Like to buy a nice new airport? No? How about a railway network or a power station? Well then, wouldn't you like to have a bus company, or a harbor, or a television service or a chain of post offices? Any one of these properties could be yours; all reasonable offers considered. They are slated to come under the auctioneer's hammer in a fire sale of national assets in Ireland. Read more»

The world has seen dramatic pictures of violent street disturbances in Northern Ireland in recent weeks. But it would be a mistake to assume that Belfast and Derry are returning to the bad old days of the Troubles of 1968-1998. Read more» 1

Gun crime in Ireland, a country of just over 4 million people where possession of handguns is severely restricted, is rising fast and is practically out of control. There have been only 23 convictions for 198 gun murders in the republic since 1998. Read more»

American flags flapped in the wind, blue smoke swirled from barbeques, and Dan Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers presided over a game of football. It could have been a July 4th event in the U.S. But this was Ireland, where Rooney is the U.S. ambassador. Read more»

Preparations are under way for a historic state visit to the Republic of Ireland by Queen Elizabeth ll next year. The 84-year-old head of the House of Windsor will be the first British monarch to grace the neighboring island nation since it gained independence from Britain in 1921. Read more»

What is it about Northern Ireland, which is about a 10th of the size of New York State and has about a 10th of the population, that it currently produces so many world class golfers? Read more»

Cheers erupt in Derry as British government releases report on the 1972 killings: There was silence as Cameron announced to the House of Commons that the killings of civil rights demonstrators by members of Britain's elite First Parachute Regiment on Jan. 30, 1972, were "unjustified and unjustifiable." Read more»

Conall was found dead on Truskmore Mountain in the northwest of Ireland recently, and "Dr Poison" of Ballintrillick is the chief suspect. But the killer doesn't give a damn, it seems, and he is pretty much beyond the law. Read more»

All of Ireland is following the progress of the Rachel Corrie to see if it becomes the little boat that finally breaks the maritime blockade of Gaza. The Irish-owned aid ship is sailing through rough seas in the Mediterranean and is due to reach its destination Friday evening or Saturday morning. Read more»

A founder of the Irish Republic, Eamon de Valera, famously idealized Ireland 70 years ago as an innocent land of saints and scholars, whose villages were joyous with the laughter of happy maidens. If he came back today he would be shocked to find that a village in Ireland is just as likely to contain a brothel, populated by sex slaves from Africa. Read more»

One of the biggest shocks in the United Kingdom's general election came in Belfast, where the leader of Northern Ireland's biggest party lost the parliamentary seat he has kept warm for 31 years. Read more»

It started with an explosion that destroyed the Nirvana shop in Dublin's Capel Street on Feb. 12. Five days later a Molotov cocktail was thrown into the Happy Hippy store in North Frederick Street. Read more» 1

Free bike scheme & bike-to-work program encourage cycling in Dublin. A free bicycle scheme in this rainy metropolis of narrow roads, potholes and, it has to be said, bicycle thieves, has been a spectacular triumph. Read more»

Pope Benedict XVI’s response to the clerical child abuse scandal in Ireland has been widely criticized as flawed for placing much of the blame for the abuse and cover-ups on secularism rather than church structures. Read more»

"Watching the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York always brings home to me the awareness that I am a man of two countries." Read more»