Nothing was said to dent Leo’s happiness. He could not stop smiling, and neither could his proud mother and father... Once the vote was passed, the family were engulfed by well-wishers from all sides of the floor, writes Lise Hand. 

Despite sunshine, a few storm clouds rolled in from the south for Leo, writes Lise Hand.

Enda Kenny’s visit to the White House was necessary - his invitation to Donald Trump to visit this country wasn’t, writes Michael Clifford.

Britain's first female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, has found herself in the unlikely company of Bridget Jones and Beyonce, thanks to BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour Power List for 2016.

Too many other Nato countries rely on the US to defend them without making a full contribution of their own to the alliance’s budget, writes Josh Cohen

There doesn’t seem to be a day that goes by that we do not see one article or another about the HSE. Unfortunately, they point to a myriad of shortcomings.

Margaret Jennings pays tribute to three-time Oscar winner, actress Meryl Streep, who has managed to eschew the typical Hollywood lifestyle and to keep her family life private.

There’s a lot of talk about the possible British exit from Europe at the moment and perhaps David Cameron should watch this video from Cork in 1989 before he makes any decisions.

The 385,000 voters born in Ireland will have some influence on the result of the British election, but its outcome could yet have a great deal of significance for the Republic. 

Back in the day when I believed that politics could improve the lot of the common man, I used to be enthralled by the British general election, writes Paddy Heaney.

Tánaiste Joan Burton is subjected to what must have been a frightening ordeal when her car was surrounded by water charge protesters for two hours and she was unable to leave the area in question.

More than 400 people packed the Metropole Hotel in Cork last night for the launch of the ‘We Won’t Pay’ anti-water charges campaign, organised by the Anti-Austerity Alliance.

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.

The music industry is often more obsessed with stars having a sellable persona than trusting fans to know the difference between their real character and the music they create.

The fact that Richie Boucher refuses to lessen his obscene grotesque enormous salary is sick and stinks to high heaven.

Regarding all those hagiographic eulogies, Maggie Thatcher must be spinning in her grave that she never faked her conversion to Catholicism; by now, she would surely be a shoe-in for sainthood.

"WE want to see as many of them as possible” — this was the one-line response by a grinning Enda Kenny two years ago, when he was asked if female representation would increase under a Fine Gael government.

London mayor Boris Johnson was seen lighting up the basketball courts in the British capital recently.

In these dire times, do we need someone with the strength of the Iron Lady?

Margaret Thatcher never paid much attention to football, but last week football was remembering her.

IN an ideal world, Renée Elliott would love to see seaweed in our cupboards – and not just as something to dunk in the bath for a healthful soak.

A WOMAN’S work is never done, especially when that work involves excavating the fears, hopes and traumas that lie at the heart of crime fiction.

A WAR of words continued between Labour and Fine Gael over their economic policies with Leo Varadkar being accused of sounding like the “Maggie Thatcher of Irish politics.”

Hollywood star Meryl Streep is in discussions to play Baroness Thatcher in the countdown to the Falklands War, it was reported today.

THE Israeli flotilla raid risks being “a recruitment sergeant for al-Qaida” in the same way British aggression in the past encouraged people to join the IRA,Environment Minister John Gormley has said.

IT’S reassuring to see that, as usual, England’s preparations for a big tournament are going swimmingly.

WHY have domestic politics become so boring? Last year, since the local and European elections, there has been a palpable sense of tension and uncertainty within the Dáil and Government.

LABOUR health spokesperson Jan O’Sullivan yesterday accused Health Minister Mary Harney of adopting a Margaret Thatcher style which puts people into corners.

AS A gambling novice, after a day on a high stool in a city centre pub in Cork, ‘studying’ the form like a monkey with an abacus, I ended the day’s racing yesterday with a recession-busting total of €15.36.

I CAN’T say I ever thought much of Maggie Thatcher, but I am starting to understand her dislike of unions.

THINKING of the behaviour of the Cork train drivers this week brought Rudyard Kipling to mind. It was he who first coined the term “power without responsibility”.

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell probably did not appreciate the irony when, in relation to the Garda Rep-resentative Association’s intention to target government deputies with dodgy majorities, he said most association members were intelligent and would not be dictated to.

GAZELLE A asks gazelle B why gazelle B gets up so early in the morning and starts to do stretches and warm-up exercises.

FREE markets are not the answer to all our problems.

WHEN it comes to sexual orientation, the Irish are like the English – stiff upper lip and all that.