Saturday/Sunday
THE new Northern Secretary Dr Mo Mowlam, took Belfast by surprise when she hugged and kissed her way through the city-centre crowds on Saturday in a walk-about just hours after her appointment by the new Labour administration.
The first woman in the job, she issued a statement of intent in which she committed the Labour government to the reform of the RUC and to promoting equality in employment. She wanted to see Sinn Fein in the Stormont talks if there was an unequivocal IRA ceasefire and promised to implement the North report on parades and marches.
Monday
Ken Doherty from Ranelagh, Dublin, became the Republic's first world snooker champion when he beat Scot Stephen Hendry by 18 frames to 12 in the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. The 27-year-old picked up a cheque for £210,000.
The Taoiseach accused the Sinn Fain leader, Mr Gerry Adams, of issuing a "menacing" reminder that the IRA has not gone away.
Mr Bruton was referring to a speech by Mr Adams in Belfast on Sunday in which he said: "What is very important 16 years later is that we see that our struggle is once again on a very high threshold. Where is Margaret Thatcher? Where is John Major? They have gone away, you know." Mr Bruton said this was a "menacing echo" of a comment in 1994 when Mr Adams said of the IRA: "They haven't gone away, you know."
Tuesday
Ryanair, the independent airline, said it would float its shares on Dublin and New York stock markets, which could value the company at up to £300 million. It will raise £34-£41 million for the airline's founder, Dr Tony Ryan, and his family.
The Government has increased to an estimated £40 million its offer of aggravated damages to people infected with hepatitis C through contaminated blood products. The new offer, a top-up of 20 per cent on general awards, is expected to push the overall compensation costs to an estimated £240 million.
The Irish Permanent, the State's biggest mortgage lender, became the first building society to raise interest rates, by a half of 1 per cent, adding £12 a month to the cost of a £40,000 mortgage over 20 years. The Central Bank had indicated it wanted banks' and building societies' rates to rise by half a per cent following pressure on the pound.
Wednesday
World snooker champion Ken Doherty arrived home in triumph with an open-top bus cavalcade from Dublin Airport to Ranelagh after a reception at the Mansion House. The party ended up in Jason's, the snooker hall where he learnt his game.
The Taoiseach called on the IRA to "throw away for good the crutch of violence", in an address to the Oxford Union, the university's debating society. The republican movement was "at a crossroads", he said, but added "we want peace but we will not compromise our democratic values".
Members of the Government's anti-drugs task force said Mountjoy prison should be shut, the site sold to a developer and the money invested in the prison system.
Thursday
A 25-year-old Catholic died 11 days after being attacked and beaten by a loyalist gang in Portadown, Co Armagh. Political and community leaders have appealed to nationalists to remain calm.
Dr Mowlam said she hoped legislation giving effect to the North proposals on parades would be included in Wednesday's queen's speech, which will set out the programme for Britain's new Labour government. She was speaking after an hour-long meeting with the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, and the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, at 10 Downing Street.
Dr Mowlam repeated the British government's desire for all-party talks on the future of Northern Ireland. However, she all but ruled out Sinn Fein involvement when the talks resume at Stormont on June 3rd.
The Rainbow Coalition slipped to 12 points behind the alternative coalition of Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats in an MRBI poll in The Irish Times.
The Taoiseach's personal rating dropped by 8 per cent while Fine Gael showed a four-point drop in support. Fianna Fail's support remained at 43 per cent, Labour was up one point to 12 per cent and the Progressive Democrats remained unchanged at 8 per cent. Friday
A majority of voters, 65 per cent, believe Mr Ben Dunne's evidence to the Dunnes payments tribunal that he paid more than £1 million to the former Taoiseach Mr Charles Haughey, according to an MRBI poll in The Irish Times.
Just 8 per cent believed Mr Haughey's version of events, which he outlined in a letter to the tribunal, denying receiving any money. A majority of 63 per cent believe Fianna Fail will be damaged by the evidence, 52 per believe Fine Gael will be damaged and 36 per cent think Labour will be damaged by the tribunal evidence to date.
