Saturday/Sunday
THE Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, suggested that the general election should not be called until after the inquiry into the payments by Dunnes Stores to politicians was over.
The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, told his party's ardfheis that agreement on the North was possible if political leaders were prepared to take risks.
The National Federation of Group Water Schemes decided not to put up general election candidates following a meeting with the Minister for the Environment, who made concessions for house holds in group schemes.
Monday
In a letter to the Dunnes Payments Tribunal, the former Taoiseach, Mr Charles Haughey, denied allegations that he had been paid almost £1.3 million by Mr Ben Dunne.
Caravaggio's painting, The Taking of Christ, was removed from the National Gallery after tiny beetles were discovered chewing through the relining canvas.
Hospital outpatient services were cancelled after 3,500 paramedics went on strike over the issue of maintaining traditional pay parity with nurses.
The integration of environment considerations into every level of decision making was said to be one of the objectives of the Government's National Sustainable Development Strategy.
The North Western Health Board voted in favour of continuing a vasectomy service at Letterkenny General Hospital.
Tuesday
About 100 headstones at Dublin's Glasnevin Cemetery were desecrated by a gang who went on a rampage.
A revised offer of an estimated £30 million for aggravated damages has been presented by the Government to groups representing people infected with hepatitis C through contaminated blood products.
A water metering system should be phased into homes between 2001 and 2010, the Progressive Democrats said.
The Central Bank intervened heavily in the currency markets, holding up the value of the pound against sterling.
At Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, the priest, Brendan Smyth, who affirmed guilty pleas to 74 charges of indecent and sexual assaults on 20 victims, was remanded in custody to July 21st.
Wednesday
Legal sources at the Dunnes Payments Tribunal said formal sittings might be suspended to allow the tribunal team to concentrate on investigations of off shore payments that Mr Ben Dunne says he made to Mr Charles Haughey and Mr Michael Lowry.
The sudden resignation of the Ceann Comhairle, Mr Sean Treacy, gave the Coalition a potential bonus seat in his South Tipperary constituency.
About 25 couples will have to remarry because they did not give the requisite three months notice of intention to wed under new Family Law legislation.
A mutated form of the hepatitis B virus has been identified in two Dublin patients.
A new series of amendments to the Constitution, relating to the presidency, local government, the constitutionality of Bills and the position of women in the home, were proposed by an All Party Oireachtas Committee.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Yates, defended a £17 million compensation package he won for Irish beef farmers.
Thursday
It was revealed that the largest donor to Fine Gael in recent times was Mr Ben Dunne, when the Dunnes Payments Tribunal heard he paid £185,000 to the party over a four year period.
The Economic and Social Research Institute urged the Government to consider adding a temporary tax on new mortgages as an anti inflationary measure.
The chairman of Jefferson Smurfit group, Dr Michael Smurfit, warned against the creation of a "two tier society", saying the Government had to support all sections of society, primarily through social legislation.