Van Morrison’s main entertainment firm posted a pre-tax profit of almost £1.4m (€1.6m) last year, new accounts show.

He has battled cancer and is about to turn 75, but Rod Stewart’s two gigs in Ireland next week are a sign he has no plans to retire any time soon, writes Richard Purden

Geoff Travis may have had a hand in the rise of bands such as The Smiths, but it’s his new crop of Irish acts that has him excited in advance of his visit to Cork, writes Ed Power

When the Irish Examiner broke the news that an ultra-inquisitive deer photobombed newlyweds at Killarney’s Ladies View the story went viral.

Currently in Cork for a Beckett play, actor Stephen Dillane tells Des O’Driscoll about some of his cultural reference points through the decades.

Judy Hegarty Lovett is from Monkstown in Co Cork, and is co-artistic director of theatre company Gare St Lazare Ireland.

Brian said: "So, I am very proud to officially announce that I had my scan results….and I am completely clear, normal and no cancer present!”

The previously unheard music on the new album of Rory Gallagher’s music features a track he made with Muddy Waters, writes Ed Power.

Journalist Victoria Mary Clarke has spoken about Johnny Depp's presence at her wedding to singer Shane MacGowan.

All the contestants had to dance on the double, with the St Patrick’s Day special featuring one dance apiece to contemporary Irish music.

Brian Kennedy is selling a sizeable amount of his private art collection.

"I didn’t know anything about anything, I was just spinning off the top of my head.”

Here's your lunchtime bulletin.

Here's your morning bulletin.

The extraordinary Brexit events in London this past week have already had an impact across the Irish Sea. Witness the sharp downturn in share values and a plunge in the value of sterling.

From Robert Plant to Van Morrison, former agent and author Paul Charles shares his celebrity memories of life on the road with Esther McCarthy.

“Wouldn’t it be great if it was like this all the time?”

This column is in confessional mode today. After a trend, I wish to confess in public to having endured a traumatic experience in my past, writes Michael Clifford.

Aslan were the only artists to appear twice in the top 10 with 'Crazy World' and 'This Is'.

Music lovers are being invited to nominate their favourite songs or ballads for the first-ever EU songbook.

Steve Wickham helped the Lost Brothers find their mojo on their best album yet, writes Ed Power

Actor Kenneth Branagh has said he is humbled to receive the freedom of his native Belfast.

Martin O’Neill and Tony O’Donoghue seemed to attract most public interest than the inaugural Nations League draw, writes Liam Mackey.

Brian Kennedy has battled cancer and seen close friends go to the grave. He now appreciates life more than ever, writes Ellie O’Byrne.

I can’t remember the first time I heard Bob Dylan or Van Morrison or even Lightnin’ Hopkins, but I remember the first time I heard Dolores O’Riordan, writes Michael Clifford.

Ahead of the release of his 38th studio album, Van Morrison speaks to Catherine Wylie about fame, his relentless work rate and a self-described cult following.

Here's your lunchtime news bulletin...

River Matthews is a singer/ songwriter from Surrey, and tours Ireland next week with dates at Fred Zepplins in Cork (Wed); Roisin Dubh, Galway (Thurs); and Whelan’s in Dublin (Fri).

Kenneth Branagh said he was humbled and proud after being awarded the freedom of his home city of Belfast.

Declan McCarthy is the director of the Baltimore Fiddle Fair and is also involved in Skibbereen Arts Festival, which begins this weekend and runs until August 6.

Although he is slow to distance himself from his biggest hit, Mike Rosenberg tells

From Glasto to Spain, there are a flock of festivals that could tempt you overseas in the coming months, writes Ed Power

Des O’Driscoll has the complete list of what you should watch on your couch this week.

Paddy Armstrong’s account of his wrongful imprisonment as part of the Guildford Four is harrowing. As a politically disengaged teenager of the ’70s, he was always an unlikely IRA man, as Anne Lucey discovers.

As well as appearing on Dragon’s Den on RTÉ One, Chanelle McCoy’s business interest runs Chanelle Medical, a pharmaceutical company with 350 employees. The 40-year-old grew up in Loughrea, Co Galway, and has two children with her husband, former jockey AP McCoy.

They may rail against the Donegal jokes, but Little Hours are proud to be spoken of as their home county’s next big thing in the music world, writes Ed Power.

After years spent blazing trails with their own projects, the Casey sisters from West Cork finally got around to playing together, writes Marjorie Brennan.

FROM the MIRA Observatory, which named a lightning-bolt-shaped constellation of stars in David Bowie’s name, to a church in the Netherlands that delivered a bell-tower rendition of ‘Space Oddity’, the singer’s death, on January 10, has furnished 2016 with a glut of retrospectives, outpourings on social media, and musical tributes.

U2 and Fleetwood Mas last year helped the Live Nation firm that operates the 3Arena in Dublin to double its pre-tax profits to £5.16m (€6.19m).