There were her two expeditions to Everest which called on ambition and a willingness to motivate herself and others on the 7,000 metres and 6,500 metres climbs.

On a recent trip to Northern Ireland, I was blown away by the explosion of artisan food and drink producers.

The sounds of the Indian stringed sarod and strains of the uilleann pipes and harp can be heard together in Co Cork next Sunday in an innovative international collaboration.

The Eighth Amendment was never about Catholicism. The Catholic Church did not insert it, the political system did, writes Victoria White.

A man found dead in a hospital should not have been left to die in an emergency department waiting room, his family said yesterday.

STANDING behind every new Rose of Tralee winner is a supportive sisterhood of former winners stretching back through the years.

MEP Brian Hayes has called for a grand coalition of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in government for five years in order to hold the centre ground and a majority in the Dáil.

Listening to interior designer Deirdre Whelan’s soft Dublin lilt, it’s difficult to believe she spent the first 15 years of her life in Holland.

The funeral took place in Cahir, Co Tipperary, yesterday of a 20-year-old student who died suddenly of meningitis.

LAST week, I said I’d be writing my next column from Ethiopia, and indeed I am, writes Damien Enright.

Jackie 4/5

Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman star in the amazing true tale of an Indian boy adopted to Australia, who used Google Earth to find the family he had lost at the age of five, writes Helen Barlow

Michael Carr is originally from Dublin, but has lived in Cork for 16 years. He co-runs Blue Monkey PR agency, looking after a variety of clients, and also presents The Green Room on Cork’s 96FM on Saturdays at 6pm.

Three former Barclays traders have been found guilty by a London jury of conspiring to fraudulently manipulate global benchmark interest rates in a stark warning to junior bankers and a major victory for Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

Patrick Leigh Fermor died five years ago this month, aged 96, and though he claimed to be part Irish, he was a man of the world, who walked from the Hook of Holland to Istanbul in his teens, and who later became a great travel writer, says Michael Duggan

MARIA Walsh is no stranger to charity work — the former Rose of Tralee has previously travelled to Calcutta, South Africa, Tanzania, and Chernobyl to support worthy causes.

What difference do individuals make to history? This question is explored in Margaret McMillan’s new book, History’s People. 

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a nun who dedicated her life to helping the poor, will be made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church at a ceremony on September 4, Pope Francis announced.

In just over a week, Kevin O’Riordan concludes a journey he began on August 29. When he kicks over a point on All-Ireland club finals day in Croke Park he’ll have split the posts in each of the 1,616 clubs and 32 county grounds in the country.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has branded a €1.24bn shortfall in the costings in Fianna Fáil’s election manifesto as the party’s “black hole of Calcutta”

A new selection process, twice as many Roses, an extra night on television, and a longer festival are all reasons why this year’s Rose of Tralee will be the best yet, according to host Dáithí Ó Sé and reigning rose Elysha Brennan.

A 6.7 magnitude earthquake has hit India’s remote north east region, killing at least six people, injuring more than 100 others and damaging buildings.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the Nobel laureate known for dedicating her life to helping the poor, will be made a saint of the Catholic Church, the Vatican has said.

Reigning Rose of Tralee Elysha Brennan has opened up about her fear of not being able to have children and has urged others to speak openly about the issue.

Check out our guie to the best of tonight's TV.

Indian author Neel Mukherjee’s will be in Bantry on Thursday to read from his Booker-listed

Cork campaigner Joanne O’Riordan is among 10 young people to win awards for their outstanding achievements in categories such as personal and cultural achievement, contribution to children, environmental leadership, and medical innovation.

A young couple are being hailed as heroes after saving the life of a student who was swept off a cliff face by a giant wave.

Tonight's telly tips…

MUSIC and war would seem to be polar opposite in the spectrum of human activity, yet it is music associated with war that is among the most treasured works in the canon of classical music. 

Kalyan Ray

The father of a teenager who was allegedly gang raped and later died after being set on fire in eastern India is demanding a federal inquiry into the case.

An Indian teenager was gang-raped in two separate attacks and then died after being set on fire, sparking protests in the eastern city of Calcutta, police said.

Cleaners found 24 gold bars worth around €834,000 hidden in an airliner toilet after a flight from Bangkok landed in India.

Police in India have arrested a hotel management graduate who is alleged to have raped a young Irish woman working in Calcutta for a charity founded by Mother Teresa.

The hallowed halls of University College Cork will enjoy an ‘oh so Graham Norton’ day next week when the broadcaster joins other well- known faces to be honoured by his alma mater.

“It’s just like Slumdog Millionaire, except in the film you don’t experience the smell.”

A fire broke out at an illegal six-storey plastics market in the Indian city of Kolkata today, killing at least 18 people.

PARK STREET Cemetery in central Calcutta, or Kolkata as it is now known, is a good place to encounter the Irish who once served in the British army in India, including many who were employed as petty officials in the centuries before Indian independence.

THE Royal Irish Academy’s journal Biology and Environment doesn’t carry detective stories but there’s a fascinating one in its current edition.

The retired judge who caused outrage by punishing Tim Allen with community service for having child pornography has defended his ruling and said the controversy was fuelled by media misreporting.

The retired judge who caused outrage by punishing Tim Allen with community service for having child pornography has defended his ruling and said the controversy was fuelled by media misreporting.

SATURDAY