Compulsory Irish is a simple slogan that acts as a red rag to a bull in Irish language circles, and Enda Kenny's speech in Cork last weekend suggesting the removal of Irish as a subject of compulsory study at Leaving Certificate level has stirred up a predictable debate – one that is shrouded in ambiguity, misconceptions and rhetorical pretence.
The Irish Independent ran an exclusive on the Ferns Report ten days before the report was released – the story's key claims were wrong. Colin Murphy reports
Compulsory Irish is a simple slogan that acts as a red rag to a bull in Irish language circles, and Enda Kenny's speech in Cork last weekend suggesting the removal of Irish as a subject of compulsory study at Leaving Certificate level has stirred up a predictable debate – one that is shrouded in ambiguity, misconceptions and rhetorical pretence.
The Ballygandon gang are back in this their eighth book and once again Gordon Snell has given us a rattling good read that proceeds at neck-breaking speed from one page-turning incident to another.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez's first novel in ten years is a sprightly, perverse little fable about a ninety year old man and a fourteen year old girl's encounter in a brothel in La Paz. Review by Terrence Rafferty
Gabriel Garcia Marquez's first novel in ten years is a sprightly, perverse little fable about a ninety year old man and a fourteen year old girl's encounter in a brothel in La Paz. Review by Terrence Rafferty
Listening to live music performances is a habit long gone. Robert Philip's new book tells us what we are missing. By Charles Rosen
The British government has yet to respond to the call by the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) on 13 November to begin talks with the group over its future, according to a senior figure within the organisation.
The media may replace the church as the "oppressive and arrogant force" it says religion once was, warns Bishop Willie Walsh. Journalists must be more successful at maintaining the value of their stock in the minds of the public they are there to serve, says Conor Brady
Three monologues about suicide. Not the kind of thing to get you to the theatre on a cold night. But this play is travelling to schools, where it should find an engaged and passionate audience for its sensitive storytelling, writes Colin Murphy