Portal:Ireland

The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet news paper launched in the late 1850s. The current editor is Geraldine Kennedy, who succeeded Conor Brady in 2002. The paper is generally perceived as liberal and neutral on Irish unity, in contrast to the Irish Independent, which is perceived as populist and economically right wing.

Though formed as a Protestant Irish nationalist paper, within two decades, and under new owners, it had become the voice of Irish unionists who wanted Ireland to remain a full part of Britain. In the early twentieth century, as the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom and later also the Commonwealth, the paper changed its identity, becoming a more radical voice in the Irish media.

Today, its most prominent columnists include writer and arts commentator Fintan O'Toole, the satirist Miriam Lord and former taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Garret FitzGerald. Senior international figures, including Tony Blair, Bill Clinton and others have written for its 'Op-Ed' (Opinion and Editorial) page. Among of its most prominent columns include Drapier (an anonymous column produced weekly by a politician, giving the 'insider' view of politics).

It is also the Irish newspaper with the most bureaux abroad; it has had full time correspondents in Washington, Moscow, Beijing, London, Central and South America, Africa and other parts of the world. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it had a daily circulation of 117,370 during the second six months of 2005. Read more...

Enya (born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin on 17 May 1961, Gweedore, County Donegal, Ireland), sometimes presented in the media as Enya Brennan, is an Irish singer and songwriter. She is Ireland's best-selling solo artist and her works have earned her four Grammy Awards and an Academy Award nomination. As a musical group, Enya represents a partnership between three people: Enya herself, who composes and performs the music; Nicky Ryan, who produces the albums, and Roma Ryan, who writes the lyrics in various languages. Enya is an approximate transcription of how Eithne is pronounced in her native Irish, in the Donegal dialect. Read more...

Newry (/ˈnjʊəri/; from Irish An Iúraigh) is a city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Clanrye river in counties Down and Armagh. It is near the border with the Republic of Ireland, on the main route between Belfast (34 miles/55 km away) and Dublin (67 miles/108 km away). The population was 27,913 in 2021.

Newry was founded in 1157 as a settlement around a Cistercian abbey. In the 16th century the English dissolved the abbey and built Bagenal's Castle on the site. Newry grew as a market town and a garrison, and became a port in 1742 when the Newry Canal was opened, the first summit-level canal in Ireland. A cathedral city, it is the episcopal seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dromore. In 2002, as part of the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II, Newry was granted city status along with Lisburn. (Full article...)

• ...that the River Foyle is the fastest flowing river in Europe and is crossed by Europe's only double-decker bridge?
• ...that Paul McGrath, growing up in orphanages, was known as Paul Nwobilo until eventually tracked down by his mother, Betty McGrath?
• ...that Cork Harbour is one of several harbours that lay claim to the title of "second largest natural harbour in the world by navigational area".
• ...that Robert the Bruce, the 14th century king of Scotland, popularised a "pan-Gaelic Greater Scotia" and his brother Edward Bruce was the last High King of Ireland?