The Christian owners of a bakery who refused to make a cake with a pro-gay marriage message were not being forced to do anything against their beliefs, an Equality Commission lawyer has said.

Christian bakers found guilty of discrimination for refusing to make a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan have insisted their appeal has implications for freedom of expression across the UK.

Christian bakers who refused to make a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan are expected to return to court in Belfast today for an appeal.

Christian bakers at the centre of the so-called "gay cake" discrimination battle have said they are praying for justice ahead of next week's appeal hearing.

Ireland manager Martin O’Neill has apologised for making an inappropriate remark last week at the Cork Opera House.

All sorts of verbal blunders swim through our sentences like bubbles in champagne.

In the ‘show me’ State, actions speak louder than words, reports John Breslin in St Louis, Missouri.

BILLY O’MAHONY has lost all faith in the Irish health service.

LISTENING to some of the teachers and the union representatives moaning during the week one could be tempted to suggest that what we need is to bring back corporal punishment and flog those teachers.

Inflatable paddling pool? Check. Free event? Check!

The judge said that Eamonn Heery made unpleasant and potentially homophobic remarks that did him no credit - but his behaviour it did not amount to assault.

The UK's highest court will this autumn consider a judgment against a Christian-owned bakers in the North found to have breached equality laws by refusing to make a pro-gay marriage cake.

A Leitrim man who sexually abused a boy in his community while calling him "a dirty little queer" has been jailed for eight years.

And no, the US VP-elect didn't come out…

I WISH my son wasn’t at a fee-paying school.

TV star Graham Norton has hit back at Michael Parkinson’s criticism of the current generation of chat show hosts, and bemoaned the rise of “goody goody” dramas.

Euphoric scenes on the streets of John Joe Nevin’s hometown of Mullingar were marred by allegations of discrimination against Travellers yesterday.

Rufus Wainwright is about to marry his gay lover and is courting mainstream sales with new album Out of the Game, says Ed Power

It’s 30 years since the “grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented” events that led to the resignation of the attorney general, writes Richard Fitzpatrick

Oxford University has rewritten the laws on its strict academic dress code for the benefit of transgender students.