Saturday/Sunday
THE Ulster Volunteer Force demanded strong action by the Government against the IRA. The which came through an intermediary in Belfast, said the Government had mounted major responses to the murder of Det Garda Jerry McCabe by the IRA and the killing of journalist Veronica Guerin, and a similar response was needed to the murder of Warrant Officer James Bradwell, who was killed in the IRA bomb attack on British army headquarters in Lisburn, Co Antrim.
The Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, said he would submit to a question and answer session in the Dail on the hepatitis C controversy. On Sunday the Progressive Democrats leader, Ms Mary Harney, described the infection of more than 1,600 women with hepatitis C contracted from infected blood products as "the worst scandal in the history of our health services".
Monday
The former Taoiseach, Mr Albert Reynolds, began his libel action against the Sunday Times at the High Court in London. The action concerns an article written in 1994, entitled "Goodbye gombeen man", which claimed Mr Reynolds had misled his cabinet colleagues and lied to the Dail over the affair of Father Brendan Smyth, the paedophile priest. The newspaper denies libel, pleading qualified privilege and justification.
The Blood Transfusion Service Board confirmed that up to 30 blood donors who tested positive for hepatitis C in routine screenings in 1991 were not told they bad the virus until two years later.
Guardian PMPA announced that it was to increase its insurance rates for motorists by 5 per cent. The company, which ensures more than 300,000 drivers blamed the increase on the rising numbers of deaths and serious road traffic accidents during the last year.
The former editor of The Irish Times, Mr Alan Montgomery, died after a long illness. He was 84.
Tuesday
Farmers reacted angrily to the news of the signing of a beef export protocol with Russia that excludes animals from Cos Cork, Tipperary and Monaghan because of the incidence of BSF in those counties. The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, said he was opposed to such regionalisation, but the Russian beef market, worth £300 million, was so important be had to sign the deal.
The Minister for Health announced details of the tribunal of inquiry to investigate the hepatitis C scandal. The tribunal, to be chaired by the former Chief Justice, Mr Thomas Finlay, will have the power to call the Minister and his predecessors, as well as Department of Health officials, to give evidence.
In his libel action against the Sunday Times, Mr Albert Reynolds said that there was "no way" he had misled the Dail over the Father Brendan Smyth affair. He said he had not received a crucial letter from the new Attorney General, Mr Eoghan Fitzsimons, relating to a previous case until after he had made his speech to the Dail about the Smyth case.
Wednesday
The Minister for Health apologised unreservedly for comments made in the Dail during a three hour debate on the hepatitis C scandal.
Mr Noonan had asked if the solicitors of Mrs Brigid McCole, the hepatitis C sufferer who had died before her case could come to court, could not have selected a test case "in a better condition to sustain the stress of a High Court case?"
Anger grew among farmers over the decision by the Minister for Agriculture's Russian beef deal, with one Monaghan beef farmer retitling Mr Yates "the Minister for Rack and Ruin". The Taoiseach agreed to a special Dail debate on the issue and the Irish Farmers' Association called for the implementation of an action plan to restore Ireland's BSE strategy.
It was announced that a line on the Luas light rail transit system would be built to Dundrum on the south side of Dublin in preference to Ballymun on the city's north side. However, there was a firm commitment to provide a line to Ballymun at a later date.
Thursday
The Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, denied for a second time this week that there was any conflict between himself and the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, over the requirements for Sinn Fein's entry to the Northern talks. Earlier in the week, the two men appeared to have conflicting views on whether an IRA ceasefire was a requirement for entry.
A serial rapist, Michael Murray, who attacked six women at knife point over five days in September 1995, was jailed for 18 years by the Central Criminal Court. Murray had stabbed one of his victims seven times and had also attempted to choke her. Mr Justice Lavan described Murray's crimes as "horrific".
Three Fine Gael deputies intervened to back a Fianna Fail amendment ensuring anonymity for hepatitis C sufferers testifying at the tribunal of inquiry.
Sinn Fein introduced its drug policy in Dublin. The Sinn Fe in leader, Mr Gerry Adams, called for a partnership between communities, State agencies and politicians to create an integrated strategy to tackle the drug problem.
Meanwhile, Operation Dochas, the Garda anti drugs initiative, was accused of targeting anti-drugs activists instead of drug dealers at an anti-drugs meeting in Dublin's north inner city.