Catarina Migliorina's chastity made $780,000 at auction last week. But why did a man's virginity sell for just $3,000, asks Caroline Delaney

Trying on clothes, said Ewart, produced "sensations which bring deep peace and perfect contentment" to the female mind.

IT'S Saturday morning and young people are chatting in different languages as they wait to board a tour bus on St Patrick's Quay.

Did you cry with your buddy while watching Fergie say farewell at Old Trafford?

ANDY McCluskey has mellowed.

Jesse Jones says our response to the Celtic Tiger has made prosperity "feel like a dirty word now."

WE'RE all still buzzing here since the Literary Festival of Food and Wine at Ballymaloe over the bank holiday weekend.

WHEN Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry first dreamed up the concept of a television show based in the unexplored universe of Outer Space in 1964, the world was a very different place.

Rod Stewart said he was "over the moon" as he celebrated his 15th No 1 with a champagne toast.

The UN thinks it's a good idea, but what do the Irish think of eating creepy crawlies, wonders Jonathan deBurca Butler.

Embattled Justice Minister Alan Shatter said the Garda commissioner gave him details about TD Mick Wallace escaping penalty points and that he publicly revealed it to defend the integrity of the force.

Rarely has a voice ever carried so much panic.

The search for survivors and the dead in the Oklahoma City suburb raked by a massive tornado was almost complete last night.

Antonio Banderas will star in a movie as one of the 33 Chilean miners trapped deep underground for more than two months in 2010, and the charismatic survivor he's playing couldn't be happier.

Ireland is heading for a smooth exit from the bailout programme as GDP grows — delivering a huge political and reputational reward for the country, according to the latest Ernst & Young Economic Eye.

Siobhan Talbot is set to succeed John Moloney as group managing director of Glanbia, at the end of this year — becoming the first woman to head up a major Irish food company.

Armagh's Jamie Clarke has cleared Paul Grimley of all responsibility for Sunday's defeat by Cavan, but questioned referee Maurice Deegan's decision not to allow him advantage in scoring his second-half disallowed goal.

Brian O'Driscoll has ruled out extending his career beyond next June.

In the play An Enemy of the People, one man stands for right, says Pádraic Killeen.

The UN thinks it's a good idea, but what do the Irish think of eating creepy crawlies, wonders Jonathan deBurca Butler.

The latest addition to our stellar team of rugby writers reflects on the ups and downs of a magnificent playing career — and reveals the reasons why he's chosen to move to Paris to kick-start his coaching career.

Today, inspirational teenager Dónal Walsh will be buried. This is an essay he wrote about how he dealt with his two crushing cancer diagnoses

A Fine Gael TD has revealed that pro-life activists have threatened to slit her throat and burn down her house.

It's a story familiar to GAA people all over the country. A stormy annual general meeting, members walking out, transfer applications handed in afterwards.

THERE are three reasons why a managed exit by Ireland from the eurozone is the most urgent economic priority. But first consider this reality.

More than 300,000 people have left Ireland in the past four years. Tempting as it is, Ruairí McKiernan is prepared to stay to help make the country a better place

DÓNAL Walsh will be buried today having fought two battles in his short life — one with cancer and one with our health service.

Paddy Power are today refunding all win and each way singles to customers who backed Ireland's Ryan Dolan for last night's Eurovision.

Leaflets criticising the TD who chairs the Dáil committee hearing opinion on legislating for the X case, and likening abortion to the Holocaust, are being sent to homes in Cork.

The latest addition to our stellar team of rugby writers reflects on the ups and downs of a magnificent playing career — and reveals the reasons why he's chosen to move to Paris to kick-start his coaching career.