Mine was a safe, ordinary, suburban upbringing in Dublin during the 1960s and 1970s. The Troubles came to me over the radio or in television reports. Distant somehow and yet the stories still haunted me: the bombings, the kneecappings, the shootings. Tar and feather. Semtex. Miami Showband. Images – and language – from another place.

Colin Murphy speaks to theatre director Bisi Adigun about ‘intercultural Ireland', making Christy Mahon Nigerian and the troubled end to his stint on RTÉ

Twenty-eight, ‘a bit of a looker', and with a blurred cultural identity, the Green Party of Northern Ireland's Kelly Andrews sits awkwardly beside her colleagues on the Northern Ireland Parades Commission. Fionola Meredith wonders if her energy and enthusiasm will outlast the tough months ahead

A   small confession. I was home in Ireland from New York in September. All things told, it was a busy time. But on every occasion of coming home in the past I have tried to get in touch with my favourite Irish writer, Ben Kiely. 

Questioning Irish neutrality, scrutinising literature and finding the meaning of life. By Edward O'Hare

Crime reporting: hiding behind anonymous sources and the ‘scumbag theory'

Pin-up, father, ambassador, medical student and razor-sharp fly-half, Felipe Contepomi still takes a backseat to his brothers in terms of fame. He tells Justine McCarthy about his family dynasty, his hopes for rugby back home in Argentina and Ireland's chances in the World Cup. Portrait by Eoin Moylan

Property supplements inflate the market, creating demand for more property supplements

Gormenghast, Guggenheims and glass books

The Bull provoked outrage when it was first staged two years ago. Colin Murphy visits its creator, Michael Keegan-Dolan, as he prepares to take the show to London