Rock-paper-scissors champion crowned in Dublin
Mark Cleland from Belfast was crowned the Irish rock-paper-scissors champion recently in Dublin. Mr Cleland fought off Martin Brosnan in the final and will now represent Ireland in the Rock Paper Scissors World Championships at the Beijing Olympics. For more details, please click Irish World.

May 4
Pope to make decision on NI visit
The invitation was issued by Irish Catholic bishops last year. The Pope's spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said that the Holy Father's international agenda for 2009 would be known before the end of the year. For more details, please click BBC.

Keep rural post offices open says bishop
Dr Dermot Clifford, the outspoken Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, has made an impassioned plea for post offices to remain open as focal points for rural communities. For more on this story, please click Irish Independent.
Photo Credit & Related Story: RTÉ

Pat Spillane pulling pints?
The Kerry football legend and commentator who coined the term 'Saturday Night Ireland' to describe the country's growing binge drinking culture was granted a publican's licence in his own name last week. For more details, please click Irish Independent.

Thousands gear up for Belfast Marathon
Tens of thousands of runners are on their marks to pound the pavements this Bank Holiday Monday for the annual Deep River Rock Belfast Marathon. The largest proportion of entrants will be taking part in the relay. For more details, please click Belfast Telegraph.

Join the hunt for your favourite bird
The Pecks Factor competition is calling on the public to register their vote for their favourite feathered friend. Voters will be able to choose from among garden, farmland, sea and wetland birds. For more details, please click Belfast Telegraph.
Photo Credit: Geographia

Free bus ride to cemetery packs them in
Older people and relatives visiting graves at Belfast's Roselawn Cemetery can now use a free bus service operating once a week in turn from north, east, south and west Belfast. For more details, please click BBC.

Book Review: A Taste of Wexford 2
A benefit cookbook, the total proceeds of this second volume of dishes from the southeast and beyond go to Wexford Area Lifeboats. Chefs from 16 businesses in the region are joined by guest chefs Derry Clarke and Neven Maguire to create menus and recipes for every occasion. To read the review, please click RTE.

May 3
Kennedy urges Ahern to become peace envoy
Senator Ted Kennedy has urged outgoing Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to travel the world as an envoy for peace. But Mr Ahern fended off making any immediate decisions. For more on this story, please click Irish Independent.
Photo Caption: Bertie Ahern poses under a portrait of John F Kennedy with former US Ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith (left), Caroline Kennedy and US Senator Edward Kennedy at the JFK Library in Boston

10-year old conquers Kilimanjaro
Sean McSharry, from Stillorgan, south Co Dublin has become the youngest person in Europe to climb one of the world’s highest mountains. He reached the peak of Kilimanjaro in north east Tanzania – the highest in Africa – at noon Irish time. For more details, please click Breaking News.

Sunday Game celebrates 30 years
The famous theme tune has gone, along with the dodgy graphics, terrible set and most of the terrible haircuts. But it's difficult to imagine an Irish summer without 'The Sunday Game'. For more on this story, please click Irish Independent.

Spreading the word with butter
Images and testimonies from some of the characters who played their part in the development of butter production in Ireland have been compiled in a new limited edition book 'A Little Bit of Butter' which was introduced yesterday by Sir Anthony O'Reilly. For more details, please click Irish Independent.
Photo Credit: Cork Butter Museum

Fiddle virtuoso to be honoured
Martin Hayes will be officially recognised by Clare County Council at a Civic Reception. A Civic Reception is the highest accolade that a Local Authority can award to an individual, group or organisation. For more details, please click Irish World.

Where Ballymun goes, the world will follow?
The Dublin suburb of Ballymun will be the international model for how to build large-scale, environmentally friendly communities which reduce people's dependency on fossil fuels, a conference was told yesterday.http://www.independent.ie/national-news/where-ballymun-goes-the-world-follows-in-model-for-green-future-1366175.html
Photo Credit: Draft Ireland

World's largest cruise ship due in Cork
The largest cruise ship in the world is docking in Cobh, Co Cork, today as part of her maiden voyage.'Independence of the Seas' took over two years to build at a cost of more than €500m. For more on this news item, please click RTE.

