Leo Varadkar: ‘I am no longer best man to be Irish PM’

21 Mar 2024
Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar has announced his immediate resignation as Fine Gael party leader and will step down as Taoiseach once his successor is chosen. He led Ireland from 2017 and took…

Republic of Ireland: move to higher Covid restrictions

22 Oct 2020
The Taoiseach has said that despite introducing what was probably ‘Europe's strictest regime’ it was not enough to reduce levels of infection significantly. So for the next six weeks people must stay at…

Ireland: Pope begs forgiveness for sex abuse

30 Aug 2018
Pope Francis visited Ireland on 25 and 26 August and begged forgiveness for clerical child sex abuse. He said no-one could fail to be moved by stories of those who ‘suffered abuse, were…

Ireland's abortion referendum

27 Apr 2018
Ireland goes to the polls on 25 May to vote in a referendum that could end the country’s ban on abortion. Voters will be asked if they want to repeal the eighth amendment…

Ireland: referendum on legalising abortion

30 Mar 2018
The overwhelmingly Catholic Republic of Ireland will hold a referendum on 25 May on whether or not to alter its constitution to legalise abortion. The move follows the recent Irish Senate vote in…

Ireland post-Brexit border proposals

18 Aug 2017
The UK Government has said it does not want any border posts between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland after Brexit. Northern Ireland secretary James Brokenshire insists the proposals are realistic because…