Australians travelling to Ireland have been warned of "tensions" ahead of the country's state celebrations for the centenary of the Easter Rising.

COMMENT: Sustainability leadership - we don't know what we've got 'til it's gone, writes Barry Coates.

The remains of three humans, in fact, were found behind McCuaig's Pub in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

The craic. The Irish pronounce it "crack" and you'll find it over a pint of Guinness in any pub.

Now here's something worth knowing as you plan your indulgent road trip of Ireland: Guinness, unlike Irish breakfasts, is not too bad on the waist.

Tyron Davies, 23, formerly of Christchurch, is on bail awaiting sentencing in the Dublin District Court for the attack, which left his victim with three scars on his face.

A man has been shot dead in Dublin in an attack believed to be in retaliation for a shooting in the city late last week.

Tucked away off the cobblestoned High St in the medieval district of Kilkenny, Ireland, hides a tiny bar with a formidable history.

The Irish are descended from early Middle East farmers and from bronze metalworkers on the steppes around the Black Sea, scientists have found.

Christoph Driessen samples black gold at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin.

Ancient tombs, historic homes that played backdrop to combat - Ireland boasts loads of history to relish away from the paddock, writes Brendan Manning.

Italy is now the only western European country that does not recognise either same-sex marriage or civil unions.

A top Irish Catholic leader said the Church needs a "reality check" as the predominantly Catholic nation voted to approve gay marriage.

Linda Moser's nuptials are all shades of green, as she braves the elements - and aunties - of Ireland.

Raise your glasses to these drinking establishments, writes Megan Singleton.

Police have detained a 21-year-old as part of the investigation into missing Glasgow student Karen Buckley.

An Irish court has temporarily legalised certain class-A drugs after a law governing the possession of controlled substances was ruled unconstitutional.

Some readers said we should take heed of the Celtic Tiger's demise, while others were more inclined to point out how different our economic situation is.

Precisely the same factors that plunged Ireland into its housing crisis last decade are now in play in NZ and could spark a big correction, says a leading Auckland fund manager.

Hobbling at the back of the pack (with one broken shoe) Jini Reddy hikes the heights of Connemara - home to staggering landscapes and well-earned seafood suppers.

A Dublin court has ruled in a landmark decision that a clinically brain-dead pregnant woman's life support machine be switched off.

Brian O'Driscoll, the former Ireland and Lions midfielder, believes the All Blacks will win next year's World Cup because of their much higher skill factor relative to other nations.

She duped Irish and Canadian authorities with horrific tales of being a child sex abuse victim. Now a 26-year-old Aussie is being sent back home.

Drop into any pub in Ireland and you'll not stay a stranger very long, Bruce Morris discovers.

The real story about the song of wartime longing turns out to have a more earthy meaning, Peter Calder discovers.

The ex-wife of a struck-off Papakura lawyer - who fled NZ during a SFO probe - is unable to bring a claim here to establish her stake in an Irish country estate.