On Saturday, July 5th, 2025, in the quiet parish rectory of Cannobio, overlooking the serene waters of Lake Maggiore, Fr Matteo Balzano reached a conclusion that defies our understanding.

The Oireachtas will take its summer break at the end of this week. The reaction will be the same as it is every year. There will be lots of reports of, and discussions about, public outrage.

On the island where one of her famous castles still stands sentry, the legend of Granuaile came alive in spectacular fashion late last month.

June was entering its last day, around 12:45am on a Sunday morning. At the intersection of Atlanta Avenue and Delaware Street in Huntington Beach, an Audi RS5 was travelling east when it struck a pedestrian just beyond the Delaware Street junction.

In the shadow of the round tower, where history whispers through the corridors of Turlough Park, a leather bag tells a story that would make the most hardened cynic pause for breath.

Few of us can remain unaffected in the presence of a dog. Maybe it’s their loyalty that draws the eye or possibly some mischief that they have gotten up to, but our canine companions never fail to make an impact.

It must be all of sixty years ago that the first cracks appeared in that great bastion of male Irish hegemony - no, not the Catholic church - the Gaelic Athletic Association.

The long wait for All-Ireland success in Mayo has changed all of us who care deeply about the fortunes of our senior football team.

Following the economic crash of 2008, as banks imploded, businesses began collapsing like dominos and the Irish state teetered on the abyss of insolvency, I spent an absurd amount of time traipsing in and out of the Galway branch of Bank of ...

As I write the news headlines remind me that in Dáil Éireann this Tuesday morning, the Cabinet has its standard weekly meeting with, on its main agenda, housing. Or should that be - housing, housing and housing.