May 2
Church leaders forced to cancel holy site visit
The leaders of Ireland's four main Christian Churches have accepted an apology from the Israeli government after a Jewish settler prevented them from praying for peace at the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Holocaust Memorial Day. For more details, please click Irish Independent.

FAI introduces Trapattoni
His English was weak but his charisma was strong and though we only caught one word in three, he made more sense than his predecessor Steve Staunton and we nodded back enthusiastically and let ourselves be seduced by Don Giovanni. For more details, please click Irish Times.

Eden star wins NY festival award
Eileen Walsh has won the Best Actress award at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York for her role in the Irish film 'Eden' based on Eugene O'Brien's play and directed by Declan Recks. For more details, please click RTE.

Travelling exhibition looks at childhood in Ireland
Hosted by the Local Authority Museums’ Network ‘Seen But Not Heard (Feictear Ach Ní Cloistear) - A Century Of Childhood In Ireland’ celebrates some of the many lifestyle changes experienced by successive generations of Irish children. For more details, please click Irish World.

It’s Academy Awards Time
Nominations are being sought for this year's prestigious Royal Irish Academy (RIA) gold medals. The medals are awarded to persons ordinarily resident in Ireland who have made a substantial contribution to their field whilst working in Ireland. For more details, please click Irish Independent.

Belfast Cathedral Arts Festival hits new box office record
Organisers of the popular event say they are delighted that the festival has broken box office records with the highest pre-festival sales in its history. For more details, please click Belfast Telegraph.
Photo Credit: Last FM

Book Review: Anzacs & Ireland by Jeff Kildea
Just over four years ago, a memorial plaque was unveiled at Belvedere College, the Jesuit school in Dublin. It honoured all former students who died as victims of war. It therefore honoured men whose beliefs took them in quite different directions. For more on this story, please click: Eureka Street

May 1
US Congress applauds Ahern
The Taoiseach was given a standing ovation during an historic address to a joint meeting of the United States Congress in Washington yesterday when he declared: "Ireland is at peace." For more on this story, please click Irish Times.
To read an abridged version of Mr. Ahern’s address, please click Irish Independent.

Lotto winners pledge not to waste windfall
The winners, from west Dublin, chose to keep their identity secret after they collected €15,658,143 from National Lottery offices yesterday afternoon. For more on this story, please click Irish Independent.
Photo Credit: Theatre Scarborough

Me and the Sea - Mick Brogan
Originally from Kinvara, Mick Brogan grew up watching hookers carry turf between his home village and Connemara. in the late 1970s he took part enthusiastically in the revival of the hookers, buying a gleoiteog and teaching himself to sail, getting involved in the annual Cruinniú na mBád in Kinvara, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. For more on this story, please click Galway Independent.

River bank to sizzle in battle of chefs
A busy Limerick riverside street will sizzle over the coming holiday weekend as hundreds of barbecue chefs gather from all over the world to pit their skills in an international cook-off. For more on this story, please click Irish Examiner.
Photo Credit & Related Story: Limerick Leader

Ferriter comes out tops
A record three Irish Book Awards have been won by author Diarmaid Ferriter for his book ‘Judging Dev', at the 2008 Irish Book Awards in Dublin. For more on this story, please click Irish World.
Photo Credit: BBC

Rally for return of ferry
Tourist bosses in Cork, suffering because of the continued cancellation of a ferry connection to Swansea, have been told they have been “hoodwinked” into believing that there was no European Union funding to help the situation. For more details, please click Irish World.

