Saturday/Sunday
Sinn Fein made significant gains in the local elections. The party increased its vote from 2.1 per cent in the 1991 local elections to 3.5 per cent and trebled the level of its representation to 21 seats.
While Fianna Fail's vote increased by just 0.1 per cent, it secured 23 extra seats, and won outright control of eight county councils. Fine Gael increased its support by 0.8 per cent, but gained only seven seats. Labour lost seats in rural areas and failed to capitalise on the merger with Democratic Left. The Progressive Democrats lost 12 councillors but were relieved to maintain seats in key constituencies.
The most spectacular performance in the European Parliament elections was that of sitting Fianna Fail MEP Mr Brian Crowley. Mr Crowley won 159,185 votes in Munster, almost double the quota. Labour Party president Mr Proinsias De Rossa beat his colleague, Ms Bernie Malone MEP, to a seat in Dublin, while Ms Avril Doyle's poll-topping performance in Leinster wasn't enough to help party colleague Mr Alan Gillis MEP join her next term. RUC detectives began a murder inquiry after a man's body, wrapped in a blood-stained sheet, was found on a roadside in south Armagh.
Tributes were paid to Ms Joan FitzGerald, the wife of former Taoiseach, Mr Garret FitzGerald, who died at her home in Dublin on Saturday night.
Monday
Ms Dana Rosemary Scallon took the last seat in the Connacht-Ulster European Parliament constituency at the expense of Fianna Fail. The new Independent MEP made it clear she would be calling for another referendum on abortion. In Northern Ireland, the Ulster Unionist Party MEP, Mr Jim Nicholson, retained his seat despite a sharp drop in party support, and a strong challenge from Sinn Fein's Mr Mitchel McLaughlin. The Democratic Unionist leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, and Mr John Hume of the SDLP also retained their seats, with Dr Paisley topping the poll in the constituency for the fifth time.
Unionist politicians blamed republicans for the previous night's murder of Newry drugs dealer Mr Paul "Bull" Downey. Mr Downey (37), who was from Newry, was the second major drugs dealer to be murdered in the area in just over a month.
Tuesday
The Taoiseach said the Irish and British governments would "set aside" the Belfast Agreement and seek alternative means of political progress if a breakthrough was not made by June 30th. Mr Ahern told the Dail the decommissioning issue had now been "debated to death". In a speech at Stranmillis College, Belfast, the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, said the governments would "have to look for another way forward" if the devolution deadline were missed.
Inflation figures for May exceeded analysts' expectations. The rate rose by 0.5 per cent rather than the anticipated 0.3 per cent despite large mortgage rate cuts. Some 750 employees at Intel were told they were being offered retraining and redeployment as a result of a decision to phase out assembly operations.
Wednesday
Bank of Ireland's planned £13 billion (€16.5 billion) merger with Britain's Alliance and Leicester collapsed. Analysts said the breakdown left both banks discredited, and one suggested they were extremely vulnerable to takeover. Fund managers and stockbrokers said the credibility of senior Bank of Ireland officials had been seriously undermined. In a separate development shares in Allied Irish Banks fell heavily for the second successive day on fears that the bank might be excluded from the Dow Jones Eurostox-50 index when the index is restructured later this month.
The Taoiseach described as "inappropriate" the relationship his former special adviser Mr Paddy Duffy had with Dillon Consultants. Dillons advised NTL, which bought Cablelink last month.
A survey of Dublin prostitutes suggested that 38 per cent of female sex workers using drugs have attempted suicide, and two-thirds of those who are mothers do not live with their children.
Thursday
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, corrected a statement he had made in the Dail earlier in the day that he believed the Garda had given up on some of the sites being searched for the remains of those killed and buried in secret by the IRA. He said he had discussions with officials from the Department of Justice and had been assured that the Garda had not given up on the searches.
It emerged that the Government was preparing to make a bid of up to £25 million for the purchase of Farmleigh mansion and 78 acres of land at the edge of the Phoenix Park in Dublin. It was thought likely that the Georgian/ Victorian home of the Guinness family would be used to accommodate visiting heads of state and as an alternative venue to Dublin Castle for State receptions.
The Football Association of Ireland was fined 50,000 Swiss francs (about £20,000) by UEFA because the match between Ireland and Yugoslavia failed to go ahead on June 5th after the Yugoslav team were refused visas by the Government.
