Saturday/Sunday
PETER Judge, said to be one of Dublin's main drug dealers, was shot dead in a city suburb. He controlled the drugs trade in Finglas and other areas of the north city. It was the first such killing since last September.
The British Prime Minister said he would not wait "for too long" before deciding if any new IRA ceasefire was going to be sustainable. Speaking before the Anglo Irish summit he said intelligence reports, not the passage of time, would determine his judgment as to when Sinn Fein could enter talks.
The Ulster Unionist MP for South Belfast, the Rev Martin Smyth, announced his resignation as grand master of the Orange Order after 24 years.
The Minister for Social Welfare, Mr De Rossa, told a conference in Dublin that funding for private schools should be diverted to education for the less well off.
Monday
In London after the Anglo Irish summit the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, appealed for a new IRA ceasefire following his failure to secure British agreement for a fixed date for Sinn Fein's entry into talks. Fundamental differences between the approach of the two governments were not resolved.
The controversial Price Waterhouse report was handed to Judge Gerard Buchanan. He was expected to begin the task of sifting through more than 1,500 names of people in the report to determine the identities of politicians and officials who might have benefited from contributions from Mr Ben Dunne or Dunnes Stores.
The Government's plans to increase spending by almost 4 per cent over inflation drew criticism from the Opposition that public expenditure was running out of control.
A health worker in the southeast had contracted HIV through a routine blood transfusion, according to a spokesman for the Blood Transfusion Service Board. She received the blood during a routine medical procedure in the summer of 1985, only months before routine testing for HIV was introduced.
Tuesday
It was learnt that the Government was about to announce multinational projects with the potential for 4,000 jobs in north Co Dublin. The biggest, a plant for IBM, could eventually provide 3,000 jobs on the outskirts of Dublin.
The Garda reported levels of suspected paramilitary activity along the Border that have not been encountered since before the August 1994 ceasefire, adding to fears that the IRA was about to restart its campaign of violence in the North in response to the stalemate between the two governments over the timing of Sinn Fein's entry into multi party talks.
The Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, said in the Dail that the former Minister, Mr Michael Lowry, may not be a "fit person" to be a member of the House. Speaking during a debate on a motion calling for a tribunal into the Dunnes Stores affair, he said that Mr Lowry had resigned as Minister, but no satisfactory explanation had been given.
Wednesday
At least 11 blood products possibly contaminated with HIV have not been traced by the Blood Transfusion Service Board. It was confirmed that at least three more patients received infected blood. Further details of contamination were disclosed at the hepatitis C inquiry.
It was expected that Judge Buchanan would seek further documentation from Dunnes Stores, in addition to the Price Waterhouse report.
In a move to overcome the public unease created by the Dunnes Stores disclosures, the Government approved proposals to fund political parties and make the disclosure of all significant donations mandatory. The Minister for the Environment announced details of a scheme to partially fund election campaigns and the day to day running of political parties, and to revise the annual allocation to party leaders.
The Orange Order elected an accountant, Mr Robert Saulters, as its grand master. He again accused the leader of the British Labour Party, Mr Tony Blair, of being disloyal" over his marriage to a Catholic and said he favoured the retention of the link between the order and the Ulster Unionist Party.
Thursday
Meeting in advance of the Dublin Castle summit, EU finance ministers failed to reach agreement on the single currency. While progress had been made the Minister for Finance, Mr Quinn, said that he and his colleagues had failed to agree on the precise economic figures regarding the stability pact.
An opinion poll in The Irish Times showed that the Progressive Democrats had made dramatic gains in popularity from the Dunnes Stores payments to politicians scandal. The Labour Party is suffering most. More than three quarters of voters believe the Government has been damaged by the disclosure regarding Mr Ben Dunne's payment of more than £200,000 to Mr Michael, Lowry.