Some 40% of the students have only completed five-six weeks training (compared to the standard 32 weeks).

Basking sharks which were sampled off the west Kerry coast in early spring have proved to be genetically different to all other such sharks tested in the north-east Atlantic, according to a study.

Fianna Fáil’s Micheál Martin raises a useful question when he worries that the “familial relationship” that Ireland and Britain have developed over the decades.

Fiann Ó Nualláin follows in the footsteps of the Fianna as he explores a province’s hills and vales.

By providing a benign shelter for conflicting identities, the European Union helped end the Troubles in the North. To forget this is to risk a return to the past. ‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it’ is a warning from history that should not be forgotten, says Roisin McAuley.

In the week that the FAI's 'Festival of Football' took over Co Meath, it seems one kid from the Royal County can claim to have the longest kick in the game.

The Minister for Finance, Pascal Donohoe has emphatically ruled out suspending the work of NAMA pending the final report of the investigation into the sale of NAMA’s Northern Ireland loan portfolio.

The cost of transporting the Taoiseach and other ministers around the globe on the Government jet reached almost €1m last year at an average cost of over €18,600 per trip.

Fota wildlife have welcomed the birth of a baby Brazilian tapir and are seeking the help from the public to name it.

Denis O’Brien can feel the pain of the Isle of Man 19. Both he and the 19 individuals had their privacy breached.

Amid the palette of autumn colours now adorning the landscape, a yellow, daisy-like plant stands out. Ragwort, even though a banned weed that can kill if ingested by cattle or horses, is to be seen on farmland, abandoned plots in urban areas, and roadsides countrywide.

THIS heat! The world is on its head, writes Colm O’Regan.

We had a back-to-the-future event last Tuesday when Michael Lowry emerged from a building claiming vindication and victimhood. He had just been convicted of tax offences, escaped jail and declared that he had been hounded and vilified.

Ireland’s largest publishing firm, the stock market-listed Independent News and Media, has been thrown into crisis amid serious allegations by the State’s corporate enforcer that include claims of governance misdeeds and email hacks.

The Revenue said it received information on €84m in offshore assets before a late spring deadline, and confirmed it will investigate the latest revelations made in the so-called Paradise Papers.

For the third year in a row, Ballylickey’s Daniel Cronin and Cavan’s Stephen McCann face one another at the six-stage Banna Beach Resort Kerry Winter Rally.

It has emerged the Criminal Assets Bureau requested information from AIB as part of an investigation into businessman Denis O'Brien and former Communications Minister Michael Lowry.

Three stars of the television sitcom Mrs Brown’s Boys diverted more than £2m (€2.26m) to a tax-avoidance scheme, according to the Paradise Papers leak that has revealed the offshore investments of numerous high-profile celebrities.

A leading offshore law firm with clients including the super-rich and international corporations has revealed it suffered a "data security incident" that may result in customers' private information being leaked.

We’ve delved into the archives to share some of our favourite stories from the last 40 years of the Cork Jazz Festival.

Thousands of homes and businesses across the country remain without power and thousands more are without water as the cleanup operation after Storm Ophelia continues.

Met Éireann has today issued a new Rainfall Warning, covering a total of 14 counties.

Sections of recent Dáil debates and international statements made by the Taoiseach threw up some interesting statistics.

The British government’s position paper on the Irish border post-Brexit sets out proposals on what it considers key areas that could be impacted by the withdrawal from the EU.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has attempted to cool concerns the public is at immediate risk of price gouging by bin collection firms by saying it will take at least 15 months to fully implement the new charges regime.

Locations and details of all the thousands of ancient hill forts found across the landscapes of Ireland, as well as the UK, have been mapped in an online database for the first time.

Former Italian international rider Matteo Cigala claimed the final stage of the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan in Killorglin yesterday as overnight leader Dillon Byrne retained the yellow jersey.

Dillon Byrne is the new race leader of the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan going into today’s final stage after a thrilling finish in Waterville yesterday.

Tom Mazzone of the Isle of Man team will wear the first yellow jersey of this year’s Kerry Group Rás Mumhan after claiming a brilliant opening stage win last night in Killorglin.

Esther N McCarthy shares the best products and getaways you need to check out

A major holder of franchises for the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) brand in Ireland and the UK has seen its holdings in the Republic plunge into the red, with losses nearing €45m.

We may need an inquiry into Nama’s Project Eagle sales in the North, but why is the State run in a manner that necessitates inquiries to get at the truth, asks Michael Clifford.

Footballer, teacher, trailblazer - we remember All-Ireland winning captain Joe Lennon

The company behind the Topaz fuel and convenience store chain has effectively settled its legal action against a Dublin-registered company over alleged failure to pay €4.7m to complete a share purchase agreement, the commercial court has heard.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has insisted there was no political pressure from Stormont over the controversial sale of Project Eagle.

Stormont’s Finance Minister has insisted he has no questions to answer over a party colleague’s controversial contact with a witness to an inquiry examining Northern Ireland’s biggest property deal.

Nama must be held accountable for its handling of the controversial sale of a £1.2bn (€1.39bn) Northern Ireland property portfolio, the Public Accounts Committe has insisted.

Political reporter Fiachra Ó'Cionnaith breaksdown the 'Project Eagle' report and gives us an insight into what is to come.

The prospect of a cross-border Nama inquiry should not be completely ruled out, according to Stormont's finance minister.

Nama’s resistance to public scrutiny over its handling of the sale of a distressed loans in the North could result in harmful political fallout, writes Eamon Quinn