IN the fullness of time, the motivation behind yesterday’s attack on London will become clearer. What is already clear, however, is that the democracy and freedoms we often take for granted are fragile flowers that require nurturing.

DR JOHANN Issartel of Dublin City University’s School of Health and Human Performance is not given to hyperbole. 

WHEN Dee Forbes took on the role of director general of RTÉ last year it was evident she would bring not just international broadcasting experience to the job but also commercial nous.

MARTIN McGUINNESS, who died yesterday after a short illness aged 66, was one of the most significant figures in recent Irish history.

WE have as many well-intentioned measures to curtail drinking as there are artisan craft beers, but one report after another shows how determined we are to indulge. 

THE report from the International Organisation for Migration yesterday that something around 6,000 migrants have been rescued in the central Mediterranean Sea, the stretch of water between North Africa and Italy, in the last few days, is another reminder of the scale of the humanitarian crisis facing Africa and the scale of the impact it will have in Europe. 

THIS Friday, Europe’s leaders come together in Italy to mark the 60th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, agreements that laid the foundations for today’s European Union. 

IT is an indication of how very seriously we take our wishful thinking that two of the enterprises that enjoy the opportunities offered by the internet more than nearly any other businesses are pornography and gambling.

DENMARK passed a milestone yesterday when it cleared its foreign currency loans for the first time in at least 183 years. 

HURLING and Gaelic football may be our national games but all Irish sports people come together in a particularly high-octane way when the opportunity to up-scuttle our friends and neighbours from across the Irish Sea presents itself.