Leo Varadkar

Television: Riding into the sunset with the actor Liam Cummingham and the comedian PJ Gallagher, it’s like an Irish version of old Top Gear specials

While Leo Varadkar may have made the transition from public figure to private citizen himself, the public hasn’t

Plus: The youthful protester pope, and a hiccup in a case against John Magnier

The State takes in €126bn a year and cannot create a civil protection agency, a gas storage facility or a train to Donegal

Golf courses, which also take land out of food production, are rarely framed as a threat to national food security

The controversial group have had a year of a kind that few artists will ever experience. They’re determined to stand their ground as they release their album Fenian

Inside Politics podcast with Hugh Linehan

It’s a unique facility

Complex issue resists simple argument, whether from a picket line or a podcast studio

Merit in former taoiseach’s point about rural Ireland receiving substantial benefits

Fine Gael has always stood up for rural Ireland, Tánaiste tells meeting of parliamentary party

Former taoiseach said urban areas paying more while rural residents are ‘in receipt of a lot of subsidies others don’t get’

Inflation is a concern, says Simon Harris

Ministers warn windfall driven by corporation tax may not last as calls grow to extend fuel supports and energy credits

Former taoiseach says there ‘was not a predetermined outcome’ in 2018 appointment of outside candidate Harris to Garda commissioner role

Former taoiseach sparked backlash after saying people of urban Ireland were ‘paying all the bills’

Former taoiseach’s urban-rural economic divide comments were quick to fuel tempers, but what does the data say

Ireland is sleepwalking into a food security crisis. We have just 74 field-scale vegetable growers left, down from around 600

Rite & Reason: Structured dialogue must hear from Catholics, Humanists, the Abrahamic and Dharmic faith traditions, Rabbis and Imams

Aughinish Alumina revelations in The Irish Times came a day after Russia launched a wave of missile and drone attacks across Ukraine

Fr Oliver O’Reilly’s homily invoking ‘mafia-style group with its own godfather’ captured public attention in 2019

Wedding and family photos meant his work entered the homes of thousands of ordinary people

Thomas Gould goes viral; Revenue sniffs out new detector dogs, ‘basic laws of physics’ show Dublin 15 getting a raw deal, Netflix ‘on board’ for Keegan adaptation

This will be the eighth apology since Bertie Ahern’s landmark address to Dáil Éireann in 1999

There have been warnings within Government about cost of what will likely be biggest redress scheme in country’s history

One of Europe’s busiest maternity facilities was refused permission for an extension due to fears it might irreparably damage character of Parnell Square

Many high-profile political aides have taken up lucrative post-government careers elsewhere

The implication that Brexit has been a setback for unity runs counter to received wisdom, but it makes sense

Plus: Leo Varadkar’s birthday, Ryan’s Pub without Ryanair and a close look at Ireland’s sludge

Fingal County Council is finalising designs and expects to submit its application by the end of March

With a healthy majority thanks to Independents, the Coalition should have time to get a grip on the issues of most concern to voters

There is nothing mystical about empathy. Anyone – apart from sociopaths possibly – can learn it, because it’s a life skill that comes with practice

Eight personnel received redundancy/severance payments in 2024, figures from the Department of Taoiseach accounts show

His role will include advising their clients across the technology, energy and health

Cheese factory that cost €200m began producing in 2024

Legislation seeks to end to lawsuits designed to stymie comment and coverage on particular individuals or organisations

Long lead-in times, a lack of sustained policy commitment, and start-stop approaches to big projects all contributed to where we are now

The party’s brightest stars of the 2000s walked away from politics by the age of 51

Leo Varadkar, Paschal Donohoe and Simon Coveney are gone but the question remains: what does Fine Gael stand for?

Diarmaid Ferriter reviews The Taoiseach: A Century of Political Leadership, a collection of essays on the State’s 16 political ‘captains’