The events of the past week suggest a party distracted by internal upheavals and losing control of its own agenda

The virus has put additional pressure on already struggling services and, without a post-pandemic strategy in place, the state is facing a different kind of health crisis

Germany takes over the rotating presidency in July and faces the difficult task of driving a real sense of European purpose through the deep challenges and divides created by the pandemic

From Aids, swine flu and Sars to Covid-19, a pattern of increased animal viral infections is now plain to see. It’s time to take a hard look at the global food chain

As Covid-19 is not going away, governments are facing the starkest of choices: must we accept that people will die in order to bring economies back to life?

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s framework document is heavy on management-speak, light on ambition and fails to take heed of a new reality

Voters’ reluctance to turn against a leader, however inept, in a time of crisis may make Joe Biden’s task impossible

IFA calls for government and EU backing to freeze surplus meat to shore up prices, stave off future shortages and line up Chinese deal

We need to hold on to Thursday’s public declaration and ensure that frontline staff are treated much better in the future

Our public service and ministers are often maligned for their slow responses but their actions this week deserve our respect

Trolling, bogus advice and even theft have emerged in response to the coronavirus outbreak, but so too has kindness and innovation

The end of Elizabeth Warren’s presidential primary campaign is just one development that shows the obstacles to women achieving equality

The Boris and Barnier Show might be unpredictable and filled with posturing but it’s the action taking place off-screen that should really worry us

It’s time to stop the refrain that ‘this is not what the voters asked for’. As ever, they asked for lots of things, and they can’t have them all

The state’s oldest party has youth on its side but it needs to stake out new ground

Party knows failure to enter government could lead to a fresh election and more seats or a realignment of Irish politics

The possibility of Sinn Féin running more candidates and becoming the largest party will focus minds

Sinn Féin is riding high in Donegal, where Pádraig MacLochlainn is quick to dismiss Micheál Martin’s promise not to go into coalition with the party

The implications of Britain’s departure from the EU have gone largely overlooked in this election. That could prove costly

The pace of cultural change in the two biggest political parties remains ‘glacially slow’ even though, for the first time, there is at least one woman running in every constituency