News from Birr

A row broke out in government in 1992 over the continued purchase of Israeli ammunition for the Defence Forces, with foreign affairs minister David Andrews saying it was "an error of judgement".

27 December 2024

The political representatives of loyalism were well-regarded in Dublin and Washington, with the White House describing them as "a breath of fresh air", according to newly released State papers.

27 December 2024

The presents have all been opened, the selection boxes are finished and the last of the turkey sandwiches have been made. So, it must be time to take a look at the annual release of State Papers.

27 December 2024

The top British soldier in Northern Ireland was so enraged by the establishment of a new inquiry into Bloody Sunday that he launched an extraordinary attack on his own government, accusing it of a "cynical political move", according to newly released State Papers.

27 December 2024

Jack Lynch was concerned over James Joyce's repatriation cost, opposition to naming IRA Army Council and unionists didn't take Nuala O'Loan seriously because 'she was a Catholic woman' are among other files in this year's State Papers.

27 December 2024

Various excuses were offered for Russian president Boris Yeltsin's no-show at Shannon Airport in 1994, he was "indisposed", he was resting after a tiring flight and his bodyguards were too frightened to wake him. But, it was generally accepted that he was drunk.

27 December 2024

Double tragedy struck the Sydney to Hobart yacht race as two sailors were killed in separate incidents, organisers and local authorities said.

26 December 2024

A woman in her 30s has been killed after a vehicle hit four pedestrians in a hit-and-run incident in Blanchardstown in Dublin.

26 December 2024

Wrenboys were out in big numbers in West Kerry today - one of the last strongholds of the mid-winter tradition.

26 December 2024

Two women and a man have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man was found dead at a house in Co Down.

26 December 2024

World Health Organization Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said he is safe after an Israeli strike targeted Sanaa airport in Yemen while he was about to board a flight.

26 December 2024

NATO is ready to help Finland and Estonia as Finnish authorities probe an oil tanker that sailed from a Russian port over the possible "sabotage" of a power cable linking the two member countries, alliance chief Mark Rutte has said.

26 December 2024

An Azerbaijan Airlines flight that crashed in Kazakhstan on Christmas Day was downed by a Russian air defence system, four sources in Azerbaijan with knowledge of the investigation have told the Reuters news agency.

26 December 2024

The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has said that 820 children and young people contacted its Childline service this Christmas, a 12% increase compared to last year.

26 December 2024

Painstaking work has commenced to conserve and digitise one of the oldest paper documents still in existence on the island of Ireland.

26 December 2024

The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon has called for a timely Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon, citing what it called Israeli violations of a 27 November ceasefire agreement with Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

26 December 2024

Retail Ireland, the Ibec group that represents the retail sector, has reported a slight increase in the average spending by households this Christmas.

26 December 2024

The director of a hospital in northern Gaza has said five of the facility's staff, including a doctor, have been killed in an Israeli strike.

26 December 2024

Tearful mourners prayed as ceremonies were held across Asia to remember the 220,000 people who were killed two decades ago when a tsunami hit coastlines around the Indian Ocean in one of the world's worst natural disasters.

26 December 2024

Syria's new authorities launched a security crackdown in a coastal region where 14 policemen were killed a day before, vowing to pursue "remnants" of the ousted Bashar al-Assad government accused of the attack.

26 December 2024