Ireland

Exclusive: Sandstone rock featuring language markings created 1,600 years ago to go on display at museumA geography teacher was tidying his overgrown garden at his home in Coventry when he stumbled across a rock with mysterious incisions. Intrigued, he sent photographs to a local archaeologist and was taken aback to learn that the markings were created more […]

From a man with a mullet letting off fireworks to a Slovenian witch, this year’s Eurovision has some of the wildest entries everThe bookies’ favourite, and you can see why. For one thing, it addresses a hot-button social issue – the lyrics deal with Nemo Mettler’s non-binary gender identity – that’s also very Eurovision-friendly. In 1998, […]

Restored 1976 doc of Connolly’s tour of Ireland shows that, despite his bombastic stage presence, he is impeccably polite. But his naughtier material hasn’t aged wellHere is a 70s time capsule as pungent as a brimming pub ashtray. Restored and rereleased, Big Banana Feet is the 1976 documentary about Billy Connolly’s live shows in Dublin and Belfast […]

Charities fear ‘increasing risks of destitution and exploitation’ of refugees as they go missingThe Home Office is dealing with growing fallout from the high-profile roundups of asylum seekers it wants to send to Rwanda, as some have gone into hiding while others have fled across the border to Ireland.Officials began rounding up asylum seekers to detain […]

That They May Face the Rising Sun, about a small rural community in Ireland, has little obvious drama. The director explains how that is exactly what’s winning it awardsFor most directors it would be an agonising predicament: how do you translate a novel with no discernible plot, in which nothing really happens, to the screen? John McGahern called his […]

For 30 years, Brian McNeill hunted the world’s second-biggest fish from small boats off the wild west coast of Ireland. Now the species has made a recovery so rapid it has astounded scientistsThe ambush was simple. A spotter on a hill would scan the sea and when he saw the big black fins approach, he would shout down to the boatmen. They would ready their […]

A widespread search has been sparked after Victoria Mary Clarke noticed a rifle owned by the late Pogues frontman was gone. She explains why this piece of history was one of the few possessions he cherishedOK, hands up – who’s nicked Shane MacGowan’s gun? MacGowan’s widow Victoria Mary Clarke is not happy and she wants it back now, sparking a […]

Irish police started dismantling about 200 tents housing asylum seekers in Dublin early on Wednesday, tackling what has become a focal point for heated debate around migration. The government said police and other officials were removing people from tents that first appeared about a year ago on Mount Street in the centre of the capital and moving them into […]

Shocked people from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria herded on to coaches as 200 tents removed and streets cleanedThe convoy arrived just after sunrise: a stream of police vehicles, council trucks, mounted cranes and coaches, ready to dismantle a tent city of migrants and refugees in the heart of Dublin that had become too big, too visible, too political.They […]

Scottish government wins vote by 70 votes to 58, with no abstentions after debate where Humza Yousaf defended government’s recordLabour has accused Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, of championing single-sex spaces as part of a “culture war”.Speaking about the initiative announced by Badenoch this morning (see 10.10am), Bridget Phillipson, the […]

Cian Ó Cíobháin’s show, ‘one of the most radical in the world’, has been beguiling listeners in Irish for 25 years. Others, from Warsaw to Lyon, offer similar musical adventuresIn the early 2000s, trudging through the static of mainstream radio, I stumbled upon RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta, the Irish-language outpost of Ireland’s national […]

In today’s newsletter: It is the most fractious time in British-Irish relations since Brexit, as Ireland claims the Rwanda policy is pushing migrants to its borders – and increasing political pressure about immigration• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning.Dealing with the problems that have emerged from the government’s […]

Prosecutors say there is not enough evidence to convict the former soldiers for the shooting of a girl, 14, and a man, 41, in DerryTwo British army veterans will not be prosecuted in relation to the deaths of a schoolgirl and unarmed civilian in two separate shooting incidents that took place in Northern Ireland more than 50 years ago.Prosecutors said that […]

Scotland’s first minister resigns after failing to muster enough votes to survive a no confidence vote this weekHumza Yousaf steps down as Scotland’s first ministerWho is in the running to replace Humza Yousaf as SNP leader?Humza Yousaf is holding a press conference at noon, Sky News and the BBC are reporting.Mandy Rhodes, editor of the Holyrood […]

Prime minister dismisses potential deal with Dublin, increasing prospect of an escalating UK-Irish crisisRishi Sunak has said the UK will not accept the return of asylum seekers from Ireland and dismissed the prospect of a deal with Dublin.The prime minister doubled down on his Rwanda deportation plan and appeared to reject any deal with the Irish […]

Thirty years ago, Riverdance’s groundbreaking Eurovision interval performance ignited a new generation’s devotion to Irish dancingEvery Irish dancer remembers the first time they watched Riverdance. For many, that bolt from the blue struck 30 years ago when the Eurovision song contest interval act was broadcast across the world on the evening of 30 […]

Dublin records near-doubling of tax revenue from duties on imports of clothing, food and other goods from Great BritainIreland has landed a €700m (£600m) Brexit bonanza with a steep increase in tax revenues flowing from customs duties now applicable to imports of clothing, food and other goods from Great Britain.Before Brexit, Britain enjoyed […]

Taoiseach wants to reduce arrivals through Northern Ireland amid concern that Sunak’s Rwanda plan is driving people to IrelandIreland and Britain are on a collision course over asylum seekers, with Dublin vowing to send arrivals to Ireland back to the UK and London insisting it will not accept any.A diplomatic row erupted on Sunday after the taoiseach, […]

UK PM points to Irish deputy PM’s claim that threat of being deported led people to cross border from Northern IrelandAn increase in asylum seekers heading to Ireland proves that the Conservative party’s Rwanda plan is working, Rishi Sunak has claimed.In an interview with Sky News’ Trevor Phillips that will air on Sunday morning, the prime minister […]

Micheál Martin says UK asylum seekers fearful of being removed to Rwanda are seeking sanctuary in IrelandThe UK government’s Rwanda policy has been described as a “kneejerk reaction” to migration by Ireland’s deputy prime minister, who said an influx of asylum seekers could arrive in Ireland as a result.Micheál Martin, Ireland’s Tánaiste, […]