Two-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor sparked controversy last night when he was involved in an angry altercation with a referee at an MMA event in Dublin.

The darkest part of Éamon de Valera’s political life is chronicled in a new book that whets the appetite for the second volume, writes Ryle Dwyer.

In the theatre of war of the turbulent years from 1919 to 1921, Cork was the main act, writes John Borgonovo

For Leaving Certificate French students, a morning exam featured questions in the listening test which were fairly typical and quite manageable for well-practised students.

Today is World Poetry Day, so Jonathan deBurca Butler asked a number of people to select their favourite work

Ciara McDonnell on how a window becomes a wonderland

The arrests and internment without trial of hundreds of Irish men in May 1916, together with the leaders’ executions, saw the public mood swiftly change after the Rising. Niall Murray examines a family archive of papers and photographs that shows the effects of these arrests

Michael Clifford’s article of March 26 is typical of the denial being preached in the media about the causes and seriousness of both our situation in 2010 and our present situation.

Easter Saturday, 1916.

“The true history of a passionate period,” wrote PS O’Hegarty in The Victory of Sinn Féin in 1924, “cannot be written by any contemporary. We are all too near it.”

1,000 Irish Volunteers answered the call and turned out across Co Cork on Easter Sunday, writes Niall Murray

John Borgonovo explores the political landscape in Cork in the years preceding the 1916 Rising

IF THE August 1915 funeral of Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa was a portent of the Irish Volunteers’ military strength, British authorities were given an even clearer picture just five weeks before the Easter Rising began.

Seán MacDiarmada overcame polio to produce a masterplan for the 1916 Rising , writes historian Brian Feeney

Ned Daly always wanted to be a soldier so when the Irish Volunteers were founded he seized his chance, says Helen Litton

Politics at the start of 1916 in Cork City and county was overshadowed by events in Europe and the Middle East.

Ireland was not included in Britain’s conscription bill of January, 1916, but by then 90,000 Irishmen had volunteered, as many more would before 1918.

Christmas parties should be rockin’. So if you’re throwing one, says Vicki Notaro, seek inspiration from America’s most famous family, (not the Obamas) the Kardashians.

The last chance to hit the dance floor at a hotel that hosted top political figures in Irish history takes place this weekend, as the new owner sells off its contents.

Ryle Dwyer says Bitter Freedom is, a thoughtful and balanced history that exposes the need to be wary about what actually happened around 1916 before we engage in an unquestioning orgy of centenary celebrations. 

Concerning the recent O’Donovan Rossa funeral commemoration rhetoric; it should be noted that John Redmond and the Irish Parliamentary Party had strong associations with early Fenianism.

The legacy of Pearse’s oration at the graveside of O’Donovan Rossa was very fitting for the occasion and shows up the shallowness of contemporary Redmondism.

Events in Donegal led to the establishment of the Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission and, by tragic irony, it is issues in that county that have now put the same body under investigation.

The solicitor for Sergeant Michael Galvin, who killed himself while under investigation by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, said he tried to assure the father of three that he had no case to answer.

The garda sergeant who last week died by apparent suicide in a Donegal garda station had told his wife he was facing up to five years in prison after being questioned by Garda Siochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) investigators.

Middle-ranking gardaí have called on the Taoiseach to set up a judicial inquiry into how the Garda Ombudsman conducted an investigation into a sergeant who took his own life last week.

What's on telly tonight - well, the best of it.

Check out our guide to the best of tonight's TV.

Your guide to tonight's television.

Middle-ranking gardaí have warned Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald that while the Garda system may survive with “sticking plasters”, the men and women of the force may not.

THE Government has approved the recruitment of 250 gardaí over the next six months.

Ian Bailey is likely to leave the taxpayer with a bill for millions of euro after losing his High Court case against the State.

If apologists for 1916 and Fenian terrorism can remove the scales from their eyes, they will perceive Westminster had wanted to remove itself from any form of direct rule in Ireland from as early as 1913 if not earlier.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors wants to "get back to policing" now that a new Commissioner has been appointed.

Whistleblower Sergeant Maurice McCabe has welcomed the appointment of Noirín O’Sullivan as Garda commissioner, saying she had a "positive attitude" to reform.

In response to my letter on Gaza and the necessity to end Israel’s impunity for its crimes against the Palestinian people, Ciarán Ó Raghallaigh writes a confused reply seeming to ascribe responsibility for obstacles to the rebuilding to Hamas rather than to Israel’s siege.

Wexford Festival Opera

Nobody knows exactly how many Irish died on Flanders Fields in the first world war because many got caught up in the British propaganda war after the Easter Rising.

LAST Sunday’s YouGov opinion poll showing a lead for the yes side in the Scottish independence referendum, was a bowel- loosening moment for the British establishment.