This is a good time to look out for squirrels, which are busy storing up food for the winter, writes Donal Hickey. 

Pope Francis will "do everything he can" to come to Ireland next year, a senior Vatican official has said.

Moira Fowley-Doyle tells Caroline O’Doherty that she likes to keep her characters and her stories rooted in reality even if what’s happening around them is surreal, because a good story will appeal to readers of all ages.

Location: Dromore, Bantry €1.25 million

It’s time to get the sunscreen out again as Met Eireann predict a heat wave running right into next week.

A CONFERENCE at London’s Royal Society next week will discuss ways to reduce emissions from gases blamed for causing rising temperatures.

The gathering in Warrington on Wednesday night was another step in cementing the Northern peace process. It was a magnificent tribute to the tenacity and foresight of Colin Parry, whose 12-year-old son Tim was murdered in the Provisional IRA’s bombing 20 years ago. Another victim was Jonathan Ball, 3.

International technology giant EMC has reported second quarter global revenues of some $5.6bn (€4.23bn), up by 6% on a year-on-year basis.

His name is Ruaidhri Murphy.

CELEBRITY chef Neven Maguire has said raising VAT to 23% is “shooting ourselves in the foot”, and will lead to more shoppers going North of the border.

British discount department store chain TJ Hughes has been sold to its management in a private equity-backed deal.

Broadband service was today restored to more than 20,000 homes affected by a technical fault.

Lady Gaga wants to get married in a British castle.

Funnyman Steve Coogan is to return to TV with a new comic creation – himself.

A second republican paramilitary group in the North announced today that it had decommissioned its weapons.

VISITING the woods above Glendalough last week, I came upon some of Ireland’s most elusive birds; crossbills were feeding in a spruce tree.

UK supermarket giant Sainsbury’s said today it will create up to 20,000 seasonal jobs to meet demand during the Christmas and New Year period.

Confidence among British firms has plunged to a new low in the wake of the economic downturn, according to a study today.

THOUGH only a Dublin resident a matter of weeks, CJ van der Linde is well able to empathise with his Leinster colleagues’ pitiful record in Murrayfield, a venue they visit again this Saturday for their opening Heineken Cup match of the season.

Another three men have been arrested north of the border in connection with the investigation into the murder of south Armagh man Paul Quinn last October.

Fianna Fáil has been officially registered as a political party in the North, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern announced tonight.

Newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror sparked a share price rally today after reporting growth in advertising revenues for the current year.

Newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror said today it has sold the Racing Post to an Irish investment firm for £170m (€244.24m).

FAILTE Ireland’s top man in Northern Ireland is standing down.

The airline carried 350,000 passengers from Shannon to Heathrow last year; its closure of the route has shocked and angered aviation and industry sectors in the region, writes Conor Ryan.

Former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy will today lend his support to the cross community Alliance Party in its bid for Northern Assembly seats.

A new book detailing John Lennon’s links with the north of Scotland has been written by a former MSP.

LIMERICK’S notorious McCarthy-Dundon gang are suspected of carrying out the murder of Latvian Baiba Saulite as a favour for the leader of a non-national gang based in Dublin, the Irish Examiner has learned from well-informed sources.

ADULT CUCKOOS have left our shores and soon their youngsters will bid farewell to their devoted foster parents and head for Africa.

Sri Lankan government leaders and Tamil rebels made initial contact today at a secluded chateau outside Geneva, Switzerland, before their first direct talks in nearly three years, hoping to shore up a ragged ceasefire agreement and move peace talks back on track.

A rapist who phoned his teenage victim’s mother also texted her after the horrific double attack, police said today.

SHARES in Dragon Oil dived 10% yesterday after the oil exploration company said talks on a takeover deal had collapsed.

THE waiting is over as, finally, the Lions touched down in New Zealand. Their arrival heralds the departure of one of the warmest summer and autumn periods on record.

The Australian owner of two historic British regional banks, Yorkshire and Clydesdale, has announced plans to close 100 branches in the UK.

AN RTÉ newsreader, at the races and well tore into the bargain, suddenly remembered he was due in studio 20 minutes later to read the 6.30pm news.

A man and woman from Co Cork admitted keeping guns and ammunition for a Real IRA unit in Cork, the Special Criminal Court heard today.

British supermarket group Waitrose was today given the official go-ahead to buy 19 stores from rival Morrisons.

Americans are losing patience with Sinn Féin and unionist politicians over the deadlock on devolution, nationalist SDLP leader Mark Durkan said tonight.

ALISTAIR Cooke, the doyen of foreign correspondents, has retired. His Letter from America, spanning 50 years with the BBC, made him the greatest of all broadcasters.