A VIP passenger will be onboard LÉ Niamh when she departs her base next week for a three-month migrant rescue mission in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Department of Defence has been accused of ‘Yes Minister’ style answers to key questions about changes to how the naval services are deployed in the Mediterranean.

The crew of LÉ William Butler Yeats is fully trained and equipped to deal with a new role in Operation Sophia, according to the ship’s commander.

In his celebrated poem, “September 1913,” William Butler Yeats condemns the ruthless manner in which workers were locked out by their employers, giving rise to a winter of poverty and deprivation.

As we move toward the centenary celebrations of 1916 it is important to remember the contribution made by artists and writers who, as part of the Cultural Revival, contributed to the construction of the Irish nation, writes Martin McConigley    

Harpist Caitriona Yeats performs this week at her childhood haunt of Thoor Ballylee, the tower house of her grandfather WB Yeats, says Alan O’Riordan

Some of the finest first editions of the work of William Butler Yeats have been made available for researchers and students at University of Limerick.

A select collection of works by Jack Butler Yeats and John Butler Yeats from the Model arts centre in Sligo, home of the important Niland Collection, have gone on tour for the first time with the opening of an exhibition in Wexford at the weekend.

Dance superstar Michael Flatley is selling his beloved Castlehyde mansion but insists that his heart will always be in Ireland.

A nice Sunday evening in by the telly. Lovely.

Prince Charles wished the students of IT Sligo “good luck in your exams” as he left the college following his short tour.

FOLLOWING the visible firmness of the handshake between Britain’s Prince Charles and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams, the visit of the Prince and his wife Camilla to Ireland has been transformed into an occasion of peace and reconciliation.

The Prince of Wales will make an emotional trip to Mullaghmore in the west of Ireland where his great uncle Lord Mountbatten was assassinated by the IRA, officials have confirmed.

The Waterboys have tweaked their style for a new album. Mike Scott tells Niall Murray all about it.

Irish rugby legends have paid tribute to the one considered the greatest of them all as they joined friends and family of the late Jack Kyle at a special thanksgiving service.

Des O’Sullivan reports on a major sale of Irish art which includes a widely exhibited painting by Jack Yeats.

A special celebration in memory of William Butler Yeats is planned for next year.

Concern has been raised about Riverdance millionaire Michael Flatley’s security after a gang were able to break into his mansion with apparent ease and steal a rhino horn which could be worth anything between €200,000 and €400,000 on the black market.

The new Irish passport includes verses in Ulster Scots as well as a map of the entire island for the first time.

The new Irish passport includes verses in Ulster Scots as well as a map of the entire island for the first time.

Family and friends of Nobel Laureate poet Seamus Heaney have gathered with his contemporaries and dignitaries to pay last respects to one Ireland’s literary greats.

Family and friends of Nobel Laureate poet Seamus Heaney will join dignitaries and literary figures today as Ireland bids farewell to one its most famous sons at a funeral service in Dublin.

The body of poet Seamus Heaney were taken to a Dublin church tonight ahead of a funeral service for the Nobel Laureate tomorrow.

The removal of the remains of Seamus Heaney will take place this evening at 6:45pm to the Church of the Sacred Heart in Dublin's Donnybrook.

While the staff of the Irish Examiner wishes to join with the family of Seamus Heaney in mourning his passing, it is also important that he should be celebrated as one of the world’s greatest men of letters.

The Central Bank was warned of potential design and copyright problems before issuing a flawed James Joyce commemorative coin last month — but went ahead regardless.

Handwritten works by two of our most acclaimed writers, Oscar Wilde and William Butler Yeats, plus portraits of the artists have sold for more than €154,000 (£130,000).

FEW artists have aged as gracefully as Leonard Cohen.

She was acclaimed as one of the world’s greatest designers, so why was Eileen Gray ignored by Ireland for so long, asks Manchán Magan

COMMUTERS, shoppers and businesses can expect major disruption in Dublin from tomorrow as a massive logistical and security operation gets under way for the visit of US President Barack Obama.

EVEN in a drenching summer in Ireland, there’s no shortage of things to do if you wish to enjoy our natural heritage.

GERRY RYAN’S life changed beyond recognition in the past two years.

AN UPSURGE of interest in the outdoors is creating new opportunities for artists and authors of guidebooks on the Irish countryside.

LET’S be honest. Traditionally, Irishmen are not renowned for being the world’s greatest romantics.

THE Frank Sinatra hit My Way will reverberate around a village church today as PJ Barry is laid to rest in a cowboy suit and US marshall’s badge.

FRANCE’s Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio won the 2008 Nobel prize in literature yesterday for works characterised by “poetic adventure and sensual ecstasy” and focused on the environment, especially the desert.

THE upcoming Rugby World Cup brings to mind the Fields of Athenry reverberating around Lansdowne. Written, of course, by that master songwriter Pete St John, who I last saw in Dublin protesting against the proposed motorway through Tara.

THE life and works of William Butler Yeats were celebrated yesterday with the opening of a major exhibition in his honour.

A new exhibition dedicated to the life and works of legendary poet William Butler Yeats is due to open at the National Library in Dublin today.

Priceless family treasures belonging to William Butler Yeats will be handed over to the National Library of Ireland today for a landmark exhibition on the Nobel prize-winning poet.

PRICELESS family treasures belonging to William Butler Yeats were handed over to the National Library of Ireland yesterday for its first major exhibitionon the Nobel prize-winning poet.

Priceless family treasures belonging to William Butler Yeats will be handed over to the National Library of Ireland tomorrow for its first major exhibition on the Nobel prize-winning poet.