The unseemly diplomatic stand off between representatives of President Higgins, and Israeli Ambassador Boaz Modai, about why he did not receive an official invitation to commemorate his departure after five years as Israel’s ambassador to Dublin, just about summarises the contentious nature of his Irish residency.

Celebrities — they’re everywhere nowadays.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has released the most popular names on first passports, with Jack and Emily topping the list.

The family of an Irishman killed in Qatar are being provided with consular assitance, said the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Four Irish citizens are among those who have been cleared from a besieged mosque in Cairo.

The Department of Foreign Affairs says it's been in contact with a group of pensioners in Portugal, who have appeared in court for playing illegal bingo.

Uganda has expressed concern at the suspension of Irish aid to the country after €4m of taxpayers’ money went missing in a suspected fraud.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has appealed for the tens of thousands of Irish fans heading to Poland to take extreme care amid concern over the huge number of road deaths in Poland over the May Bank Holiday.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) today said it has allocated €500,000 to GOAL to help them respond to the urgent needs of tens of thousands of refugees in the Maban region of South Sudan.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said Ireland stands ready to assist Japan in any way possible after a massive earthquake triggered a tsunami that crashed into the country's eastern coastline.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has activated its Consular Crisis Centre to assist people who are concerned about relatives and friends in Japan.

Rescue workers were today continuing the painstaking search for an Irish man trapped in a building destroyed in the New Zealand earthquake.

Survivors are believed to be in a collapsed building where an Irishman was caught up in the New Zealand earthquake.

THE mother of missing teenager Amy Fitzpatrick says she is furious with the Government yesterday after being told a meeting with the Taoiseach was impossible.

RECENTLY, along with pizza promotional and other commercial literature, I received from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) a leaflet entitled ‘The Lisbon Treaty 2009’.

Yes, there is public feeling about the Palestinians and their rotten deal. I’ve never heard Chechnya being discussed on the DART, whereas I have heard Israel being trashed on buses as well as at smart dinner parties. Besides, who’s ever heard of a “Sri Lanka out of Tamil Eelam” march through Cork or calls for a boycott of Russia?

IRISH student Patrick Devine remains in a Senegalese prison following his court appearance yesterday.

A MOTHER of a young woman killed in Spain is pleading with the Government to help pay for a solicitor to assist in a forthcoming trial.

THE rescue photos were heartwarming. Children smiling. Grandparents hugging them. Parents looking tired but relieved: we’re out of the war zone and home safe.

An Irishman has been killed in a motorbike crash in Thailand, the second Irish tourist to die in a motorcycle accident in the country this year.

The Department of Foreign Affairs today warned travellers to Thailand and Cambodia of the dangers of riding motorbikes in the wake of three serious accidents involving Irish tourists since the beginning of the year.

THE Government has so far spent €11 million of the €20 million it pledged in aid to the countries devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami on St Stephen's Day.

Glanbia plc announced it is in advanced negotiations with Dairy Farmers of America Inc and Select Milk Producers Inc to build a $170m (€150m) cheese and whey products production facility in Western Texas/New Mexico.