You don’t need to be a scout or an outdoor enthusiast to learn how to light fires without a match, build a shelter from basic materials or cook under the open sky, says Áilín Quinlan.           

In day four of our special report on rural Ireland we visit Ballydehob, Co. Cork. From Danno to fests, this village has history, writes Michael Clifford

The gunman who murdered two New York City police officers in their squad car had a long criminal record, a hatred of police and the government and an apparent history of mental instability that included a suicide attempt a year ago, it has emerged.

Sq m: 249 (2,680sq ft)

A Dublin-born paedophile priest who abused seven children, including altar boys, over a 34-year period has been jailed for 15 years.

A 47-year old Limerick man with assets valued at 96c has secured court protection from his bank over unpaid debts concerning a €20,000 loan he took out to pay for his wedding reception.

A Clare parish is offering couples recession-busting community-style weddings for those who have been unable to get married because of cash difficulties.

One way to break the ‘big day out’ mentality is for the parish to play a big role in celebrating our sacraments, says Fr Paddy Byrne

Paul D’Alton has done something he hadn’t done for 20 years — returned to Sunday Mass. And he reckons he wasn’t the only ‘prodigal son’ there

The Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin has launched a campaign to curb excessive spending associated with First Holy Communion celebrations.

It was Christopher Heaphy’s quiet dignity and his simple message that will resonate with the 100 or so people gathered at 11am Mass in Aglish Church yesterday.

The pope left Spanish-speaking Latin America’s most Roman Catholic country today on his way to its least.

While Irish society has generally become more accepting of homosexuality, gay teachers in many schools risk discrimination or even losing their jobs if they reveal their sexuality, writes Carmel Crimmins

DUBLIN parishes and the archdiocese are close to financial collapse mainly due to falling collections as Mass attendance declines.

Pope Benedict XVI has called on people to renounce hatred in the face of the “deep sorrow” felt over the terror attacks in Norway.

A MAN and woman found dead in a house in Limerick’s Southill estate yesterday both died from shotgun wounds.

IRISH survivors of clerical sex abuse have been invited to travel to the Vatican on October 31 to demand change from the Roman Catholic Church.

THE pensioner who has called for a one-day boycott of Sunday Mass in protest at the Church’s attitude to women has said she has been receiving support for her stance over the past 24 hours.

A defiant pensioner is rallying Irish women to boycott Sunday Mass for one day because she feels the Catholic hierarchy is treating them like second-class citizens.

In as much as the Pope’s pastoral letter is an apology for clerical paedophile abuse, it should be warmly welcomed, but it is distinctly short on specifics about what should actually be done.

THE vast majority of the 120 or so worshipers at Sunday Mass in Asdee yesterday were unaware that 25 years ago to the day people reported seeing two statues in the church moving.

Prayers of thanksgiving and cries for help rose from Haiti's huddled homeless, the sixth day of an epic humanitarian crisis that was straining the world's ability to respond and igniting flare-ups of violence amid the rubble of Port-au-Prince.

Drumbeats called the faithful to a Sunday Mass behind mounds of rubble and amid the few remaining walls of Port-au-Prince’s destroyed Roman Catholic cathedral to listen to a sermon in a scene resembling the Apocalypse.

RECENTLY, I went to Mass and outside the church a political party was taking up a collection.

THE prospect of no Sunday Masses in some churches is not far off, a bishop has warned.

Cardinal Sean Brady has said there is an increasingly aggressive attitude in society leading to a more frequent resort to violence.

This week marks the start of Lent and older people will no doubt be mindful of the great changes that have occurred in recent years. Many were proud to carry the mark of the ashes at the beginning of Lent.

THE whole community of Dunmore East is sharing in the pain and grief of the families of the five fishermen who lost their lives when their trawler sank on Thursday evening, parish priest Fr Brian Power said yesterday.

WORSHIPPERS at Sunday Masses in Croom, Co Limerick, were yesterday asked to co-operate with gardaí to help track down the killer of a man admired in the village by young and old alike.

POPE Benedict XVI yesterday criticised an “explosion” in religious consumerism and those profiting from it.

THE horse breeder shot dead at his home in Co Waterford yesterday is believed to have interrupted intruders at his stud farm.

SUNDAY Mass collections may be used to help meet clerical abuse costs which are expected to reach €25 million over the next five years.

A Roman Catholic priest led an open communion service at a packed Lutheran church in Berlin, defying a papal admonition against receiving communion in non-Catholic churches.

Some advocates for sex abuse victims have said Pope John Paul II’s first public comments in Canada on priests who molest children sent the wrong message: that the Roman Catholic Church cares more about clergy than those who were abused.

MOST priests are living on salaries well below the average industrial wage and some would not survive without the support of their families.