‘New Politics’, Fine Gael’s agenda for institutional reform, contains some surprisingly good ideas. By Vincent Browne

A few days after the 2007 general election, in which Fine Gael made an impressive recovery from the debacle it suffered in 2002, I meet Enda Kenny on the street at Merrion Square. He quoted verbatim the opening lines of a column I had written after that 2002 debacle in which I had offered a prayer for Fine Gael: “May the Angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs greet you at your arrival and lead you into the holy city, Jerusalem. May the choir of Angels greet you and like Lazarus, who once was a poor man; may you have eternal rest.”

Taoiseach Brian Cowen is due to announce the make up of his new cabinet in Dáil Éireann at 15.40 today, and Politico.ie will deliver live updates throughout the afternoon as information becomes available.

The Irish Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA) has called upon the Irish government to end the use of Shannon airport for military stopovers. A conference marking the seventh anniversary of the Iraq invasion yesterday drew together a coalition of political figures including Independent TD Finian McGrath, Labour TD Joe Costello, MEP Joe Higgins, Sinn Féin TD Aengus O Snodaigh and Chairman of the Irish Anti-War movement, Richard Boyd Barrett.

The Irish section of the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) has called on the government to back the proposed European target to reduce the risk of poverty by 25% in the next 10 years.

This year is European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion and the EAPN believe efforts to tackle poverty should be implemented in tandem with the government’s own objective to eliminate consistent poverty in Ireland by 2016.

According to Anna Visser, Director of the EAPN in Ireland, the government has a responsibility to play a key role in the efforts to lift 20 million Europans out of poverty by 2020. 

Vincent Browne is wrong on Sinn Féin. This week he argued (here) that Sinn Féin, like Labour and the Greens want to be in government with Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael after the next election. By Eoin O Broin

If Vincent had taken the time to listen to the full coalition debate at the Ard Fheis or to carefully read the content of the motion finally agreed he would have come to a different conclusion.

Unfortunately his opinion piece misrepresents the content and outcome of the coalition debate. It also completely ignores the very substantial policy agenda agreed by delegates at the RDS on Friday and Saturday.

The Minister for Finance approved increases in the salaries of NAMA Board Members and the Chairperson of the NAMA (National Asset Management Agency) Board after they were appointed to NAMA.

The salary for ordinary board members was originally set at €38,000 per annum, with the Chairperson of the board receiving a salary of €100,000. However, these salaries were revised upward to €50,000 and €170,000 respectively following "discussions with the Chairperson and the Chief Executive of the National Treasury Management Agency last month and in light of the workload of the Board’s operations over the initial period of its operation".

The state’s first ever Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender–based Violence is welcomed by advocacy groups, but it is meaningless without adequate funding. By Deirdra O'Regan.

The five year strategy was produced by the National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender–based Violence (COSC), which was established by the government in June 2007.

Speaking at the launch, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern said: "This government is tackling the violence and abuse suffered by women and men of a sexual and non sexual nature both within and outside the domestic scene. These types of crimes often happen behind closed doors where there are no witnesses or, worse still, where the only witness is a child. As a government, we are saying 'No to Domestic Violence, No to Sexual Violence and No to all types of gender-based violence'".

Labour and SF seek power in coalition with Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael, neither of which has a real interest in equality.

The Sinn Féin website records that a motion at the party’s ardfheis last weekend, that Sinn Féin“will not, under any circumstances, enter into coalition or any other electoral pact with Fianna Fáil before, during or after a general election” was lost.