Saturday/Sunday
THE bipartisan approach to Northern Ireland in the Dail was put under strain when the Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, criticised Government policy.
Speaking at the party's Easter Rising Commemoration at Arbour Hill, Mr Ahern attributed part of the blame for the breakdown of the IRA ceasefire to the Taoiseach and others in the Government who seemed "to be more interested in chasing after an unresponsive unionist leadership than consolidating the democratic nationalist consensus which underpinned the peace".
Mr Bruton accused Mr Ahern of appealing "to the worst partisan political sentiments". The Tanaiste, Mr Spring, said the Government had achieved a fixed date for all party talks, which the previous, Fianna Fail led coalition had failed to do.
The Bord na Mona chairman, Mr Pat Dineen, asked auditors to review the pay and expenses package of the chief executive, Dr Eddie O'Connor, a statement from the company said. The company denied reports in a Sunday newspaper that there was a split at management level, or that there was Government concern over the contents of a report on the company. Dr O'Connor said the review of his salary arrangement was absolutely normal.
Irish writers Arthur Mathews and Graham Lenihan won a British Academy Award for their comedy script for the series Father Ted, starring Dermot Morgan.
The pair won the best comedy award, beating Absolutely Fabulous, Men Behaving Badly and One Foot in the Grave.
Monday
The VHI will face competition in the Irish health insurance market for the first time, when an Irish offshoot of the British company, BUPA, establishes itself here at the end of the year. The Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, welcomed the announcement.
Bord na Mona made a £240,000 tax settlement last year, it was disclosed in The Irish Times, including £15,000 in respect of expenses paid to its chief executive. The recently appointed chairman, Mr Pat Dineen, instructed the company to dispose of a time share facility in Portugal and establish new methods of paying expenses to senior management.
The director of the Central Mental Hospital has advised the Department of Justice he could not justify the continued detention of Mr John Gallagher, who was found guilty but insane of two murders in Sligo, the High Court was told. Dr Charles Smith told the Department he could not justify holding Mr. Gallagher on the grounds of his imminent dangerousness, because he did not think it existed, or of illness, because he was not ill.
The film of Roddy Doyle's hovel, The Van, is one of 22 chosen to compete for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.
The writer Molly Keane died aged 92. She wrote 14 novels and a number of plays, mainly about life within the Anglo Irish community. She was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for her novel, Good Behaviour.
Tuesday
Sister Xavieria, the nun in charge of the former Goldenbridge Industrial School, denied accusations of serious physical abuse made against her in an RTE drama documentary, but apologised for any hurt caused to the children in her care. She was also in charge of an orphanage at Rathdrum, Co Wicklow. She was interviewed on RTE's Prime Time, the first time she went public since the screening of Dear Daughter two months ago.
The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, promised to change the law relating to criminal insanity.
The first rotation of Irish troops serving with Unifil in Lebanon since Israel's Grapes of Wrath operation started 13 days ago went ahead without incident, despite continued bombardment of the area.
The Minister for Education responded to the criticism of her proposal to drop history as a core subject for the Junior Certificate.
She suggested it could continue to be offered as a short, modular course.
Wednesday
Tensions between the Minister for Finance and the trade union movement over a new national wages deal heightened, with both sides predicting difficulties in reaching agreement.
Mr Quinn said he would not be optimistic that a successor to the Programme for Competitiveness and Work could be agreed. However, Government sources under lined the desirability of securing another deal with the social partners. The general secretary of the ICTU, Mr Peter Cassells, identified tax reform as essential for any new deal.
The SDLP and Sinn Fein announced that they intend to contest the forthcoming Northern Ireland elections. The SDLP indicated that it may participate in the forum. All e main parties in the North are now committed to fighting the elections. The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, accused the SDLP of making a Uturn on its attitude to the forum. The SDLP said it might enter the forum if the body's role was tightly circumscribed by British government's guidelines.
The distinguished Irish language scholar, Prof Tomas de Bhaldraithe, died. He collapsed at a book launch.
Thursday
The Government tried to play down a comment by the special adviser to Mr Spring, Mr Fergus Finlay, that all party talks without Sinn Fein were not worth "a penny candle". It was clear the comment was the cause of much embarrassment in Government circles. A bomb planted by the IRA in London on Wednesday night turned out to contain 30 lbs of Semtex. It failed to explode fully.
The controversy surrounding the remuneration of the chief executive of Bord na Mona continued, with the chairman and directors seeking further information. Dr O'Connor's pay and expenses were the subject of an eight hour board meeting.
Advertising expenditure rose 9.5 per cent in the first quarter of this year to £63.2 million, with newspapers accounting for half of the market share.
Figures released by Advertising Statistics Ireland showed that advertising expenditure in the national press rose to £31.8 million between January to March, a 9 per cent increase on the same period last year.