Ireland

Author of William Hill award-winning book The Racket does not miss life on tour as world No 129 but holds no bitterness towards the gameConor Niland laughs and, without hesitating, rejects the idea that he misses the intensity of competition which shaped and sometimes deformed his life as a professional tennis player who reached a high of No 129 in the […]

Newly released Irish archives include leaks from UK government and RUC’s attempts to undermine Sinn FéinParts of the British government and disgruntled members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary were responsible for a series of major leaks during and after the establishment of the 1998 Good Friday agreement in Northern Ireland, according to claims in newly […]

Newly released documents show Irish officials sought return of cannon sold by ‘gang of British treasure hunters’Rare cannon allegedly smuggled out of Irish waters by a gang of British treasure hunters and acquired for a knockdown price by a Tower of London official were at the centre of a decades-long dispute between British and Irish officials, […]

Newly released documents show senior official accepted that Rosemary Nelson should have been offered helpThe murdered solicitor Rosemary Nelson should have been offered protection by the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), a senior official accepted, according to newly released documents.Nelson was killed by a loyalist car bomb outside her home in Lurgan, County […]

Delicate 650-year-old pages to be preserved are some of the island’s most important historical textsWork has begun to conserve and digitise one of the oldest paper documents still in existence on the island of Ireland.The ecclesiastical register, which dates back to the medieval period, is about 650 years old. It belonged to the former archbishop of […]

Rory Carroll and Helen Pidd meet the Kabin Crew and the Lisdoonvarna Crew – creators of a song that has notched up more than a billion plays on TikTok – as they perform at the Electric Picnic music festivalThis week we are revisiting some of our favourite episodes from 2024. This episode was first broadcast on 13 September.“Think you can stop what we […]

Philosopher and management thinker who coined the phrase ‘portfolio’ career, and believed companies should retain their humanityFor a country that prides itself on its professional and financial services sector, the UK has produced remarkably few world-ranking management and organisational thinkers. At the very top of that pile, however, is Charles […]

Diageo also reportedly puts shipments for North America on standby for potential diversion to keep up with thirstGuinness is raiding its reserves in Ireland to boost shipments to the UK, where a social media-fuelled surge in demand has left some pubs facing shortages.The reserves – known as security stocks – are usually earmarked for Irish customers but […]

I paid Royal Mail £14 postage but AN Post returned the parcel for not having the correct customs declarationI recently sent a parcel – of three secondhand books – by Royal Mail to Ireland, a fortnight before a birthday, paying £14 postage.Three weeks later it was returned to me having failed An Post’s requirement for the correct CN22 customs […]

Her election is first action in moves to form new coalition government after no party won majority in general electionVerona Murphy has become the first female speaker of the Irish parliament as part of attempts to form a coalition government.Murphy, an independent TD for Wexford, defeated two Fianna Fáil candidates and one from Sinn Féin to win the […]

Impact of Storm Darragh has shut route between Wales and Ireland, with up to 150,000 passengers affectedHolyhead port in Wales, battered by Storm Darragh 10 days ago, is to remain closed until mid-January at the earliest, in a major blow for 150,000 passengers in Britain trying to get to Ireland for Christmas.The port in the north-west of Wales is the […]

Simon Harris accuses Benjamin Netanyahu of using decision to close embassy as ‘diplomacy of distraction’Israel will not “silence Ireland” and its criticism of the scale of the war in Gaza, the Irish taoiseach has said after Israel’s decision to close its embassy in Dublin.Simon Harris said the country had been unequivocal in its support for […]

Israeli foreign minister says move was prompted by Irish government’s ‘extreme anti-Israeli policies’Israel has announced it will close its embassy in Ireland, citing Dublin’s decision last week to support a petition at the international court of justice accusing Israel of genocide.The move was announced by the Israeli foreign minister, Gideon […]

Former F1 team owner has bladder and prostate cancerJordan, who is 76, discussed diagnosis on his podcastEddie Jordan has revealed he was diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of cancer earlier this year. The former Formula One team owner said he suffered with bladder and prostate cancer which spread to his spine and pelvis.The 76-year-old, who ran his […]

Abused as a child, barely able to support herself as an adult, Maria Arbuckle was one of thousands of unmarried women who suffered in Ireland’s mother and baby homes. She talks about her long battle to be reunited with her son – and the tragedy that struck soon afterWhen Maria Arbuckle thinks of her time in Ireland’s largest mother and baby home, she […]

From rural buses to solar panels, our Green agenda has been transformative. Yet, vested interests and big polluters helped to poison the well of public thinkingEamon Ryan was Irish Green party leader from 2011 to 2024Ireland’s Green party went into government in 2020 determined to bring Ireland from laggard to leader on the climate crisis. Public opinion […]

Fans of Gladiator II star can choose from knitwear items, vintage T-shirt and Jimmy Choo bootsFirst the chain he wore in Normal People gained a cult following, then he went viral for the tiny shorts he’d been papped wearing while running through London and Dublin.Paul Mescal’s latest fashion fixation is the cardigan, and fans will no longer have to […]

Eight-year-old boy believed to have disappeared two years ago but only reported missing in AugustA woman has been arrested in Ireland on suspicion of the murder of an eight-year-old boy who disappeared two years ago.Gardai investigating the suspected murder of Kyran Durnin said on Tuesday the woman, whose name has not been made public, was being detained at […]

Friends of the Earth calls on government to rein in growth of datacentres for fear they could increase fossil fuel use Ireland has allowed itself to become a “data dumping ground” for big technology companies such as Amazon and Meta which are monopolising clean energy generation for their datacentres, campaigners claim.They say the growth of the cloud […]

This quietly compelling documentary tells the stories of a select group of people as they cope with Christmas with hardship and humourA modest film with modest ambitions, this is a documentary that paints a portrait of a small Irish town at Christmas, through interviews with various inhabitants about their lives, touching on what the festive season means to […]