Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen is battling for political survival.

Many years ago I was sitting with a friend at a pub in Ireland when an American tourist came in and began studying the menu. He approached the bar and asked the barmaid for "a quicky".

Irish author Cathy Kelly talks to Stephen Jewell about her new novel and the importance of multi-tasking.

Working NZ families pay 28 per cent of their net income on childcare, according to an OECD study. Dita De Boni examines the costs.

Irish republican dissident groups are targeting the British Conservative party conference.

NZ is one of the best places to shuffle off the mortal coil, according to a new index.

Belfast is once again counting the cost - human, financial and social - of the familiar mid-July outbreak of disorder.

Graham Henry's Project Carter involves coaxing more out of his team-mates. But Ireland have their own blueprint to counter the brilliant five-eighth.

Forwards coach Steve Hansen sees Crusaders’ influence in tight five as crucial.

An Irish couple who have discovered they share the same father have vowed to stay together and continue to have children.

The singer's wife allegedly discovered he had been having an affair with a backing dancer after finding text messages on a secret phone.

The ash cloud from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokul volcano is still causing havoc for flights across the Atlantic.