If not for the politicians (who are looking hagard at best), then for the correspondents and the politicial junkie bloggers and Twitterers?

Barely a day is going by without a national shitfit in the Houses of Oireachtas. Just before the explosive media feeding frenzy, the political news junkies were setting themselves up to track the passage of the Finance Bill 2010 through committee. Yesterday was supposed to be celebratory for the Greens, with a fresh-faced senator in the upper house – instead they lost a former leader and Junior Minister.

Who’s next and who’s up for Berocca?

As you can imagine, the fingers of Press Officers everywhere are bleeding. I’ll post the press releases here as I get them.

Unfortunately as the Green Party keep forgetting to add me to their press list, we’ll just close our eyes and think of Dan Boyle. Any other pressers? Mail me!

Fianna Fáil

Statement by Fianna Fáil Senator Maria Corrigan

George Lee’s resignation from Dáil Eireann has come as a shock to the people of Dublin South today.

Politics is a difficult career path and never more so than now with the current difficulties facing the country. Progress at times can be difficult and slow, but it is possible to make a difference.

George is a bright person and he had a contribution to make. But it appears that Fine Gael is not an inclusive party.

They have already been dismissive of former esteemed party leaders Alan Dukes and Garret Fitzgerald, and now George.

It’s clear that Fine Gael has no genuine interest in economic policy.

I wish George and his family well for the future.

Ends

Sunday Tribune

Tomorrow’s Sunday Tribune is leading with a shocking story alleging that Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams knew about two other abuse victims and did nothing to help them.

Suzanne Breen exclusively reports:

Women from two of Ireland’s best-known republican families have spoken for the first time about how they were sexually abused by republicans and of how that abuse was covered up by Sinn Féin and the Provisional IRA.

A grand-niece of former IRA chief-of-staff Joe Cahill has told of how she was repeatedly raped at the age of 16 by a prominent IRA man in west Belfast.

The daughter of a now deceased IRA Belfast commander has spoken of how she was physically, mentally and sexually abused by someone who is currently a Sinn Féin elected representative.

She continues:

Both women said that Gerry Adams was aware of the details of their abuse but had failed to take action.

Sunday Independent
Tomorrow’s Sindo leads with a story on how former billionaire developers are quitting Ireland. It reports that Bernard McNamara has “taken flight” to his Marbella villa to “get his head around” the end of his 40 year career.

The lead story continues by reporting that Paddy Kelly (former head of Redquartz) has traveled to Africa and is having his Shrewsbury Road house cleared out so that the Chinese embassy can move in, as soon as. The majority of lenders to Redquartz have won over €100 million in judgments against it.

A adjacent sub-lead report by Jody Corcoran describes how Jean Tracey, the mistress at the centre of the Lillis murder case, is expected to take the stand this week at the Central Criminal Court.

The Sunday Business Post

The Sunday Business Post leads with a piece on how the proposed inquiry into the banking crisis will be held in private. Pat Leahy writes:

Rather than holding an Oireachtas inquiry or tribunal, the government will propose using a system similar to the Murphy Commission, which investigated the Catholic Church’s response to the child abuse in Dublin.

He continues:

The proposal is unlikely to satisfy the demands from opposition parties that an inquiry be conducted in public to ascertain the reason for the banking crisis, as well as the need to the publicly funded bail-out of the sector.

We’ll know on Tuesday when Government presents its plans to the Dáil.