Heterosexual and same-sex couples are treated equally by the law if their marriage fails. But do gay relationships have their own unique difficulties, asks Ellie O’Byrne

Beginning in Goleen, West Cork, in 1945, and continuing in seven-year intervals up to 2015, taking in Dublin City, Amsterdam, New York City, and Maribor, perhaps the biggest disappointment about John Boyne’s new novel is how predictable and plodding it is. 

In his epic new tome that spans 70 years, John Boyne examines growing up gay in Ireland and the associated trials and tribulations. He talks to Sue Leonard

International badminton player Nigel Boyne has been ordered to pay the manager of Baldoyle Badminton Centre €30,000 damages for assault and defamation.

JOHN BOYNE has already proved that he’s a versatile writer. 

AT least with short stories, if one doesn’t wow you, there’s always hope the next one might.

Two workers were sacked after jam tarts went missing from a warehouse.

John Boyne

Niall Ronan is to focus on the exact reason he had to retire from professional rugby to embellish the next stage of his working life — injury.

GAA players cover huge distances in each game with male players second only to soccer players in the ground they cover, according to a research by a leading expert.

Ireland Schools 2 England Schools 2

ALLIANZ FL DIVISION 1

Young Munster fans were left shaking their heads in disbelief as Cork Constitution produced a trademark late rally to secure a sensational 21-20 Ulster Bank league victory at Temple Hill on Saturday.

St Patrick’s Athletic 5 UCD 0

People across Ireland have voted celebrated author John Boyne’s 'The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas' as their all-time favourite of the 21 books which have won the annual Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Award since the awards began in 1990.

Boyne Rugby Club have apologised to a player and a Cork club for wrongly accusing them of gouging their player’s eye, causing him to lose sight out of it.

A TALENTED rugby players has lost the sight in his right eye following an alleged gouging incident at the end of an AIL Division 2 game last month.

A LANDMARK case against a man who admitted creating a Facebook page called “Promote the use of knacker babies as shark bait” has been dismissed by a judge who said there was reasonable doubt about an intent to incite hatred towards members of the Travelling community.

Three young men broke into an innocent man’s house and accused him of being a paedophile after a girl made false allegations that someone had exposed themselves to her.

The Absolutist

CELTIC Rugby chief executive John Feehan last night expressed confidence that their league will have a title sponsor next season.

LEINSTER made a great start to the defence of their Junior Interprovincial title with a 30-24 victory over Munster at Charleville.

Noah Barleywater Runs Away

THE outcome of a public vote for the best Irish book of the last decade may not be revealed until next week, but sales through one website alone would make John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas a hands down winner.

JAMIE HEASLIP yesterday praised coach Michael Cheika’s rotation policy for helping to keep the Leinster squad fresh ahead of next weekend’s Magners League final clash with the Ospreys.

A NEW mum who gave birth under Garda protection last night revealed she was looking forward to spending quality time with her family.

An expectant mother who went into labour while being removed from a protest sit-in at a branch of Thomas Cook gave birth to a baby girl under Garda protection today.

A drug addict who was involved in three high-speed Garda chases in the space of a year, two while he was disqualified from driving, has been given a suspended sentence and ordered to perform community service.

A young Irish soldier will be sentenced to community service next year for smashing a pint glass into another soldier’s face while drunk in a Dublin pub.

Richard Collins on the wonders of France’s great untamed river.

Dublin stats man Ray Boyne has been handed a 16-week suspension by the Central Competitions Control Committee of the GAA following his alleged head-butt on Monaghan's Tommy Freeman.

Blackrock College 17 Clontarf 16, Stradbrook

There were some huge wins for a few first division sides in the Women's AIL over the weekend while in the second division there were some closely fought affairs.

The Leinster Junior team to face Connacht in North Kildare RFC ground in The Maws, Kilcock at 2.30pm on Saturday has been named.

The IRA is believed to have kept secure much of its arsenal since it announced the second ceasefire in 1997, though some of it was secreted away following a split in the ranks that year.

The Leinster Junior squad will play two friendlies before the start of the Interprovincial series against Barnhall (in Barnhall) on Saturday, August 13 and against Clontarf (in Castle Avenue) on Saturday, August 20.

Paul Boyne, managing director with Morgan Stanley Investment Management in London, is joining Bank of Ireland Asset Management as a director.

I REFER to your article and editorial (Irish Examiner, Sept 11) concerning the Central Mental Hospital and its role in addressing the mental health needs of prisoners.

The failure to deliver on an agreement between the Departments of Justice and Health, to facilitate a faster transfer of mentally ill prisoners to hospital, is resulting in them being denied crucial treatment.

PLANS to treble the number of mentally ill prisoners treated in the Central Mental Hospital have been held up because of staffing problems.

The Leinster Junior team to face Munster at Bandon RFC on Saturday (3pm) contains six new caps.

PRISON rights’ activists last night welcomed suggestions by Justice Minister Michael McDowell that Dublin’s Mountjoy prison may be destroyed and be replaced by a new facility outside the city.

Leinster Junior Rugby coach Tony Bellow has announced his squad for upcoming interprovincial fixtures.