Oireachtas Finance Committee meeting with Taoiseach's sec-gen Martin Fraser over Holohan-Trinity debacle.

Fraser reading out a letter he sent to the committee last week.

FF TD Jim O'Callaghan first up with questions Fraser says he had a conversation with Holohan about his future work plans towards the end of the summer last year.

"He was thinking of moving on," MF says

In the event matters didn't progress because "we were focussed on dealing with pandemic".

Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald gave interview to TV station accused of being propaganda machine for Putin
independent.ie/irish-news/pol… A number of Sinn Féin activists have pointed out that Fianna Fáil MEP @BarryAndrewsMEP appeared on RT in 2020.

As did SF TD @ROMurchu and FG's @kierandennison, a councillor in Tánaiste Leo Varadkar's constituency.

rt.com/shows/going-un…

🚨 Sinn Féin has suffered the resignation of one of its crop of new TDs elected in 2020 this morning.

Clare deputy Violet Anne Wynne has quit the party claiming she was subjected to “psychological warfare” Story: independent.ie/irish-news/pol…

THREAD: These are some of text messages and emails behind today's story in the Sunday Independent about the strained relations between Stephen Donnelly and Tony Holohan late last year

independent.ie/irish-news/new… The stark warning from Dr Holohan on Nov 7: "Our Covid border control measures do not give assurance to me...and as a result provide me no basis for assuring you...that we have appropriate public health controls in place to protect Ireland from importation of this disease."

On East Coast FM, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly confirms that PR consultant Conor Dempsey is "a friend of mine" but "I haven't spoken to him" over Twitter controversies.

He says he called Dr Anthony O'Connor and told him: "This is nothing to do with me." Donnelly says "there is no story" to the €3,800 he paid Dempsey 10 years ago for campaign work (having denied paying him during that campaign)

He says it was worked out with Sipo subsequent to the election as a benefit in kind for work Dempsey had done.

Sinn Féin gathering for a meeting of its expanded parliamentary party.

Not sure who this new fella in the middle is.

Anyone? Some crew

The hottest ticket in town today? The surging Green Party holding its final #EP2019 and #LE19 press conference Councillor Roderic O'Gorman opening proceedings says the Greens are running 82 candidates in #LE19. Party has 12 sitting councillors and wants to take back seats in Galway, Cork and Clare as well as take new seats in the likes of Kildare and Westmeath.

DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson says it wasn't deliberate the border issue became central to Brexit discussions and he regrets that it has. Donaldson has a cut off Sinn Féin for failing to return to Stormont and "holding us to ransom" to applause from delegates.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney says Ireland is preparing for "a worst case scenario" Brexit 👀 Coveny says Brexit Bill going through Dáil is on time so far

Irish government spokesman says it serves no purpose to speculate about what happens with the border in the event of a no deal Brexit and says it's up to UK to come up with alternatives to avoid hard border if withdrawal agreement rejected. "We're not putting up border infrastructure," spokesman adds.