1. Learning new steps for Lanigan's Ball?
So it has happened. Or has it? While the Rubicon might not yet have been fully crossed, incumbent Taoiseach Enda Kenny has engaged in a first political dance with his party's age-old rivals Fianna Fáil. Both party leaders will bring Kenny's proposal for a 'full partnership' in government to their respective parliamentary parties today. Sources say however that Fianna Fáil is unlikely to abandon its repeated commitment not to enter a coalition with Fine Gael and a minority government is almost certain for the 32nd Dáil. Miriam Lord takes a humorous look at events in the Dail yesterday. So then, Realpolitik time then perhaps.
2. Panama Papers: Mossack Fonseca’s Irish clients came from all walks of life
On the afternoon of May 27th, 2014, the Mossack Fonseca office in Panama City received an email from a potential new client in Ireland called Paudie. Of course, the Panama Papers revelations are not restricted to Irish clients – we have seen the prime minister of Iceland submit his resignation while and Swiss police raided the UEFA offices in Nyon last night to seize details of a TV rights contract signed by the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino. The latest revelations from the leaked documents show provide new information about offshore holdings of powerful families in China.
3. €100m China-Ireland deal at risk over human rights vote
The Irish government has been warned by the Chinese authorities that a vote by Ireland at the United Nations Human Rights Council could have consequences for a multimillion-euro beef trade deal. Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney yesterday told the Cabinet his department had been contacted by the Chinese government expressing concern about a recent vote at the UNHRC. China banned EU beef imports over mad cow disease, or BSE, 16 years ago but an announcement that the ban was being lifted in respect of Irish beef came in the past year. One to watch.
4. Trump facing trickier route to Republican nomination
Wisconsin, the US state famous for its cheese making, put a wall of hard cheddar in Donald Trump's path to the Republican presidential nomination, but still left Hillary Clinton with a smoother float to the Democratic top. Hillary Clinton has stepped up her attacks on Sanders as Republican contender Ted Cruz said in New York that his latest victory was "a turning point in this entire election".
5. Ivan Yates to shelve media work and leave Ireland
Broadcaster and former minister Ivan Yates is to resign from his media commitments and is to leave Ireland for a second time. He has denied that the move was prompted by his family's legal battle with AIB. Mr Yates previously moved to Swansea in Wales without his wife in 2012 in a case of so-called bankruptcy tourism.
