008 - 00:00
Ministers savaged as hunt hots up for Cowen's invisible planDÁIL SKETCH: THE MAN with the invisible plan scuttled away at lunchtime and won't be back in the Dáil chamber for some time, …Thu Dec 18 2008 - 00:00
Patriotic dining on the menu as Cowen's luck turns liverishDAIL SKETCH: THINK LONG and hard, Ceann Comhairle, before you agree to switch on the Christmas tree lights today, especially…Wed Dec 10 2008 - 00:00
FF cheers up as Biffo comes back from the deadSKETCH: AAH, THE Christmas. It's for the little onesThu Dec 04 2008 - 00:00
Fásten your seatbelts for a ride with the space cadetsDÁIL SKETCH: This 'accountability' talk is almost enough to take the good out of the hard work being done in Florida by Fás…Wed Nov 26 2008 - 00:00
An official opening and that small matter of a rugby matchDÁIL SKETCH: When Leaders' Questions ended, Biffo and the Bull shot out of the trapsWed Nov 19 2008 - 00:00
Good day for carrots but a bad one for young girlsDÁIL SKETCH: AT LEAST Trevor Sargent looked happyThu Nov 13 2008 - 00:00
