It’s a question that mankind has pondered since the beginning of time and the answer is never the same  - no matter who you ask.

Rachel Pilkington makes plea to Irish Government.

Over 271 of the biggest names in Irish film, television and music have called on Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney to ban fur farming in Ireland.

In honour of the centenary of the 1913 Lockout, the Abbey Theatre is closing out the year with a rare revival of James Plunkett’s play The Risen People.

Michael Hilliard Mulcahy’s play, Beyond the Brooklyn Sky, deals with the generation that emigrated from Ireland in the 1980s and returned, some without having fulfilled their dreams.

THE organisers of the Dublin: One City, One Book Festival, which is the focal point for a month of literary events in April, have chosen well with this year’s selection, James Plunkett’s Strumpet City.

Peter Sheridan’s new memoir — Break a Leg — covers two decades of life in the Irish arts. He tells Sue Leonard about how it influenced his life and work

MUSIC NEWS: While the London Olympics opening ceremony received a generally favourable response, there were a few grumbles about the musical component of the extravaganza.

The historic handshake between the British Queen and Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness, together with his words of blessing as they said goodbye, have been hailed as a watershed moment for Irish-Britishrelations.

Today's historic meeting between Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness will be recorded for posterity, Buckingham Palace confirmed today.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II will shake hands with Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness today in a gesture that will herald a major milestone in Anglo-Irish relations.

Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness will meet the Queen of England next week and shake hands in an historic first for the North's peace process, the party confirmed.

IRELAND should discuss rejoining the Commonwealth, Gay Mitchell has said.

Dancing Shoes enacts George’s skill but doesn’t shirk from his sadness, says Carl Dixon

ABOUT 3,000 book enthusiasts are set to descend on Ennis today for the fifth annual Ennis Book Club Festival.

Name the things you can’t live without?

A group of high-profile men today called on the incoming Government to reform vice laws to target people who pay for sex instead of women forced into prostitution.

THE screams of joy were almost audible at home in Cork when the girls from Presentation Secondary School in Ballyphehane were announced as winners of the All-Island Choir Competition in Belfast.

AUTHOR and playwright Peter Sheridan is expected to reinforce the critical value of the arts to the Irish economy and highlight the need to maintain funding and supports for the sector when he visits Waterford.

Two stand-up comedians have penned the first stage adaptation of the acclaimed prison film 'The Shawshank Redemption', it emerged today.

Former PSNI assistant chief constable Peter Sheridan today challenged the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) to lead people towards reconciliation in the North.

THERE can scarcely be a more overworked cliché about the North than Churchill’s words during the House of Commons debate in 1922 on the Irish Free State Bill.

The DUP today demanded a clear end to the IRA’s ruling army council after senior police warned judging its disbandment may be difficult.

Talks between Sinn Féin and the Police Service of Northern Ireland focussed on trying to build a better understanding of each other, Chief Constable Hugh Orde said today.

The creator of cult TV puppet ’Bosco’ today won a prestigious RTE short story competition.

The winners of RTÉ’s Francis MacManus Short Story Competition will be announced today.

The writings of James Joyce will today be celebrated in the 103rd annual Bloomsday.

ARGUMENTS can be costly but Keano has always bucked the trend.

Cannabis with a street value of worth more than £10m (€14.8m) was seized from a warehouse in the North today.

Following recent arson attacks directed at business premises throughout the North, Assistant Chief Constable for Crime Operations Peter Sheridan urged business owners in all areas to regularly check their premises on a daily basis for anything suspicious.

Businesses across the North should be alert to the threat of further dissident republican attacks, senior PSNI officials warned today.

Police have warned shopkeepers in Northern Ireland of possible incendiary bomb attacks over Christmas.

British soldiers are to support increased police patrols across the North in the lead up to Christmas, it was revealed today.

Police are to increase patrols amid fears of incendiary bomb attacks in Northern Ireland, it emerged tonight.

Northern Ireland’s most senior policeman Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde today rejected claims by unionists that his officers were failing to be even handed when policing parades protests.

THEY think it’s all over ... well it’s only just begun. I, Keano, the musical show of Roy Keane’s infamous Saipan row with Mick McCarthy, opens at Dublin’s Olympia Theatre from next Tuesday, February 8 until February 19.

The Saipan saga, which rocked Irish soccer, is set to divide the nation again except this time the battlefield will be Dublin’s Olympia Theatre.

SOME sentiments lend themselves to music more sweetly than others.

A FURNITURE store was damaged after firebombers behind a wave of attacks on shops across the North struck again.

Police chiefs in Northern Ireland today warned that people’s lives were being put at risk by a spate of firebombs.

THE demise of Bewley's oriental cafés in central Dublin is "like part of Dublin dying", their emotional owner said yesterday.

Detectives launched a murder inquiry today after a young man shot in the head died in hospital.

Politicians and community leaders are setting up a group to liaise with police in the Waterside area of Derry after the attempted murder of a young man this week.