Ireland has finally secured a foothold at the summit of European central banking following the appointment of Central Bank governor Philip Lane to the six member executive board of the ECB, as chief economist.

Shane O’Donnell will be back in a Clare jersey far sooner than envisaged with confirmation that the 2013 All-Ireland final hero will be lining out for the Banner County in the Aer Lingus Fenway Hurling Classic in Boston on Sunday.

If Ireland can keep improving its migrant-integration strategies — particularly in the labour market — then the country has real long-term growth potential, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

Irish third-level colleges are the beach donkeys to the thoroughbreds of the US when it comes to funding, yet they persist in playing a global ratings game they cannot win, says Kyran Fitzgerald.

Women who eat oily fish while pregnant may help their unborn children maintain a healthy weight throughout their lives.

Clare joint-manager Gerry O’Connor has claimed the pitch in Cusack Park is bigger in size than Thurles and Croke Park.

Shane O’Donnell will miss most, if not all, of Clare’s 2019 Allianz Hurling League Division 1A campaign after he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to the prestigious Harvard University.

If there is any further dragging of heels by the banks, he must exercise the full range of powers at his disposal — and demand more from Donohoe if necessary, writes Daniel McConnell, Political Editor

Latest: Harvard University has reversed its decision to name Chelsea Manning a visiting fellow, a day after CIA chief Mike Pompeo scrapped an appearance over the designation for the soldier who was convicted of leaking classified information.

Investment in universities is crucial to take advantage of opportunities arising from Brexit, an expert has said as Irish colleges maintain a steady position in the latest world rankings.

The time-honoured place for a summer’s day out is the beach. Whatever the weather, you can always build a sand castle, says Robert Hume. Bucketloads of people have been doing so for generations.

Connoisseurs of fine wine should be drinking a toast to global warming, according to new research.

The secret to a strong marriage lies not in the stand-out holidays or presents, but enjoying one another every day, writes Margaret Jennings.

A former journalist with China’s official news agency says he has been blocked from travelling to the US to accept a Harvard University prize for a 2008 book uncovering the devastating toll of the great Chinese famine of 1958-1961.

Sonme of the strnager stories from around the globe

A Harvard study shows children reap more benefits if they are read to by their fathers rather than their mothers. Arlene Harris gets chapter and verse from different sides of the debate

Following today’s announcement of Cork Airport’s first transatlantic flights to the US with Norwegian Air, here are ten great things you can do in Boston.

It’s not all doom and gloom as we take a look at some of the lighter news bites from around the world.

The world’s largest brewer wanted to keep the biggest deal of the year under wraps. Market chatter and the UK’s unique takeover rules got in the way.

Air pollution is killing 3.3m people a year worldwide, according to a new study. Surprisingly, farming plays a large role in soot-and-smog deaths in industrial nations.

Ireland’s top universities have slipped slightly in a major world ranking system but the country still retains four in the top 300.

As a rollercoaster week on the financial markets comes to an end, we appear to be right back where we started, writes Kyran Fitzgerald.

She made her name writing children’s book yet is considered one of the literary talents of a generation. As her 50th birthday approaches, fellow author, Louise O’Neill profiles the wonderful JK Rowling

The media baron Rupert Murdoch is preparing to hand over the CEO job at Twenty-First Century Fox to his son, James, the firm’s channel Fox News reported.

With the Leaving Cert underway, thousands of teenagers are living in fear of messing up. Clodagh Finn says they should look to the wise words of JK Rowling who says failure and imagination were the makings of her.

CONGO: They’re not likely to start barbecuing in the rainforest, but chimpanzees can understand the concept of cooking and are willing to postpone eating raw food, even carrying food some distance to cook it rather than eat immediately, scientists said yesterday.

In her new book, Ayaan Hirsi Ali breaks with centuries of political orthodoxy and says Islam must adapt and divorce itself from acts of terrorism. TP O’Mahony reports

Univesity College Cork has been recognised as one of the leading universities worldwide for scientific research.

The cost to the taxpayer of sending a select number of senior local government officials to an exclusive management course at Harvard University tops €315,000 for the past seven years, figures show.

If you haven’t heard of the wildly popular photo blog and Facebook page [url=https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/]Humans of New York,/url] you’ve been missing out.

So it seems our mothers were right after all — if you eat up all your porridge, you could enjoy a long and healthy life.

Choosing a bowl of porridge this morning could help you live longer by reducing the risk of heart disease.

Differences between male and female brains are hard to define, and may be due to either nature or nurture, or both.

Catalonia is open to offers from the central government that would allow it to remain in Spain with greater autonomy and control over its taxes, regional finance chief Andreu Mas-Colell said.

People are changing Earth so much, warming and polluting it, that many scientists are turning to a new way to describe the time we live in.

Scientists believe they have made a “giant leap forward” in the quest to find an effective treatment for Type 1 diabetes. 

A big jump for NUI Galway brings a ray of light to an otherwise worrying performance by Irish colleges in the latest major world university league table.