Fota Arboretum and Garinish Island are among the dozens of Irish gardens and parks that have been recognised with International Green Flags.

You’d have thought that Ireland had filled its 80s nostalgia quota this week alone. Stranger Things season 3 and its references to the decade of excess streamed just last Thursday.

Ahead of her Cork gig, the Aussie singer tells Ed Power how her ‘overnight success’ was actually 11 years in the making

Tash Sultana is the first artist to be announced for performances next summer at Cork’s Live at the Marquee and at the Iveagh Gardens in Dublin.

A tax on the use of the word “treacherous” during Storm Ophelia would have eradicated the national debt, yet the Irish weather phenomenon truly deserving of such characterisation is the deceptive May sunshine.

Planning a pre-Christmas shopping trip to Dublin with the girls? Ciara McDonnell rounds up the best hotels for a perfect girls’ weekend in the capital.

Christy Dignam opens up about his regrets on fatherhood and the ongoing impact of sexual abuse he suffered at six-years-old in a new documentary.

Des O’Driscoll with the latest entertainment news and events...

1. Polo in the Park

The summer festival season is already under way with more of the big guns readying themselves in the weeks ahead.

Tickets are set to go on sale Friday, February 10 at 9am from usual outlets.

ALL AND SUNDRY: It’s probably just as well that the public don’t get to select the Turner Prize winner. 

All your entertainment news in one handy place

Emirates has introduced a wide range of business and economy class Autumn fare specials, one of them particularly suited for rugby fans keen to experience the Dubai Rugby Sevens that runs between December 1 and 3.

A troubled teenage past helped Annie Lederman weather the cut-throat NY stand-up circuit where she honed her craft, writes Ed Power

MUSIC NEWS: After Body & Soul and Castlepalooza, the muddy fields of the midlands take a break from festival season this weekend. Probably for the best as Beyonce gets her Beyhive in Formation for a show that’s not quite sold out at Croke Park tomorrow.

Perfect picnic

All the news from the world’s of music, film and theatre

Following the Garth Brooks concert Croke Park debacle, last year is likely to be a year Aiken Promotions would want to quickly forget.

Golden Horn and Gleneagles head a star field of eight horses declared for the Qipco Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown tomorrow, a race that will have an earlier start time due to weather concerns.

Ulysses once said: "(A) good puzzle would be cross Dublin without passing a pub." So publin.ie decided to take on the challenge.

With Ireland’s biggest comedy festival kicking off in the capital next week, some of the biggest names on the circuit today are gearing up to get down to business.

The Jim Bolger-trained Stellar Glow, placed in some distinguished company in her time, should belatedly shed her maiden tag in the Irish Stallion Farms Fillies Maiden in Leopardstown tonight.

One artist who won’t have to sing for his supper anytime soon is Oscar winner, Glen Hansard.

RTE has told the High Court that Denis O’Brien is hanging a 'Sword of Damocles' over the entire media; Days after their loss, while they were still reeling from grief, Gaye and Gerry Edwards received their son’s remains in an envelope and John Giles has not been dropped from the panel covering Ireland's soccer matches, RTE has said. Just some of the latest and most read stories on irishexaminer.com.

Homeowners face €5k bill to remove lead pipes; Martin O’Neill apologised after ‘losing it’ in Celtic’s dressing room after loss; and watch Ryan Tubridy take on zorbing in Westport. These are some of the latest and most read news stories on irishexaminer.com this morning.

The organiser of the Taste of Dublin food festival — which takes place this weekend at Iveagh Gardens — has been named on the Revenue Commissioners’ latest quarterly defaulters list, in respect of a tax settlement totalling €120,000.

The cash pile at the music firm owned by Kildare singer-songwriter Damien Rice last year topped €415,000.

Unsurprisingly, Our Table, the Cork Midsummer Festival long table al fresco banquet on Cork’s Oliver Plunkett St, feeding 400 white-clad diners, is long sold out.

Sir Isaac Newton, once considered an Investec Derby prospect, should justify odds-on favouritism in tonight’s Gowran Park opener, the seven-furlong Irish Stallion Farms Maiden.

As a primary school teacher and parent, I am strongly supporting a yes vote today.

Found remains a short price for the Investec Oaks despite being beaten by 25-1 outsider in Iveagh Gardens on her return to action in the Canford Cliffs EBF Athasi Stakes at the Curragh yesterday.

The legendary band will take to the Live At the Marquee stage in Cork and the Iveagh Gardens in Dublin.

Thousands of families are at risk of losing their homes because of caps on rent allowance, homeless charity Focus Ireland has warned

Workman’s Club, Dublin

COMEDIENNE Maeve Higgins decamped to New York at the end of January, having spent the previous year living in London, and the dozen before that in Dublin.

From Bloomsday for Joycean lovers to al fresco dining in Dublin, from the fun side of the arts in Carlow to the annual Summer Show in Cork, this weekend promises a feast of festivals nationwide.

A hound for knowledge, The Menu is never done learning and always on the lookout for new culinary educational opportunities.

Summer in Ireland is festival season. Liz O’Brien picks some of the nation’s favourites — and reveals the people who work long and hard behind the scenes to make your summer happen.

Derval O’Rourke will have to wait a while longer before finally receiving her bronze medal from the 2013 European Indoor Championships, after she revealed yesterday that legal issues have added a further disruption to the process.