It wasn’t quite on the same scale as Brexiteers puffing out their chests and quoting Winston Churchill’s “we will fight them on the beaches” speech, but, in an Irish context, there was no avoiding the point being made by the Cabinet yesterday.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is to up the stakes with Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin this week by insisting, at a private meeting, that he will only put forward a budget in October if he knows his party will still be in power to implement it.

WITH all the hype about Star Wars and Skellig Michael, there’s a danger some people might be deluded into thinking it is just a spectacular rock that has only recently been discovered in the Atlantic.

Fáilte Ireland says it cannot include an island ferry, felt to be crucial for tourism in the South-West, among major projects eligible for grant aid.

Muinín, or confidence, is the theme of an international conference taking place on the Skellig coast this week.

A local council is reportedly moving slowly with its plans for a public lighting system suitable for a dark sky reserve to which star-gazers are attracted.

April set records for dry weather but warnings of showers and cold temperatures for the rest of May

A greenway with the potential to be one of the world’s “most iconic” walking and cycling routes hangs in the balance, a county council meeting was told yesterday.

We’ve got a feeling it could go a little like this …

A fusion of diverse attractions — from the ancient to the most modern — could launch a sometimes forgotten part of Ireland as a world centre for a new type of tourism.

A former Garda station has been given a new role as a centre for stargazers.

The force was strong on Skellig Michael yesterday as the navy set up an exclusion zone to prevent anyone from sneaking a peek as the Star Wars team rolled into town.

A GLANCE at a satellite photograph of Ireland at night shows a huge amount of light around Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Belfast. But there are also areas of the country that seem blacked out, which makes them suitable for star-gazing.

Never shy about promoting its natural beauty and light, Kerry has now begun to work on its dark side.

This column was flummoxed last week when a package arrived all the way from 2014.

The practice of dezoning land designated for housing during the boom times is to be continued by Kerry County Council.