Book Review: The Journey Home by Dermot Bolger
“We came from nowhere and found we belonged nowhere else,” says Francis Hanrahan, the troubled young hero of Dermot Bolger’s fiercely beautiful novel “The Journey Home.” The nowhere he’s referring to is the Dublin suburb he reluctantly, often bitterly, calls home. To read the review in full , please click New York Times.
Photo Credit: Kate Geraghty/Irish Times

April 30
Taoiseach to thank US for NI peace role
In a major public event that will mark one of the highlights of his 11 years in office, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will today address a joint session of the United States Congress and afterwards will meet President Bush in the White House. For more on this story, please click Irish Times.
Photo Credit & Related Story: Irish Independent

Niamh survives sing-off scare
Niamh Perry became the first Irish contestant to finish in the bottom two in the BBC's musical talent search 'I'd Do Anything' on Sunday evening, but survived a sing-off against Keisha Amponsa-Banson. For more on this story, please click RTE.

Award-winning strand unveils visitor facility
A new environmentally friendly £500,000 visitor facility has been unveiled at one of Northern Ireland's best loved beaches. With more than 175,000 visitors every year, Portstewart Strand is one of the most visited open spaces cared for by the trust in Northern Ireland, For more details, please click Belfast Telegraph.
Phoo Credit: North Coast. Northern Ireland

Dublin slang guide for Mickey Dazzlers
A new dictionary of Dublin street slang details for the first time ever the language of the underworld. For more details, please click Irish Independent.
Photo Credit: Newsfeed Ireland

Number of people smoking increases despite ban
Despite the introduction of the smoking ban nearly three years ago, smoking levels have increased in this country, according to a national study of Irish health and lifestyles. For more details, please click Irish Examiner.

Catalogue of a Country
Mills mines, lime kilns, waterwheels - all were once a common sight around the countryside in Ireland, but sadly now fast disappearing. That’s why conservationists have begun a survey to list what’s left of the county’s industrial and farming heritage. For more on this story, please click Irish World.

Shoppers willing to pay more for Irish
According to a recent survey, 58 per cent will fork out extra for home-made or Irish goods, with eight out of 10 preferring branded products to supermarket’s own label items. For more details, please click Irish World.
Photo Credit: Food ireland

April 29
Bertie not the first Taoiseach to address US Congress
When Taoiseach Bertie Ahern addresses the Joint Houses of US Congress on Wednesday, he will be following in the footsteps of five previous Taoisigh and Irish Presidents. For more details, please click RTE.

Church leaders begin visit to Holy Land
Roman Catholic Primate Cardinal Sean Brady, President of the Methodist Church the Rev Roy Cooper, Presbyterian Moderator Dr John Finlay, and Church of Ireland Primate Archbishop Alan Harper will also offer Christian hope in a situation where continuing hostilities are causing increased hardship for ordinary people. For more on this story, please click Breaking News.
Photo Credit: His Prayer House

New nuncio presents his credentials
The diplomat appointed by Pope Benedict to represent the interests of the Holy See in Ireland presented his credentials yesterday to President Mary McAleese at Aras an Uachtarain. For more on this story, please click Irish Independent.

Day trip to Westport
And why not? Nobody has a bad word to say about Westport. Overlooking Clew Bay, in the shadow of Croagh Patrick, it's every bit as dramatic as New Plymouth in New Zealand, itself overlooked by Mount Taranaki. For more on this story, please click Irish Independent.

Coldplay single is free from today
Coldplay have announced that their new single will be available as a free download from this afternoon. Violet Hill will be available on www.coldplay.com for one week from 12:15pm (Irish time) today. For more on this story, please click RTE.

Boyne painting sells for £59,000
It is believed to be by Dutch artist Jan Wyck and sold for more than five times the guide price at Whyte's auction, held at the RDS in Dublin. For more on this story, please click BBC.

