DO YOU WANT State of the Nation delivered to your inbox every morning at 9.30am? Sign-up to our email alert at the bottom of this story.

Everyone’s talking about…

All-Ireland winning footballer Ger Brennan has joined Fianna Fáil.

Ger Brennan Source: Donall Farmer/INPHO

Several papers are reporting that the Dublin player has joined his local cumann on Dublin’s north side.

Some commentators are tipping Brennan to run for election in Dublin Central, saying he has the backing of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

However, the Herald says Brennan has ruled out running in the upcoming general election, instead wanting to focus on local involvement.

“The larger picture is that you never know what the future holds, but certainly in the next few years it’s not my focus,” he said.

Brennan was one of the most prominent sports people to call for a No vote in the recent same-sex marriage referendum.

His involvement in Fianna Fáil will come as a boost as the party looks to get back on track following the shock resignation of Senator Averil Power – who was heavily critical of the party’s approach to the marriage referendum.

Inside Leinster House

The banking inquiry is set to look into the leaking of former civil servant Kevin Cardiff’s statement to several media outlets. The committee is likely to discuss the issue at its private meeting today, with confusion as to how the document became public.

The agenda

The cabinet is meeting today.

Communications Minister Alex White will answer questions at 2pm .

The Environment Committee will discuss the country’ electoral commission at 2.15pm .

The first Leaders’ Questions of the week will kick off at 3.15pm .

The banking inquiry committee will hold a private meeting at 3.30pm .

. Senators are set to debate the GP service bill at 4.45pm .

TDs will debate urban regeneration at 5.54pm, before turning their attention to employment equality at 7.30pm.

What the others are saying

The Irish Examiner notes that the banking inquiry is set to hear about a 2008 dispute between Brian Cowen and Brian Lenihan over whether or not to include Anglo in the bank guarantee.

The Irish Times reports that Amnesty International has denied there is any political motivation behind its calls for a more liberal abortion regime here.

The same paper notes that Fine Gael Senator Paul Coghlan has said a lack of police is hindering the fight against fuel smuggling in the north.

In case you missed it

On the Twitter machine

For the day that’s in it…

Originally published: 9am