The sun shone on my journey from Cork to Skibbereen recently. May blossomed in the hedgerows.

My wife and I looked after my mother, who developed vascular dementia at the ripe old age of 90, caring for her at home until her death on Jan 1 — a day short of her 96th birthday.

There is no greater challenge facing Ireland than getting our people back to work. There have been over 300,000 job losses since a flawed economic model collapsed in 2008 . . .

THE Royal Irish Academy is a publicly-funded body.

Pupils from schools across Ireland have shown themselves to be top of the class by winning an international debating competition.