Both contenders have been obliged to explain why they now covet a role they had so recently declined

Fianna Fáil figures call for more urgency on candidate selection as Sinn Féin sounds out Rose Conway-Walsh

Overheard: Tourism bosses see upside of Norman invasion and Michael Flatley lets flute do the talking amid Áras speculation

Ireland is one of Europe’s most referendum-happy nations - that is not without its pitfalls

After Mairead McGuinness’s department, none of the three main parties even has a candidate

Tommy Reilly was a councillor in Meath for almost three decades

Inside Politics podcast with Hugh Linehan

‘What will happen is workers who use AI will replace those who don’t,’ says Fianna Fáil TD

Time is running out for candidates, and ‘without a nomination you can’t fundraise, you can’t build a team’

Diaspora voices on vital issues muted when Ireland should be at its most pluralistic

The last election was not especially exciting, but the three before it were among the most unpredictable in Irish history

Party sources expect decision in August with last candidate having run in 1997

Sinn Féin the richest of the three big parties with unmatched reserve of €8.7m, accounts show

Gardaí managing complex and serious investigations while ‘relying primarily on manual spreadsheets or paper-based systems’

Unified patent system would ‘make life easier’ for Irish inventors and small businesses, says Malcolm Byrne

We hear a lot about ‘accidental landlords’ making ‘pin money’. The data tells a very different story

Jim O’Callaghan and Peter Burke have made promising starts, James Browne has a lot of catching up to do

The nature of this disagreement suggests tougher debates to come

‘Astonishing’ that HSE expects number of overdue assessments to rise this year to more than 24,000, says Sinn Féin leader

‘Inappropriate’ to disclose numbers involved or details regarding those affected, says Department of Public Expenditure