Saturday/Sunday
Parents for Justice, a group established to lobby for information about the practice of removing organs from dead children without parental permission, demanded an independent investigation. The group said it had also been inundated with complaints involving the removal of organs from adults without the consent of their next-of-kin.
The Irish Coach Drivers' Association proposed that the Book of Kells be removed from Trinity College, Dublin and returned to its native Kells, Co Meath, to help ease Dublin's traffic problems. It cited the lack of coach-parking facilities around the college and suggested the move would bring more tourists to the regions.
A special Mass for Dublin youth was held in the Pro-Cathedral by the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Desmond Connell. He presented a copy of St Mark's Gospel to each person, saying it was the youth of today's Rough Guide, which could be used to help them on their journey through life.
Monday
The inaugural plenary meeting of the North-South Ministerial Council took place in Armagh attended by the full Cabinet from Dublin and 10 of the 12 ministers from the Northern Ireland Executive.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said ministers from the two main traditions and both parts of the island were gathered "to work for the common good of all the people" and said it was "the biggest thing that has happened in my political life". The new implementation bodies will have offices throughout the island. The Northern Minister of Regional Development, Mr Peter Robinson, and the Minister of Social Development, Mr Nigel Dodds, both members of the DUP, boycotted the Armagh meeting.
With the power-sharing executive already in place, the North-South Ministerial Council is the second of three key elements of the Belfast Agreement to come into force. Judge Kevin Haugh temporarily banned reporting of the details of Mr Charles Haughey's application to delay his trial on two charges of obstructing the McCracken tribunal. Mr Haughey was trying to delay his trial in the Dublin Circuit Court until the Moriarty tribunal had ended. Judge Haugh said the ban was necessary to ensure that Mr Haughey's right to a fair trial was upheld.
Tuesday The Government announced measures designed to streamline asylum application procedures and end lengthy queues outside Dublin's "one-stop shop" in Lower Mount Street.
The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, said details of an immigrant work visa scheme will be put to the Government in the new year and already 2,100 asylum-seekers have been sent letters telling them they have permission to work.
Funding the cost of legal representation for the Irish Haemophilia Society is being considered by the Minister for Health after Judge Alison Lindsay ruled she could not award the IHS costs until the inquiry into haemophilia infection had concluded.
The judge also refused to allow seriously ill haemophiliacs to have priority in giving evidence.
The new Mental Health Bill, replacing the 1945 Mental Treatment Act, introduces safeguards for people suffering from a mental illness who are involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric hospital. Patients can no longer be detained against their will without having an independent review.
Mr George Redmond, the former Dublin assistant city and county manager, pleaded guilty to 10 charges of failing to make tax returns between 1988 and 1998 in the Dublin Central Criminal Court.
The charges arise from his arrest with £300,000 in cash at Dublin Airport last February by officers of the Criminal Assets Bureau.
Wednesday
The Dail Public Accounts Committee released its report on the DIRT (Deposit Interest Retention Tax) inquiry into the use of bogus non-resident accounts to evade tax.
It found such accounts "industry-wide" across banks and building societies in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The report noted a particularly close and inappropriate relationship between the banking industry and the State and its agencies.
It absolved the five ministers for finance during that time of any wrongdoing. The report dismissed AIB's claim of a tax write-off deal and severely criticised the management of the Revenue Commissioners, saying its failure on DIRT evasion contributed to the fiscal crisis of the 1980s.
The collection of the overdue tax, along with interest and penalties, is the report's main recommendation.
The Northern Ireland Budget was presented at Stormont by the new Minister of Finance, Mr Mark Durkan. The budget, which is determined by Whitehall on a pre-agreed formula also used in Scotland and Wales, was increased by £390 million on last year to £8.878 billion.
The Flood tribunal heard from the financial director of Joseph Murphy Structural Engineers, Mr Roger Copsey, that he could not explain how two payments totalling £30,000 given to Mr Ray Burke for political donations were recorded in JMSE company documents as "enhancements" to the north Dublin lands and "planning permission".
Thursday
The President, Mrs McAleese, addressed both Houses of the Oireachtas and recalled Ireland's painful history that had preceded its current economic success. She warned against allowing materialism and inequality to prevail. She said this was the first generation with the power to eradicate poverty and consolidate peace on the island and called for the creation of a socially inclusive Ireland that welcomed immigrants. Party leaders echoed several of Mrs McAleese's themes before the Dail was adjourned. SIPTU's national executive agreed to re-enter negotiations with the social partners on a successor to Partnership 2000. It was satisfied that the damage inflicted on low-income families by the Budget had been addressed by increasing the take-home pay of workers from between 5 and 7.1 per cent a week, compared with the 2.2 per cent under the original proposals in the Budget.