FOR much longer than millennia, islands have been a source of intrigue, writes Dan MacCarthy. Someone gazes out from the mainland wondering: “What is out there?”

The funeral Mass for former Fianna Fáil senator Des Hanafin will take place tomorrow in Thurles.

On the eve of the 25th anniversary of Albert Reynolds becoming taoiseach, Ryle Dwyer examines a volatile career which saw him scupper coalitions but help build peace.

The owners of one of the country’s best-known pubs have appealed for the safe return of a family heirloom stolen from the premises on Saturday night.

PJ Mara was the most famous political spin doctor in modern Irish history, having played a leading role in Fianna Fáil for more than 30 years.

PJ Mara, the flamboyant former government press secretary, will be buried in Kinvara Co Galway tomorrow beside his late wife.

The Haughey family has slammed claims made in a new book that former taoiseach Charles J Haughey turned down an operation that may have saved his life following a diagnosis of prostate cancer.

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

Charles J Haughey was born 90 years ago tomorrow. Biographer Ryle Dwyer examines his political legacy and the scandal that followed him

President Michael D Higgins has stressed the need for the State to protect and sustain the life and culture of Ireland’s islands.

On the 70th anniversary of the V-E riot in Dublin, Ryle Dwyer notes how the burning of the Tricolour spurred two young UCD students and future taoisigh into action.

Former Democratic Unionist Party leader Dr Ian Paisley has died aged 88, it has been confirmed today. Here is a selection of his most memorable quotes through the decades.

RTÉ One have released their autumn/winter schedule and Imelda May is getting her own show!

Charles J Haughey at his first Fianna Fáil Ardfheis in 1980 as Taoiseach, correctly described the 6 counties as a "failed political entity".

Leo Varadkar, the health minister, has fired the first shots of the next general election campaign and warned that Sinn Féin’s failure to tell the truth about its past means it cannot be trusted in government.

LYNN Barber has just published a memoir, A Curious Career, about her days as Fleet Street’s greatest interviewer. Nobody can get to the nub of a celebrity like "the demon Barber".

President Higgins has been wise to hold onto the middle initial ‘D’ in his name.

In the past, Garda commissioners became implicated in what were largely political controversies, writes Ryle Dwyer

I CAN remember when transparency was a political cliché.

The Irish public has been left hanging when it comes to getting a full explanation about who knew what and when in the phone-tapping scandal of the 1980s, writes Ryle Dwyer.

The lives of Irish people will not change overnight as the once financially-crippled country exits its international bailout, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has warned.

A CLOSE friend’s warning to Michael Collins not to go on that ill-fated visit to West Cork, and a lack of bitterness in ex-taoiseach Sean Lemass following the death of his brother in the Civil War — these are just some of the insights provided in a new series of interviews relating to the struggle for independence.

The life of Charles Haughey, the politician so many people love to hate, is to be dramatised starring actors from the country’s latest hit crime drama.

Author Joe Joyce speaks to Declan Burke about his latest offering, a tale set in Dublin in 1940 — a time of intrigue, betrayal and espionage

THE new political season kicked off in earnest yesterday, after Taoiseach Enda Kenny firmly rejected a stinging attack from Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin who accused Mr Kenny of operating an “uno duce, una voce” dictatorial style of leadership.

Chris Froome’s performance in the Tour de France seems superhuman.

Ratlines

FOR those stricken with disbelief at Fianna Fáil’s resurgence in the opinion polls, here are eight factors that party currently has going for it.

I’M standing in a Georgian building in Dublin, staring at a jar of honey.

The death has occurred of Canon Jackie McKenna, an accomplished and decorated Gaelic footballer, who was one of the best-known priests in the Kerry and Cork region.

The year which saw two governments fall is best summed up by the phrase coined that August: Grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre, and unprecedented. Ryle Dwyer reports

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland has given €1m towards the cost of making a €4m three-part series on the life of former taoiseach Charles Haughey.

All thoughts are with the Gargan and Dunne families as the moment they had long feared has come to pass.

It’s 30 years since the “grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented” events that led to the resignation of the attorney general, writes Richard Fitzpatrick

There has been a lot of suggestions in the media about the naming of the new Liffey Bridge. I propose it be named after the greatest taoiseach this country has produced, Charles J Haughey.

Would Charles J Haughey, the former taoiseach, be turning in his grave to know his beloved Abbeville is now home to six resident caretakers with access to all areas right across his former domain?

Abbeville and its grounds, which were the site of the home of former taoiseach Charles J Haughey, are up for sale for an asking price of €7.5m.

The former home of ex-Taoiseach Charles J Haughey is up for sale with a pricetag of €7.5m.