I welcome the appointment of former President Mary Robinson as the UN special envoy for climate change.

ONE thing really jarred with me about the State visit of President Michael D Higgins to Britain. Actually, there were a couple of things, but one of them didn’t occur until the interviews, as part of the massive coverage of the visit. Let me explain.

It is, in a way, an absurdity that two neighbouring island nations should have to engage in tortuous planning and negotiations and no small amount of soul searching simply to organise a state visit.

Pro-life campaigners will now concentrate their efforts on repealing Ireland's new laws on abortion.

A quarter of the world's children under five are undernourished, according to UNICEF.

Transport Minister Leo Varadkar has promised to examine whether taxpayers' money is used to provide VIP facilities at Dublin Airport for former and current office holders.

One of the longest-running industrial relations protests in the history of the State ended in Cork today.

Fianna Fáil appears to be eroding from the inside. The party must change if it is to live to fight another day, writes Gerard Howlin

City officials have ruled out a proposal to allow the Vita Cortex workers lead Cork’s St Patrick’s Day parade.

SO Ireland has a new head of state.

The Government has announced a €1m aid package for the humanitarian effort in the Horn of Africa.

The UN is warning that more than 800,000 children could die from starvation in the Horn of Africa.

Mary Robinson’s presence in Africa this week focused world attention on the famine in Somalia, demonstrating the crucial role the famous play in highlighting the plight of the poor and dispossessed, says Georgina O’Halloran.

Most guests attending tonight's State dinner have now arrived at Dublin Castle.

FORMER President Mary Robinson has travelled to the Far East to play a key role in an international delegation aiming to ease tensions between the warring North and South Koreas.

Tributes are being paid to human rights campaigner Kevin Boyle who has passed away.

EVEN driving down this country’s rural roads, much of Ireland is hidden, more of it is simply overlooked, abandoned, or ignored. And, some of it is making its way back – as can be seen in a day in the wandering company of someone like the multi-faceted George Gossip.

Former SDLP leader John Hume today said he was humbled and honoured after being voted Ireland’s Greatest in an island-wide poll.

LEADING children’s rights campaigner Fergus Finlay has written to the Labour Party seeking its nomination to run for the presidency.

A LUXURY hotel is offering five-star kennel service, the juiciest bones, and long walks on a lead to new guests.

PHOTOGRAPHS of the first immigrant to arrive at New York’s Ellis Island have been unearthed almost 120 years after she landed in the United States from Ireland.

DAISY TERRACE is one of Waterford’s chicest addresses. Up at Summerhill, it is home to period terraced Victorian homes, just a short walk to all the urban amenities of the city on the Suir.

The Government tonight congratulated former President Mary Robinson on being awarded the highest civilian honour in the US by President Barack Obama.

Former President Mary Robinson is to receive America’s Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama today.

DUBLIN has won the bid to become the European City of Science for 2012 when it will host one of the world’s largest science events.

Former President of Ireland Dr Patrick Hillery will be given a full state funeral on Wednesday, the Government announced today.

The lasting legacy of the North’s peace process could be to point a way forward for other conflict zones around the world, a leading US statesman claimed today.

Had Irish emigrants been entitled to vote, and if even a small fraction of them had exercised that right, undoubtedly they could have been the deciding factor in general elections here given the size of the country and the closeness of election results.

THE head of an Irish charity has been appointed to a top level international committee to fight world hunger.

FORMER President Mary Robinson has appealed to the Irish public to champion the protection of women in the developing world from an increasing wave of rape and violence.

IT WAS dark outside, on that night of the year once celebrated in ancient Ireland as the Celtic festival of Samhain. Inside the brightly-lit Connemara Coast Hotel, 500 guests gathered to enjoy a reception hosted by RTÉ.

Credit Unions have played a vital role in bringing financial dignity and social empowerment to people all over the world, the Taoiseach said tonight at the opening of a major world conference.

FORMER President Mary Robinson yesterday launched an Irish initiative to tackle global violence against women and children.

AS the UN turns 60, it is timely to scrutinise the role of the world’s only global organisation, which stands at a crossroads, facing an uncertain future and urgently in need of sweeping reforms.

AS leaders of the world’s richest nations meet around the table at the G8 summit today, the major issue on the agenda will be poverty in Africa.

An 18th Century nun, credited with establishing girl’s education in the State, was today named Ireland’s Greatest Woman.

Former President Mary Robinson has severely criticised the Irish work permit system in a speech to a conference in Dublin.

THERE are two Mother Teresas. The first is the Mother Teresa who appeals to fans of mushy Hollywood movies.

ANNA MANAHAN was delighted yesterday to receive recognition for her acting talents. Her handprints are immortalised on the forecourt of Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre, a distinction she shares with two other legends.

SERGIO VIEIRA DE MELLO, the top UN envoy on Iraq who was killed in a bomb blast yesterday, was a tough but debonair Brazilian who had been dispatched on some of the world body's most difficult missions.

PRESIDENT Mary McAleese laid a wreath in honour of Irishmen and women who died in wars or on duty with the United Nations yesterday.

The death has taken place of Josie Airey, a courageous woman who by indefatigable tenacity and determination forced an Irish government to introduce free legal aid in matters relating to family law.