Cian O’Connor is hoping the celebrations that greeted the arrival on Wednesday of a second child, Cara Louise, to him and his wife Ruth will continue this weekend at the Global Champions Tour (GCT) final in Doha, Qatar.

It’s a paradise island where they speak English and offer a variety of vacation ideas like no other. And it doesn’t warrant its reputation as being dangerous, writes Isabel Conway.

An Irish man has died in a workplace accident in Australia, it has emerged.

Declan O’Donnell, Helen James and Hugh Wallace are the judges on Home Of The Year on RTÉ One on Thursday.

The human tragedy that was the transportation of Irish convicts to Australia was immortalised in the sporting anthem, ‘Fields of Athenry’. The first journey from Cobh was one of the most dangerous, writes Robert Hume

Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton is at the centre of fresh controversy over her privacy after a German tabloid published a photograph showing her bottom.

The UK's Duchess of Cambridge is at the centre of fresh controversy over her privacy after a German newspaper published a photograph showing her bottom.

Winds that were fanning wildfires and showering embers on threatened Australian communities have eased after scores of residents evacuated their homes in mountains west of Sydney.

Scores of Australians have evacuated their homes in mountains west of Sydney as intensifying winds fanned wildfires that have ravaged the region for days.

Firefighters battling dozens of wildfires in Australia's most populous state merged two of the most worrying blazes today to try to reduce the threat of a more unpredictable inferno taking hold.

It is feared bushfires raging in Australia's New South Wales could merge and form one massive blaze.

Firefighters battling wildfires in Australia are braced for conditions to get worse in the coming days, with high temperatures and strong winds expected to intensify the danger.

One man was killed, scores of homes were destroyed and hundreds of people were forced to evacuate as almost 100 wildfires burned across Australia’s most populous state today.

ADAM Whitbourn’s mission statement when he took over as head gardener at Blarney Castle was that he wanted ‘to make the gardens as famous in their own right as the castle’.

A US tour bus careered through a guard-rail along an icy road and several hundred feet down a steep embankment, killing nine people and injuring more than 20 others, authorities said.

SATURDAY

A BRITISH teenager who survived 12 nights in the Australian bush yesterday described himself as a “total idiot” and denied faking his ordeal.

A British teenager who was found dehydrated and freezing after 12 wintry days lost in Australia’s wilderness said he wrote farewell notes to his family and expected to die of starvation.

A British backpacker has been found alive in the Australian bush after his desperate father gave up hope of ever seeing him again.

POLICE are searching for a British backpacker who went missing in the Australian bush.

ISLAND Cruises has launched early booking offers available for this summer; Mediterranean cruises can be purchased from under €750.

Hundreds of firefighters battled wildfires across south-eastern Australia today as high temperatures and strong winds fanned grass and forest fires into infernos.

JOE WALSH TOURS is offering return flights with Malaysia Airlines to Auckland, out of Ireland, from E729 plus taxes, in a deal that includes a free stopover in Kuala Lumpur, Penang or Lankawi.

Hurricane Dennis flooded roads in Haiti and threatened a direct hit on Jamaica, pushing oil prices sharply higher and becoming the second storm to threaten oil output in the Gulf of Mexico.

SURPRISE snowfalls prompted people in Sydney, Australia, to flock to the mountains yesterday to catch a glimpse of a rare winter phenomenon.

Surprise snowfalls prompted people in Sydney, Australia, to flock to the mountains today to catch a glimpse of what for them is a rare winter phenomenon.

The Darkness picked up yet another prize at the Metal Hammer Awards.

Rescuers steered boats through the streets of Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city, today after a freak storm caused widespread flooding and left drivers stranded on the roofs of their cars.

Smoke blanketed Sydney today as thousands of firefighters battled blazes around Australia’s biggest city for the sixth day in a row.

THERE is certainly something biblical, if not apocalyptic, about the current global extremes of fire and ice.

Australia’s worst bush fires in a generation raged out of control around Sydney today, claiming the life of a second elderly man as winds pushed the towering flames closer to the city’s affluent northern suburbs.

THE set for the popular television series Home and Away has been destroyed in the bushfires ravaging Australia.

A dust cloud swept across eastern Australia today, dumping fine red powder on towns throughout the region.

More than 1,500 people were evacuated from their homes as a massive blaze threatened three coastal villages south of Sydney today.

Firefighters battling bush fires around the Australian city of Sydney have received a respite from the ferocity of the blazes after clouds gathered over the city for the first time in days.

Searing temperatures have dropped, but with erratic winds blowing and no rain in sight, Australia's fire crisis has entered its 12th day.

Hot, dry and swirling winds fanned more than 100 uncontrollable bush fires and smoke clouds towered over Australia’s largest city today as angry officials vowed to punish arsonists, many of them children.

Helicopters dumped water and firefighters filled buckets from backyard swimming pools in a desperate battle to save homes from a wildfire that raged through Sydney’s suburbs today.

Five people have now been arrested in connection with starting fires in the Sydney area.

Around 2000 Australian firefighters have had to put Christmas on hold today as they continue to battle 70 bush fires burning across the country’s most populated state.

More than 50 bush fires are raging around the state of New South Wales today, including one only miles from Parliament House in Canberra.

At least three people have died and thousands more have been evacuated as flooding continues to hit Australia's east coast.