Sunday:
The Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble, challenged Sinn Fein to get a pledge from the IRA to disarm by May 2000. But Sinn Fein's chief negotiator, Mr Martin McGuinness, said he could not speak on behalf of the IRA. Mr Seamus Mallon, deputy leader of the SDLP, interpreted Mr Trimble's challenge as indicating an acceptance that the demand for prior disarmament would not be met.
Meanwhile, proximity talks at Stormont, involving Portadown Orangemen and Garvaghy Road residents, adjourned without agreement. Mr Brendan MacCionnaith of the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition said the talks had failed and that the Parades Commission should issue its recommendations on the Drumcree parade immediately. The Orange Order representatives made no comment.
The duty-free stores of cross-Channel ferry companies and airports reported a brisk trade as consumers stocked up in advance of the abolition of duty-free sales for travel within the EU on Wednesday.
Monday
The Parades Commission banned the Portadown District of the Orange Order from marching down the Garvaghy Road next Sunday. The decision followed the breakdown of talks between Garvaghy Road residents and the Order. The Commission also rerouted the Long March in support of Protestant rights and the Portadown Orangemen away from nationalist areas of Lurgan, Co Armagh, on Friday.
The Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister were preparing for a "final push" to end the impasse over decommissioning and the formation of an executive.
An appeal by the Sunday Times newspaper arising out of the libel case taken against it by Mr Albert Reynolds concluded in the House of Lords and a decision is expected in October.
Bord Gais said it would continue a freeze on the price of gas to domestic users for at least another four years.
Tuesday
After 30 days of fruitless searching, gardai uncovered the bodies of two of the "disappeared", believed to be those of John McClory (17) and Brian McKinney (22), abducted and murdered by the IRA in 1978 for allegedly stealing weapons.
Unionist and Sinn Fein spokesmen were cautious about the degree of progress made in the Stormont talks despite an upbeat assessment by the British and Irish governments. Official sources suggested substantial progress had been made in the talks with Sinn Fein which was said to have hardened its verbal commitment to the principle of decommissioning and to using its influence to persuade the IRA to dispose of weapons in the context of the full implementation of the Belfast Agreement.
It emerged that the Adoption Board has granted all requests from adult adoptees for original birth certificates since its new members were appointed last year.
Wednesday
Sinn Fein continued to pour cold water on reports that substantial progress was being made in the Stormont talks. But British sources talked of a "potentially historic" deal on offer from Sinn Fein and expressed disbelief at the Ulster Unionists' insistence on parallel or simultaneous decommissioning.
Upwards of half-a-million people were estimated to have applied for shares in Telecom Eireann. Thousands of people visited AIB branches across the State to deliver their forms by hand. Applicants must wait until next week to find out how many shares they have been allocated.
Thursday
Mr Tony Blair claimed the Stormont talks had brought "seismic shifts" in the political landscape of Northern Ireland, but the Ulster Unionists continued to insist that the IRA decommission its weapons and explosives in parallel with the creation of the Northern Ireland executive. SDLP sources also believed a possible solution was emerging.
Opposition leaders said they could not remember being told at the time of his appointment that the chairman of the Moriarty tribunal had shares worth £500,000 in Cement Roadstone Holdings. Mr Justice Moriarty said he had asked the Attorney General to inform party leaders at the time. Just before his appointment, the Government rejected an Opposition bid to have the sale of Glen Ding wood to CRH by the State included in the remit of the tribunal.
A teenager who urinated at an O'Connell Street, Dublin, cash machine was ordered to stand beside it tonight (Saturday) with a placard saying "I apologise."