An independent candidate for Offaly County Council endorsed by local TD Carol Nolan has been running a business on public land without planning permission.

A Fine Gael local election candidate and parliamentary assistant to ex-junior minister Damien English is in a battle with Meath County Council – which has served an enforcement notice on her and her husband for unlawfully building a “lodge” on their property without planning permission.

Fine Gael’s Marian Agrios entered into another agreement – separate from the two already reported by The Ditch – that compelled a property developer to increase a more than €100,000 package she got to withdraw a planning appeal.

An Irish Freedom Party European candidate uses a fake name to run a rent pressure zone Airbnb in a converted office space for almost €1,000 a week.

A US general onboard a military cargo plane that’s frequently used to transport munitions stopped in Shannon Airport last month on his way to Israel – but Irish authorities didn’t search the aircraft for weaponry.