Tiny shrew a big hope for dwindling owls
The discovery of a tiny new mammal in Ireland may be the key to reviving dwindling populations of the elusive barn owl, environment experts said yesterday. For more on this story, please click Irish Independent.
Photo Credit: Davy Watson/Flicker

April 28
Regional round-up from Antrim to Wicklow
All the news that probably won’t make the national headlines: crows fall from the sky in Clare; football feast on offer in Galway; and milestones made at ploughing championships in Sligo. To read these news items and many others, please click Irish Emigrant.
Photo Credit: Golden Harp

Winning ticket sold in Clodalkin and rumours fly
There was just one winner of the Lotto jackpot over the weekend but there was no shortage of suggestions yesterday as to who that one winner might be. For more on this story, please click Irish Independent.
Photo Credit: Sam Abell for National Geographic. For illustration purposes only.

Gaelscoileanna turning students away
Irish language around the country are turning hundreds of children away, as they do not have the capacity to cope with the volume of applicants; some schools are so oversubscribed they can’t take applications for the next two years. For more on this story, please click Irish Independent.

Helicopter sales in a tailspin?
Helicopter ownership in Ireland has grown threefold since 2000, but the private flying boom may be coming to an end with reports of muted sales in recent months as the economic slowdown bites. For more on this story, please click Irish Independent.
Photo credit: Hennessy Aviation

Fans - get yourselves noticed!
Belmayne A1 Team Ireland is offering its most dedicated fan a prize that money can’t buy at Brands Hatch on May 4th. Irish supporters were out in force last year; the quantity of tricolours flying in the grandstands made the event feel like a home race. For more details, please click A1GP.

Lord Jim in tribute to Aldegrove
Saddened more than most by the pending closure of the RAF base is Lord Jim Molyneaux of Killead. He grew up on the very edge of the camp and has been a regular caller all his life. For more on this story, please click Belfast Telegraph.
Photo Credit: Wikipedia

Immigrants fight to Save NYC carriage trade
Irish horse and carriage owners who make a living driving tourists around Central Park are furious at an attempt by a councilman to put a ban on horse-drawn carriages in the city. For more details, please click Irish Abroad.

April 27
Face to face with the mystic monk
The controversial public display of Padre Pio's body is attracting a new kind of Irish holidaymaker who likes to combine sunshine and spirituality. For more on this story, please click Irish Independent.

Clarke triumphs in Shanghai
A superb birdie putt at the final hole secured Darren Clarke an emotional first victory on the European Tour in five years as the Ryder Cup star won the BMW Asian Open by a single stroke. For more details, please click RTE.

Shebeen vows to stay open
Dirty Old Town was belted out in full gusto this weekend around the newly installed piano inside what is fast becoming the most famous and controversial shebeen in the world. For more on this story, please click Irish Independent.

Heineken Cup Preview: Munster v Saracens
This one has been cast as a done deal, and it's not hard to see why. Munster are, after all, a European powerhouse. Saracens have overachieved to get here and have faltered badly in quite a few matches. For more details, please click RTE.

Belfast Rose too young to compete
Cliodhna McCorley (17), Belfast's newly-crowned Rose of Tralee has been stripped of her title after it emerged she is too young to enter the competition. For more details, please click Belfast Telegraph.

Dublin council considers tourist tax
A tourist tax is among a number of measures being considered to raise revenue for Dublin City Council. A meeting of the council's finance committee heard that a charge of €1 per bed a night would raise €24m a year. For more on this story, please click RTE.

Open House at Victoria Square
Luxury apartments at Belfast city's newest landmark are about to be unveiled. Prospective buyers at the Residence in Victoria Square will get a chance to view the new show apartment today. For more details, please click Belfast Telegraph.
Photo credit & Related Story: BTW Cairns

Ireland contains more bog land, relatively speaking, than any country in Europe, except Finland. For people in rural areas, turf cut from the bog is still a natural source of heat. Turf cutting begins in spring and then the turf is spread and rickled . Rickled means to pile the turf up in small mounds. By summer, the turf is dry and it's time to bring it home. Everything has to be prepared before the winter comes, or even earlier, because the rain would wet the turf too much. It has to be dry and in the shed before Autumn. Then and only then, can an irish country family look foreward to the cozy warmth of "a turf fire in the cabin."

Resources: The Atlas of the Irish Rural Landscape
Image: Spirited ireland

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