Harney seeks `radical' cuts in income tax

Saturday/Sunday

The Tanaiste, Ms Harney, called for a "radical package" of substantial cuts in the upper and lower tax rates, saying that an indication by the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, that £350 million would be available for tax cuts was "not sufficient".

The Government said it would appoint an Ombudsman for Children under a series of measures to protect children from abuse.

An investigation was launched into an incident 28 miles off the Dublin coast in which an Irish trawler, the Renegade, was almost sunk in what its crew called a "hit and run incident at sea".

Monday

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said he was confident the Coalition would survive the implementation of a revised Programme for Government, which is to be negotiated by Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats before the end of September.

The head of the Criminal Assets Bureau, Chief Supt Fachtna Murphy, said he was "producing documents but not furnishing them" when he brought two sealed boxes of files relating to the former assistant Dublin city and county manager, Mr George Redmond, to the Flood tribunal. Legal arguments between the tribunal, which wants access to the files, and CAB were carried out in private.

Tuesday

Gardai investigating a plot to smuggle handguns from the US arrested a man and two women in Inverin, Co Galway, and recovered eight handguns which had arrived in two parcels in the post. Earlier, in the US, the FBI detained two men and a woman in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and a Belfast man in Philadelphia in a transatlantic operation involving British and Irish police.

The Court of Criminal Appeal quashed the rape conviction of a former nun, Ms Nora Wall, and a co-defendant, Mr Paul "Pablo" McCabe, after the Director of Public Prosecutions conceded that relevant information had not be revealed to the defence during their trial. Ms Wall and Mr McCabe were freed on bail, but they remain charged with the offences.

The Government decided to allow more than 2,000 asylum-seekers to work while their applications were being processed. ail TD, Mr Liam Lawlor, to orders made by the tribunal. Legal arguments between the CAB and tribunal continued in private session.

Wednesday

The Secretary of State for the North, Dr Mowlam, retained her position in a British government reshuffle that left all but one member of Mr Tony Blair's cabinet in place.

Relatives of the 14 men shot dead and 13 civilians wounded by British soldiers in Derry on Bloody Sunday expressed disappointment at an Appeal Court ruling that the soldiers who opened fire in the Bogside in 1972 would not be named in open court.

Mr Michael Bailey declined to give permission to the Flood tribunal to inspect his accounts, stating that the demand was outside the tribunal's terms of reference.

Thursday

A 44-year-old part-time broker in Atlanta, Georgia, killed nine people in a shooting rampage in two stock brokerage offices after exchanging pleasantries with former colleagues. When surrounded by police, Mark O. Barton shot himself dead. Barton's wife and two daughters were later found dead in their family home. NBC News reported that Barton was a suspect in the killing of his former wife in 1993.

Gardai arrested a US man in his mid-50s in Clifden, Co Galway, in connection with a suspected conspiracy to smuggle arms into the State. Earlier, gardai discovered a two handguns and a quantity of ammunition in a parcel at the SDS postal depot on the Naas Road in Dublin. In Fort Lauderdale, three Irish people arrested in connection with the conspiracy were refused bail by a Federal Court judge. A prosecution lawyer for one of the men, Mr Conor Anthony Claxton, said he described himself as "a member of the Irish Republican Army".

Brian Meehan was jailed for life at the Special Criminal Court after being convicted of the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin in June 1996. He is the second man to be convicted of the murder.

A cheque for £20,000 given for the medical expenses of the late Brian Lenihan was "inadvertently" lodged into an account of Celtic Helicopters, Mr Charles Haughey said in a statement. Mr Haughey said the money was withdrawn on the same day it was lodged and some days later it was lodged in the Fianna Fail party leader's account. The Government nominated the former justice minister, Ms Maire Geoghegan-Quinn, to the European Court of Auditors, to replace Mr Barry Desmond, who will retire next February.

The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, said the current setback in the peace process was "not a blip but the possible meltdown of the political conditions that led to the [Belfast] agreement".