For the first time in nine months a national poll in the US has Donald Trump in front of Hillary Clinton in the race to become President ot the United States.

Kerry theatre maker Dick Walsh goes beyond the conventional, while retaining his comic world view, writes Pádraic Killeen

Reaction to the Chilcot Report was swift and angry, with calls for legal and political action against Tony Blair.

Tony Blair has voiced “more sorrow, regret, and apology than you may ever know or can believe” for his role in the invasion of Iraq.

Families of some of the 179 Britons killed during the Iraq war have been reacting after the long-awaited report into the conflict was published on Wednesday.

The five-star Dromoland Castle Hotel is on course for a record year, with revenues set to top €20m.

It is the west’s blind myopia that leads it to go to war in the Middle East, with disastrous consequences, argues JP O’Malley on reading an account of Islamism which shows that, as an ideology, it is growing further apart.

Hail, Caesar! 4/5

George W Bush never mentioned Donald Trump. But, with his folksy touch, the former US president unleashed a tough takedown of the billionaire businessman who has upended a Republican Party his family has long led.

Former US president George Bush will be campaigning for his younger brother Jeb in South Carolina, marking his most direct entry into the 2016 White House race to date.

One of the more unusual traits shared by George Bush and Bertie Ahern was their tendency for malapropisms.

“ I’m sorry, but sometimes you have to be blunt to get the message through.”

"No man is above the law and no man is below it: nor do we ask any man’s permission when we ask him to obey it."

Donald Trump is ploughing millions of his own dollars into his campaign, but his party is still unsure whether he’s the ace — or the joker — in the pack, writes Bette Browne

A former director of the US Secret Service, who worked in the protection detail for three presidents, has said he is “troubled” by what he sees in the service today.

A united Europe is dead, buried in the rubble of the economic war unleashed against the people in the peripheral countries that were bailed out by the troika, writes Rory Hearne

The managing director of the five-star Dromoland Castle hotel said yesterday that the business is going through “a nice purple patch” as pre-tax profits last year increased more than fivefold to €324,889.

David Letterman has been ushered into retirement by four US presidents declaring “our long national nightmare is over” and a succession of stars delivering a final top 10 list of things they always wanted to say to the late-night TV host.

You can’t beat a good impression and this guyu is stellar at them.

The Irish government lavished Zimbabwean premier Robert Mugabe with gifts during his visit to Dublin in 1983, newly declassified files reveal.

Senior US officials found to have sanctioned the use of torture by the CIA should face the “gravest penalties”, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism said.

Barack Obama is ordering far-reaching changes to the US immigration system that will protect nearly five million people from deportation, and will have implications for undocumented Irish migrants.

DOG-GONE

A 100-year-old woman with a head for heights has bested former US president George Bush senior in the daredevil stakes.

Jose Manuel Barroso is leaving after 10 years at the head of an oft-derided European Commission, but insists he has done his best, writes Europe Correspondent Ann Cahill

‘Vogue’ has declared that the vice-like grip of skinny jeans could be slackening in favour of a looser, slouchier silhouette. Rachel Marie Walsh disagrees

Increased capital spend at the firm that operates the five-star Dromoland Castle hotel last year contributed to pre-tax profits at the business decreasing by 73% to €63,816.

Barack Obama has announced plans to create the largest ocean preserve in the world by banning drilling, fishing and other activities in a massive stretch of the Pacific Ocean in a move to protect fragile marine life.

Sport 2 (Hawking, Cent) Rest of the World 1 (Barton OG)

An Irish youth theatre group plans to stage for the first time here a bold adaptation of a critically-acclaimed play based on the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

At the Greencore AGM in May 2005, a group of dissident and highly vocal shareholders lashed out at the then CEO David Dilger over the company’s sluggish growth performance.

Ireland has had its share of political sex scandals, which will continue to happen unless we tackle the ‘boys will be boys’ culture and get more women involved in running the country, writes Bette Browne

Though I am not a historian, I do believe that we should learn from the mistakes of our past. George Bush in his own eloquent way, once attempted to say, ‘Fool me once — shame on you. Fool me twice — shame on me’.

Former US first lady Barbara Bush has been admitted to hospital with a respiratory-related ailment.

The Government tried to get George Bush more involved in tackling the Troubles by warning that the USSR would exploit growing IRA support.

A state banquet for Zimbabwean prime minister Robert Mugabe was less than stately after Garret FitzGerald took too long to handpick the wine and 30 unaccounted-for guests turned up.

South Africans were praised for the “dignified” way in which they have commemorated the death of Nelson Mandela as the memorial service for the anti-apartheid hero got under way.

Bill de Blasio has become New York City’s first Democratic mayor in more than 20 years, running on an unabashed liberal, tax-the-rich platform contrasting sharply with billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s 12 years in office.

IT WAS a tweet from Fine Gael TD Charlie Flanagan last Sunday morning that brought the issue to my attention: “Female journalist making big issue of Health Minister James Reilly’s waistline. Would male journalist write similar of his predecessor?”

There are lots of Philomena Lees in Ireland, writes Conall Ó Fátharta