Your Politics

A quite day next Thursday has tongues wagging in the corridors of Leinster House. Might it be the day we get our election date? Deputies are ready to go and already wearing out the shoe leather to get a running start. Things get spicy with FF and FG ready to pivot from partners to rivals for votes.

Is the dog about to get a glimpse of the rabbit? As the election looms the Dáil has signed off on a raft of bills as the Government clears the decks. Ex-MEP Clare Daly throws her hat in the ring for a seat in Dublin Central. Sinn Féin struggles on as Darragh O'Brien grapples with falling house construction.

Mairéad Farrell is the woman of the moment, apparently on the cusp on taking the helm of the powerful PAC, following the shock departure of Brian Stanley. But how many meetings will the Galway TD get to chair before an election is called? 29 November, anyone? Sinn Féin slogged through the week from hell, but it hasn't managed to turn the page.

The Dáil guillotine comes out for the Planning Bill as parliament grinds on amid growing election speculation. Hollywood eco-star Mark Ruffalo gives the Green Party a slap over LNG, Sinn Féin's child protection scandal escalates and the intensifying war in the Middle East engulfs UN peacekeepers.

The Gov splashed the cash, and for all the billions of largesse, it's getting grief over €9m for phone pouches - or 'magnetic holders'. Will the 'wasters' tag loom larger the longer Simon Harris holds off calling an election? Political insiders say it'll be in November, but who really knows? And we bid farewell to the redoubtable Mary O'Rourke.

It's all over bar the shouting. And there's been plenty of that. With each governing party having something to take to the electorate, the Opposition are concerned about the scale of spending in Budget 2025, claim that it lacks substance and warn that once-off spends will soon be forgotten 'like snow off the ditch'

Bike shelter costs in the ha'penny place after reports on the security shelter emerge. The Budget days away, and spending choices to be made. The runaway costs for the NCH puts the Taoisesach in the cross hairs, and his comments on immigration add to the heat. And then there's that New York trip by President, Taoiseach and Tánaiste...

Leinster House lockdown keeps protestors at arm's length as the Dáil resumes, but with pre-election buzz continuing politicians made prompt exits to hit the campaign trail. Speculation as to when we will be going to the polls has hit fever pitch. And then there's the surplus of budgetary kites...

Childcare, housing, migration are dominating this pre-election cycle, and with €14bn of Apple's cash on the way, the stakes just climbed even higher. Across the pond, Donald Trump went off message and straight into the ditch, while Kamala Harris kept her campaign on track. And Pat Finucane's family finally get a public inquiry into his murder.

The furore over the inflated cost of an Oireachtas bike shelter gave way to stunned outrage as the scale of abuse at Irish schools was laid bare. Parties clashed over who can sort the housing crisis, and Barnier's back as Macron finally gets his PM.