The former Taoiseach Brian Cowen is seriously ill in Dublin this afternoon.
He was rushed to hospital last night with a suspected bleed on the brain, and remains at the Beacon on the southside.
The 59-year-old was treated for fluid on a lung in April, having become unwell at a golf event.
Mr Cowen was first elected as a Fianna Fáil TD for Laois/Offaly in 1984, on the death of his father Ber.
His brother, Barry succeeded him on his retirement from politics in 2011.
