The Green Party's bright young star, Saoirse McHugh, has revealed some pretty radical ideas as to her ideal vision of how Ireland should be run.

DUBLIN is to be the third home in Europe for the luxury Anantara hotel brand, joining Anantara Vilamoura Algarve Resort in Portugal and the Anantara Villa Padierna Palace in Marbella, Spain.

A United Airlines aircraft that turned back from its Atlantic crossing yesterday due to a technical fault was sent out over Dublin Bay as a delaying tactic rather than landing immediately in Dublin Airport.

Two Gardaí escaped uninjured when shots were fired on the Garda van on Buttercup Park at 11.20pm on Thursday night.

Irish Water is warning about potential smells in Ringsend over the next few days as maintenance work gets underway at the wastewater treatment plant.

Irish Water need to put a plan in place urgently to stop wastewater leaks into Dublin Bay, according to a Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown county councillor.

Eight beaches in Dublin have been closed to swimmers following the heavy rainfall last night.

A Green Party MEP does not believe building housing on reclaimed land in Dublin Bay is a viable option.

Dora the Explorer, a wallaby who escaped from an animal centre in Cork, has been found safe and well in Kilworth after her little "holiday" in the county over recent days.

His boat capsized near Dalkey at about 4pm.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is sending an inspector to a wastewater treatment plant in Dublin this afternoon.

Following a wastewater leak on Monday, two Dublin beaches have re-opened to swimmers.

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council have said that the orange water at Sandycove Beach today is a naturally occurring micro-alga.

My wife and I spent some time in France last week, and specifically in the coastal town of La Rochelle.

A bathing ban remains in place at Dollymount Beach.

The bans were lifted at all beaches in the Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown area last night after tests found the water quality had returned to normal.

The leak is due to a storm-water overflow from Ringsend Treatment Plant on June 4 and 5.

All six class leaders made clear their intentions for the series on the opening day of the ICRA National Championships on Dublin Bay yesterday.

here was some sad news in the restaurant world recently with the announcement that Luna was closing its doors.

Just like almost all of you reading this I have working molars and eye-teeth and I like to use them.

The Irish Whale and Dolphin Group is bringing its ‘Trail of the Whale’ tour to libraries, writes Amy Lewis

We've got loads of tips from Sonya Lennon, Rick O'Shea, Neven Maguire, Francis Brennan, Derval O'Rourke and Jen Rock.

If proof was needed that sailing is a ‘lifelong’ sport, a glance at last week’s Laser Masters World Championships at Dun Laoghaire is all that’s needed.

Although Mao’s crude attack didn’t succeed, tree sparrows are vulnerable, as their roller-coaster history in Ireland shows, writes Richard Collins

I’VE written several times now about sex. About sex abuse, misogyny, the way men feel they can treat women, writes Fergus Finlay.

It’s becoming a case of the emperor with no clothes for Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy.

State-sponsored sub-prime lending. That is what the Government announced this week and it is a disaster waiting to happen.

Agriculture Minister Michael Creed has said he supports the plan for a referendum on abortion but has yet to make up his mind on recommendations to liberalise the law on terminations.

Daffodils blooming in November. Grass growing at Christmas. Climate change is here for all to see, writes Donal Hickey. 

IN Timoleague, west Cork, where the famous 13th century abbey overlooks the sea, there may be seen, these evenings, one of the most extraordinary displays of coordination and swarm behaviour in nature, a murmuration of starlings, says Damien Enright.

Ireland's EU quota for Dublin Bay prawn fishing will be cut by 45% next year if a decision to change how landings are assessed is not overturned, it has been claimed in the High Court.

Cancer survivors and their supporters are set to create an arc of light across Dublin city this evening to raise funds for cancer support services.

Two sailors have been rescued from a capsized dinghy in Dublin Bay this morning.

Swimming in the Forty Foot and surfing monster waves at the Cliffs of Moher are among a bucket list of outdoor thrills listed in Lonely Planet’s new tome on global adventures.

Two sailing regattas this week, on opposite coasts, have succeeded in mustering a large proportion of Ireland’s boating community. And both, in turn have their own spectacles on offer although for different reasons.

Irish fishing organisations have said moves by Britain to effectively place a hard border around its fishing waters would increase pressure on Irish waters, cost jobs here, and even threaten the future of Dublin Bay prawns.

Last week, representative of civic organisations crowded in for the “National Economic Dialogue”.

That there will soon be more plastic than fish in the sea doesn’t even take into account the inevitable decline in fish stocks, writes Victoria White.

A further push to secure an internationally-based biosphere status for Kerry, and Killarney in particular, continues to face objections from a conservation organisation.

Waste treatment at the Poolbeg incinerator in Dublin has been suspended after an uncontrolled discharge occurred there on Wednesday night that saw 11 people hospitalised.

Organisers of the annual Dublin Port Riverfest are expecting to bring a €1m boost to the local economy.

DESPITE the downbeat and often valid warnings about the state of the Irish environment and wildlife, lots of positive things are going on, writes Donal Hickey.