The north of Ireland has acres of space and weather by the bucket, writes Peter Calder.

This deserted village tells a story of hardship and exile, writes Pamela Wade.

I looked at the calendar the other day and was shocked to see that it's almost St Patrick's Day.

Incoming PM to test flexibility of hefty restrictions imposed by Euro bail-out

Decision to let banks go under looks smarter by the day, in contrast to Ireland's costly bailout, reports Yalman Onaran.

New Zealand settled into their World Cup campaign with a 32-run win over Ireland in their opening warmup game at Nagpur yesterday.

Strokestown Park's gracious delights front a grim attraction, writes Graham Reid.

United States news organisation CNN International has released its top 10 places to propose to a loved one on Valentine's Day.

An ageing side, past its sell-by date? Or one with enough talent to be able to raise one last hurrah in 2011, Rugby World Cup year?

Pamela Wade gets swept up in the magic of a game that unifies a nation.

The Six Nations rugby tournament kicks off on Saturday morning (NZT) with an unprecedented Friday night match. Paul Lewis figures that's not all that is different in Rugby World Cup year.

Nathan Outlaw has overtaken Britain's best-known fish chef and his former mentor - at least in the culinary stakes.

PM Brian Cowen won a confidence vote yesterday in his leadership of Ireland's Fianna Fail Party.

The bassist - who was previously engaged to supermodel Naomi Campbell and later split from Susie Smith, his girlfriend of 10 years, months before they were due to marry - had a son with an unnamed French woman early last year.

Finance ministers from the eurozone are meeting to consider the issue of bailouts for debt-ridden countries.

Former All Blacks star Doug Howlett was arrested by Irish police on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly at his Christmas party night out with his Munster teammates.