Fine Gael

The latest news, analysis and comment on Irish political party Fine Gael

Simon Harris claims ‘significant number’ in emergency accommodation ‘don’t have housing right’

Homeless executive chief rejects Tánaiste’s view, saying people who ‘can’t establish a right to housing ... are sent on their way’

‘It’s clogging up the whole system’: Record number of ‘no shows’ for driving tests

Absences are worsening the problem of long waits at testing centres, campaigners say

Miriam Lord’s Awards: Who gets the gongs for brass neck, cringe event and politician of the year?

It was a weird political year, featuring a humiliating presidential election for the Government parties and a far happier time for the Opposition

Here’s the unpopular truth: many of us have never had it so good

Ireland has never been better off, yet a narrative of State failure dominates political debate and much of the media

Opposition TDs lose legal challenge over ‘super junior’ ministers sitting at Cabinet

Court holds Constitution does not restrict attendances at Cabinet meetings to the 15 members of Government

Micheál Martin’s detractors seem to have come unstuck by basic maths

Taoiseach would be wise to pay attention to the end of The Grinch on the eve of the Dáil Christmas recess

Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin oppose Bill to ban fox hunting

Réada Cronin says she will continue trying to persuade Sinn Féin ardfheis to ban ‘abhorrent, cruel, barbaric’ activity

FF TDs call for immediate publication of report into presidential campaign

Taoiseach says he has not yet received findings but took exception to recent ‘false assertions’

Former Fine Gael councillor jailed for stealing €172,000 from housing charity

Seán McKiernan ‘wanted to pay for sex and drugs by way of cheques from the charity’, court told

Miriam Lord’s week: Labour still first among equals as SocDems are outvoted

Government sides with Labour in row over Leaders’ Questions pecking order

Patrick Cooney obituary: Minister who confronted Provisional IRA with implacable resolve

Last surviving member of the Fine Gael-Labour coalition which held office from 1973 to 1977

Real loser in row over EU observer status for Northern Ireland is the centre ground

MEPs’ request to European Parliament was flimsy disguise for its true purpose, however

Fourteen cases taken against State over age verification of international protection applicants

Tusla confirms it ‘does not conduct age assessment in the strict statutory sense’ on people presenting as unaccompanied minors

Fine Gael councillor asked Garda superintendent to ‘sort’ speeding ticket, court hears

Text messages exchanged between Cllr Liam Galvin and now retired Eamon O’Neill heard in evidence at trial

More than 8,000 submissions made on right to request remote working

High level of interest in public consultation believed to be partially motivated by frustrations with current practice

President Connolly – How the Race Was Won: Striking reminder of botched presidential campaign

Television: Behold the idiot’s guide to running an idiotic campaign, brought to you by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil

Former Fine Gael minister and MEP Paddy Cooney dies aged 94

Simon Harris pays tribute to man of ‘tremendous integrity’ who served in governments of Liam Cosgrave and Garret Fitzgerald

Former minister Denis Naughten joins Red Flag communications agency as senior adviser

His role will include advising their clients across the technology, energy and health

Judicial reviews blocking vital infrastructure and housing to be restricted

In the absence of change, critical shortages of water and power likely within a few years, notes report

Harris says suspension of civilian Garda member over alleged threats against him ‘very concerning’

Tánaiste he does not view ‘such matters as HR matters, I view them as criminal matters’

Plans to remove name of former Israeli president from Dublin park suspended

City council executive ‘completely messed up’ allowing recommendation to rename park on meeting agenda, says Lord Mayor

Dublin’s Herzog Park set to be ‘denamed’ by city councillors over Israel connections

Chief Rabbi says Jewish story deserves not to be ‘whitewashed or erased’

Government tightens screws on migration – but will changes fix issues the country faces?

Housing and services remain problems to be solved even as numbers coming into country are going down

Children’s science museum project described as ‘absolute shambles’

The Office of Public Works - which is under a legal obligation to deliver a building for the project - appeared before the Dáil’s spending watchdog

Harris accuses Sinn Féin of ‘taking big money from big American building companies’

While landlords end 35% more tenancies this year, Tánaiste Simon Harris called Pearse Doherty a ‘hypocrite’ in heated Dáil clashes over rising rents

Enoch Burke’s ferocious desire for martyrdom has roots in Irish life

Catholic anti-divorce crusaders deliberately made outrageous analogies and used modern tactics, too

Europe ‘a little bit removed’ from US and will be more realistic in future decisions, says Kenny

Former taoiseach given inaugural Trinity European Laureate Award in recognition of Irish EU presidency in 2013

Ban on electroconvulsive therapy for under-18s on way to Cabinet for approval

Flexibility for broadband customers, immigration reform and flood relief also on the agenda

Judicial reviews are not the problem – and deregulation is no answer

We have seen before how cutting ‘red tape’ leads to disaster, especially in planning and housing

Government could boost merger notification limits, says competition body

Competition and Consumer Protection Commission publishes details of €971m Phoenix Tower deal findings

Gerry Hutch plans to register new voters as part of bid for seat in Dublin byelection

Unsettled €800,000 tax demand from Cab will not disqualify criminal figure from running, say officials

Message from the Editor: Exit Paschal Donohoe

The abruptness of the minister for finance’s departure leaves the Coalition facing a significant reset

What next for Fine Gael and the Coalition after Paschal Donohoe?

Senior party figures lament former minister’s departure but back Simon Harris as natural fit for role

How to earn €100,000 a year for reading the newspaper

Plus: Ryder Cup experiences in far-flung destinations; a prominent Romanian’s beef with Bram Stoker; and the councillor who doesn’t believe in a potholing God

Fine Gael’s ‘new generation’ who quit: ‘Many TDs don’t see it as a career any more’

The party’s brightest stars of the 2000s walked away from politics by the age of 51

As economic storm clouds gather, Simon Harris has big decisions to make

Growth is slowing and the stock market is wobbling - the new Minister for Finance could have a lot on his plate

Only thing predictable about Irish politics is that nothing is predictable

Right now, Sinn Féin are the bookies’ favourites to win the next general election, but you might as well ask Mystic Meg

Diarmaid Ferriter: Departing Fine Gaelers leave a mixed legacy

Leo Varadkar, Paschal Donohoe and Simon Coveney are gone but the question remains: what does Fine Gael stand for?

Hardly a dry seat in the house as Paschal Donohoe makes his exit

Outgoing minister for finance effusive in his praise for party leader and ministerial successor Simon Harris at Fine Gael gathering

Simon Harris’s short time at Foreign Affairs: building bridges, less foreign travel - and a lot of press releases

‘On trade he’d get a better mark than on the pure foreign policy side of things’

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