Just as the Victoria Cross — though solely a British award — is recognised globally as the foremost recognition of valour in wartime so, too, the Nobel Peace Prize has gained international acceptance as the world’s most revered award for the advancement of human rights.

Cynics tend to dismiss the practice of holding Cabinet meetings outside Dublin as a “Cabinet Roadshow” yet there is little doubt that conducting government business in different locations across the country is welcomed by local communities and provides an opportunity to meet regional organisations and groups.

A recent survey ranks fear of public speaking higher than death, if you are in that category you are in good company, but there is also a lot you can do to reduce and manage any nerves you have, says Annmarie O’Connor

The time-honoured place for a summer’s day out is the beach. Whatever the weather, you can always build a sand castle, says Robert Hume. Bucketloads of people have been doing so for generations.

Submissions are being invited for a public monument to the Liberator, Daniel O’Connell, in his native Cahersiveen — the first such monument in the south Kerry town centre.

Among the comments made by politicians on the death of Martin McGuinness, the most nuanced was that by Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt.

What do you do when your religious beliefs conflict with your chosen sport? And how does this play out when your chosen sport is also your job?

Harsh laws on free speech, homosexuality, and adultery are remnants of British colonial rule and Victorian sensibilities and are unworthy of a true democracy, writes Shashi Tharoor

Indian author Neel Mukherjee’s will be in Bantry on Thursday to read from his Booker-listed

USA:  A man who was unhappy with his haircut faces criminal charges after police say he became enraged and threw items around a Connecticut salon.

US President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have announced they have made progress on nuclear cooperation and climate change.

Irish political giant Daniel O’Connell has been celebrated as the Nelson Mandela of his day as the newest of London’s famous blue plaques was unveiled in his honour.

Irish political giant Daniel O’Connell has been remembered as the Nelson Mandela of his day as the newest of London’s famous blue plaques was unveiled in his honour.

Children’s rights activists Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan and Kailash Satyarthi of India and have won the Nobel Peace Prize.

IF John Creedon was a weather condition, he would probably be described as a warm, westerly breeze coming in from the Atlantic. And it blows through all aspects of his world - work and play.

Brendan Courtney is having a big fashion moment. He has just launched an app, frockadvisor, with his business partner Sonia Lennon.

Flatley reigned and then it poured — or was it the other way around?

THESE days it’s all about panic in schools with mocks occurring, projects being hauled up and the cramming being turned up to overload. The question being asked around is this: is religion necessary in schools these days?

Humanists are often criticised for their lack of religious affiliation.

Celebrating one of his personal heroes, president Barack Obama has praised Nelson Mandela as the last great liberator of the 20th century, urging the world to carry on his legacy by fighting inequality, poverty and discrimination.

The great Indian nationalist Mahatma Gandhi once declared that “the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members”.

Ninety-one years after he was killed in an ambush in West Cork, it is surely time to allow Michael Collins to rest in peace.

Extending abortion rights to include cases of rape or where women have to carry babies with no chance of survival will not be pushed by the Labour Party in Government who instead are ramping up their campaign for a referendum on same-sex marriage.

Malala Yousafzai — the Pakistani teenager shot by the Taliban for promoting education for girls — celebrated her 16th birthday by demanding world leaders provide free compulsory schooling for every child.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place”.

Richard Fitzpatrick ponders the link between abnormal psychology and political power — and finds that many of those who have achieved high office were not, in fact, as stable as we think.

The growing participation of women in politics in Africa has sparked a quiet revolution that could teach Western countries a lot about democracy, argues Dan Buckley

COMPOSER and musician Donal Lunny is delighted to be involved with Culture Night 2012, which sees free cultural experiences happen around Ireland on Fri, Sept 21.

LAST Sunday, at Béal na mBláth, Enda Kenny brought Vladimir Lenin to Ireland.

Michael Collins’s vision of Ireland as a centre of economic excellence has been compared by many commentators both to our Celtic Tiger excess and our current woes, writes John Daly

Mahatma Gandhi once said “A nation will be judged by how it treats its weakest members”.

Sinn Féin has called on the Government to abandon the household tax in light of the mass boycott against it, and reimburse those who paid.

A number of Mahatma Gandhi lookalikes in India have set a new world record.

A MASS revolt against looming property and water taxes was demanded by left-wing TDs last night.

TO those TDs who publicly have stated they will not pay the €100 household charge and are calling on other citizens to do likewise, I say they are a disgrace to our democratic process and to their own constituents.

IT has been argued by thousands of human rights protestors, including Trocaire, in recent years that Ezra Nawi is merely a pacifist protestor in the mould of Mahatma Gandhi who has been unfairly prosecuted and convicted by the Israeli courts when he attempted to halt the Israeli Defence Forces demolition of Palestinians’ homes in South Hebron in July 2007.

MANDELA, Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi make the list. So too do Bill Clinton, John F Kennedy and Franklin D Roosevelt. Aung San Suu Kyi and Mary Robinson are cited, as is Hillary Clinton.

A US educational organisation has cancelled an event planned for a Mahatma Gandhi biography that was banned in part of India after reviews hinted the father of the nation’s independence had a homosexual relationship.

AN AMERICAN author has angrily dismissed claims his new book on Mahatma Gandhi alleged that India’s independence leader was a racist bisexual who left his wife for a body-builder.

Thousands of people holding placards and shouting slogans have protested in India’s capital against what they called widespread corruption and poor governance.

Lindsay Lohan has left the Betty Ford Center after a 90-day rehab stay.