US ambassador to Ireland Kevin O’Malley has written an open letter to all Irish students on J1 visas encouraging them to stay on and finish their summer working overseas.

The families of six students killed in a balcony collapse in the US are expected to learn today the early indications of the cause of the accident.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny led Dáil tributes to the six students who died in the Berkeley tragedy.

One of the two Russian ‘Bear’ bombers which flew into Irish-controlled airspace last week was reportedly carrying a nuclear weapon.

Ireland will be without a US ambassador for a second St Patrick’s Day in a row, despite earlier expectations that the position would be announced during Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s visit there later this week.

Ryanair has lodged a formal complaint with the Spanish authorities after a Police officer boarded one of their flights while secretly carrying a gun.

Three Irish men arrested over vandalism in a bar in Poznan have been released in time to watch Ireland’s opener against Croatia.

LONDON County Board could miss out on €300,000 worth of GAA funding to cover the cost of the redevelopment of the pitch at Ruislip because they have failed to carry out the work.

The former partner of a woman stabbed to death with her best friend in Turkey has arrived in the country to begin making arrangements to have their bodies brought home.

The former partner of a woman stabbed to death with her best friend in Turkey has left Ireland to travel to the country.

A woman and her best friend were stabbed to death on holiday in Turkey after she refused a waiter’s proposal to marry her 15-year-old daughter, sources said.

THE ex-partner of one of the two Irish women stabbed to death in Turkey has spoken of the concerns he had about the year-long relationship his 15-year-old daughter had with the alleged killer.

A woman and her best friend were stabbed to death on holiday in Turkey after she refused a waiter’s proposal to marry her 15-year-old daughter, sources said today.

Ireland has always punched above its weight in diplomatic terms.

A wanted man who has been on the run for over 25 years is believed to have been found dead in France.

THE contrast between Ireland and Libya could not have been greater yesterday.

A 23-year-old woman from South Armagh is in a critical condition in Chicago after she was beaten with an aluminium baseball bat in the US city yesterday.

The brother of Hamas militant killed in Dubai has called on Ireland to ‘punish Israel’ if it is found that its secret service is responsible for using Irish passports in the assassination of his brother Mahmoud AL-Mabhouh.

It has been confirmed tonight that Fr Michael Sinnott, an elderly Irish priest held captive by a kidnap gang in the Philippines, has been released.

IRISH prisoners in British jails serve longer sentences than other foreigners because they are classed as British citizens.

More than 20 people were forced to abandon the tall ship Asgard II after it started taking in water just off the French coast overnight.

IRELAND was put on nuclear alert by Fine Gael last night as the party warned of the threat of a terrorist “dirty bomb” plot in Britain.

A temporary consular office has been set up in Stuttgart to cater for the 10,000 fans travelling for next month’s Republic of Ireland v Germany European Championships qualifier game.

An Irishman has been confirmed as being among the 57 people who drowned when a cruise ship capsized off the Bahraini coast last night.

The Irish skydiving instructor who died in an Australian plane crash was due to return home to share his expertise, it emerged today.

The Guardian newspaper said today one of its reporters has disappeared in Iraq and it believes he was kidnapped.

Old rivals united across Northern Ireland’s political divide today for the funeral of the co-founder and first leader of the SDLP, Gerry Fitt.

Dan Buckley traces the arrest and detention of the men who became known as the Colombia Three.

HOPES are fading that two Irish citizens missing since last Thursday’s bomb blasts in London will be found alive.

The entire Pakistani squash team was forced to withdraw from the Irish Squash Open after they failed to obtain visas, it emerged today.