My boyfriend and I are trying to buy a house. “Trying” is a relative term.

Unseasonably mild temperatures Ireland is experiencing at the moment is not likely to change much over the coming days.

If the robin is the ‘Christmas bird’, then the snow bunting is the ‘white-Christmas’ one; its arrival here each winter is as irregular and unpredictable as snow during the festive season.

A transatlantic jet was forced to divert to Shannon Airport this morning after suffering a hydraulic system leak and failure off the Scottish coast.

With “bird numbers plummeting”, “the insect Armageddon”, and “climate catastrophe only 12 years away”, there’s doom and gloom on the wildlife front.

Munster touched down in the Scottish capital yesterday ready to make their European pedigree tell against a talented, up-and-coming team lacking their experience of closing out big games such as today’s Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final.

Scott Johnson started work yesterday, as the Australian Rugby Union’s director of rugby, charged with overseeing Wallabies’ coach Michael Cheika and helping to restore the sport and its national team to former glories in an increasingly difficult sporting landscape for the code Down Under.

Sterling soared against the euro and the dollar as fears that the UK will crash out of the EU receded.

The openside flanker has been ruled out for the rest of the season.

Johann van Graan has acknowledged the “massive loss” of Chris Cloete to the Munster cause after the openside flanker was ruled out for the rest of the season following surgery on a forearm fracture.

David Attenborough has described the "heartbreaking" moment an albatross feeds its chick plastic instead of fish in a sequence filmed for Blue Planet II.

Ian Brady's lawyer says there is "no likelihood" his ashes will be spread on Saddleworth Moor, an inquest has heard.

"He's taken it to the grave. There's still one poor kiddie up there on the Moors. My heart goes out to Alan - at least I've got somewhere that I can visit our Les, he hasn't even got that."

A surfer rescued after more than 30 hours stranded at sea has been discharged from hospital after making a "remarkable" recovery.

A surfer who survived more than 30 hours stranded at sea on his board has hailed his rescuers as heroes.

All eyes are on Edinburgh today. But if you can tear yourself away from the rugby, it’s a city that has a lot to offer, says Conor Power.

Rapidly growing West Cork Distillers, which was set up by local Union Hall ex-trawlermen and who now export to over 35 countries, have paid c€1.5 million for a former fish-processing plant on Skibbereen’s Marsh Road to allow them to continue their spirit-based business growth trajectory.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump defended his decision to label US president Barack Obama the “founder” of Islamic State (IS).

Two fuel tanks have been "breached" on an oil rig carrying 280 tonnes of diesel that ran aground on the Western Isles.

It is believed up to ten people were on board the 'Tsunami' ride at the 'M and Ds' theme park when it came off the track.

Archaeologists have discovered dozens of shipwrecks during a three-year project working with communities along Scotland's west coast.

Two bodies have been found after a fishing boat sank off the Western Isles of Scotland.

It was the cows or Scotland, so Valerie chose both.

Some years ago, Tom McDermott created a pond on his farm near Naas in Co Kildare. Up to 120 mallard roost there nowadays, attracted by the grain he puts out for them.

Well-known adventurer and television presenter Ben Fogle is a man on a mission — the daring documentarian is out to prove there are great white sharks lurking in the depths of the Irish Sea.

SCOTLAND: Comic Darren Walsh has scooped a prize after showing off the pundamentals of his craft at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Graeme McDowell wasn’t ringing any Open Championship alarm bells as he looks certain to drop outside the World’s Top 50 for a first time in more than five years after missing the halfway cut in the defence of his French Open title.

Edinburgh have confirmed that Ulster back Michael Allen will join the club this summer.

While the sun shone brightly on a rural community in Co Cork, there was a cloud of anxiety hanging over locals yesterday as they tuned into news bulletins in the hope missing Karen Buckley would be found safe and well many miles away in Glasgow.

Anthony Foley has wasted no time in recalling Ireland’s Six Nations heroes as the province continue to seek the victories required to help them to a top two Guinness Pro12 finish.

Simon Zebo admits he was hurt by his omission from Ireland’s final Six Nations game against Scotland and feels he did “everything asked of him” during the tournament.

ENGLAND: A rare collection of 2,000 Dinky toys and other cars and trains which has been lovingly built up over 50 years could fetch £250,000 (€348,000) at auction next week.

Three crewmen are recovering in hospital after an Irish-registered fishing boat sank off the coast of Scotland.

Five crewmen have been rescued after an Irish registered fishing boat sank off the coast of Scotland.

Every time someone runs amok in an American school or university campus, or even an idyllic Norwegian holiday island or a quiet Scottish border town, killing at random but for no obvious purpose, one simple truth is underlined:

You may not be able to catch the St Andrew’s Day celebrations next week, but there is never a bad time to visit Edinburgh, says Denise O'Donoghue.

The propaganda war is over, said Gordon Strachan yesterday.

John Delaney has admitted the FAI made mistakes in their distribution of tickets to Irish supporters for the game against Scotland in Glasgow on November 14 and says that measures will be taken to try and ensure loyal followers of the national team don’t miss out on away games in the future.

Birds do it, bees do it... and so did an early ancestor of humans that lived in Scotland 385m years ago.

A cargo vessel carrying radioactive material to Antwerp has anchored off Scotland following a fire in one of its funnels.

HE burst out onto Edinburgh’s Royal Mile from a side street after the results swung against separation, and channelling the words of that little-known unionist Amy Winehouse, loudly sang: "They tried to make me leave the UK, I said: No! No! No!"

With anaemic inflation and Ukraine stalling a European recovery, the time is right for the ECB to act, writes Kyran Fitzgerald

He said he had never seen snow before. The mountain rescue team were NOT impressed.

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