Some see July 12th bonfires as sectarian. For others, they’re about social cohesion
Northern Ireland’s bonfire season is a source of tension between communities, but for some it’s a source of pride
Common Ground
Evolving Islands: Ireland & Britain - a special series from The Irish Times exploring the complex relationship between the two
Unionism must offer a positive future, not hark back to a past that was often dark and divided
Can political unionism paint a vision of a better future for everyone in Northern Ireland, rather than presenting itself often as being unable to do much about a worsening one?
Far-right groups co-operating across Border as shared grievances ‘override sectarian fault lines’
Institute for Strategic Dialogue finds ‘significant shift in political landscape’
A belated appreciation of one of Britain’s oldest ethnicities: the Irish ‘elders’
UK-based Irish people are not celebrated in the same way as those who moved to the US, but that may be changing
Partition was ‘designed to be intractable’, says Micheál Martin
Boundary Commission report brought ‘radicalising moment’ in Irish history, says Taoiseach
Government fears referendum to give Irish diaspora vote in presidential elections ‘could be lost’
Defeat may be the outcome ‘if we hold this referendum without a proper debate ... without letting people know what this means’
National histories are always something of a stitch-up - English identities in particular
National histories are always something of a stitch-up ... the history of these islands is layered, interwoven, visibly and invisibly mended
Easyjet’s Stelios Haji-Ioannou: ‘Michael O’Leary has this philosophy that if you lower customer expectations, you can lower your costs’
EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou has created the North–South Business Co-operation Awards to encourage cross-Border entrepreneurship
Noraid: ‘They started to run it down from the early 1990s – They said I had an image as an IRA supporter’
New RTÉ documentary tells the story of Republican fundraising in the United States during the Troubles
Piers Morgan: ‘My DNA is predominantly Irish whether Ireland wants that or not’
Broadcaster on his famous friends, future of media, ‘pathetic’ Kneecap and why his Offaly roots don’t make him a Biffo
Irish unification would cost €152m annually to give Northern Irish civil servants pay parity, report says
Joint study points to evidence that unification is affordable
The people behind the numbers as Ireland’s population grows by nearly a third in 20 years
In 2022, the population of the island exceeded seven million for the first time since the Famine
You might as well expect Conor McGregor and Paul Murphy to work together as Stormont to function
Stormont is broken and the public is paying the price
‘People don’t care that much’: Frustrated sighs audible as students asked the ‘British or Irish’ question
Lagan College opened during the dark days of the Troubles as Catholic and Protestant parents wanted their children to learn together
Senator George Mitchell: The man Ian Paisley called ‘a foreigner and a pro-Irish republican’
Journalists were used to dealing with aloof ministers during peace talks in Belfast, but the US diplomat was cut from different cloth
British ambassador to leave diplomatic service but remain in Dublin after ‘falling in love with the city’
‘The people we’ve met have been the highlight of our time here,’ says Paul Johnston
Omagh bombing bereaved wish to use inquiry to ‘heap shame’ on Irish Government over ‘failures’
Group ‘sick and tired of platitudes, false assurances’ from Irish State authorities, inquiry hears
The stories of the Omagh bomb victims: from unborn twins to community stalwarts
A total of 31 people died when a car bomb planted by the Real IRA exploded in the centre of Omagh on August 15th, 1998
We like to romanticise Ireland’s past, but too much remembering could be bad for us
Unthinkable: To create a shared future on this island, and internationally, we must move beyond uncritically celebrating the actions of any particular tribe
How the death of an ‘old boy from Ireland’ in London-Irish suburb sparked a misguided viral appeal
The death of Martin Fallon from Sligo recently sparked a viral post about Archway’s evolving Irish enclave
A Nigel Farage-led UK goverment could herald a united Ireland – Varadkar
Former taoiseach hopes Farage win does not happen, but Irish Government should be ‘just-in-case’ planning
As BBC coverage of the Ballymena riots took a while to crank up, I turned to ‘FreedomDad73′
The violence of the past week has been aired with immediacy and intimacy unimaginable 15 years ago
Stormont is slow, afraid of new thinking and costly, says report
Former ministers and senior civil servants outline litany of failures, blockages and short-sightedness in Assembly and Executive
Windsor deal an opaque mess, says Democratic Unionist Party leader
Framework agreement frustrates ‘the ability for ordinary, routine and at times complex and serious engagement’
Rory Stewart: Britons’ view of Ireland has gone from ‘patronising superiority to complete ignorance’
Ireland is the UK’s best route back to better ties with the EU, says the former Conservative minister
Ireland from the 1970s to the 1990s must have been groaning with future celebrities of the diaspora
We should be flattered that, like the ginger guitar-basher Ed Sheeran, so many people yearn to be ‘culturally’ Irish
Irish and English funerals are very different – it would be strange to go to a colleague’s family funeral in England
At nearly 50, I have attended four funerals, which is probably fewer than average but not remarkable
‘I wanted to do something radical’: Wendy Erskine on her debut novel, which deals with class, rape and parenting
The writer on the necessity of humour amid bleakness, how she likes to challenge her readers, and misogyny in the North
Ballymena: Week of violent attacks on Northern Ireland’s small immigrant community ‘akin to 1930s Germany’
14 families burnt out of their homes and children forced to hide from mobs
US multinationals will be slow to return operations to US, Ibec leader says
US firms will think carefully before bringing investments ‘back into a regime that’s so chaotic’ says Danny McCoy
The DUP couldn’t have chosen a worse moment to get tough on immigration
The party may have unleashed sentiments that carry it swiftly to the right
Cross-Border workers refused mortgages
Substantial decline in numbers officially working across the Border from where they live since Brexit, conference is told
Ed Sheeran has as much right to call himself Irish as The Pogues or The Smiths
Television: What could be more Irish than a singer with a guitar emoting from the bottom of their boots?
Many Northern nationalists doubt Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s commitment to Irish unity
For 100 years, the Boundary Commission has made Northern nationalists mistrust the South
Ireland must stop ‘free-riding’ on security ‘gifted by others’, says former Chief of Staff
Mark Mellett calls for more defence spending: ‘State security is inextricably linked with economic security'
John Simpson: ‘It’s been great to watch how Ireland went from a pretty backward country to a real powerhouse in Europe’
Veteran journalist and broadcaster, now 80, on the dangers of his profession and his continuing affinity with Ireland
Death In Derry - Martin McGuinness and the Derry IRA’s War Against The British: Strong on candour, weak on analysis
Author has secured the frankness of ex-Provos and soldiers, and this earns the book a key place on the shelves
Gerry Adams defamation verdict won’t have a chilling effect on journalism - and here’s why
Why did the BBC press on? Because it is an intractable bureaucracy with no respect for public money
Who is more Irish, Conor McGregor or his fellow Crumlin native Roberto Lopes?
It is time to stop insisting footballers play for only one country even if they could be eligible for more
Death threats against Northern Ireland journalists increasing, says Amnesty
Paramilitary threats make North most dangerous place in UK for reporters
The truth behind the Normans and Ireland: ‘They abolished slavery’
Historians give their view on plans to mark the 1,000th anniversary of William the Conquerer and what was more an English than a French invasion
Seamus Heaney’s North at 50: Poetic landmark ‘came most intensely out of the first shock of the Troubles’
Poet’s writing had to change in response to violence in Northern Ireland, a pressure not of his own making
‘We Irish were never homogeneous. Always hybrids, always mongrels’
New RTÉ TV series tells the story of the island over thousands of years in a way that both informs and challenges
The contrast between Kneecap charges and flag-festooned Northern Ireland is absurd
Complaints of one-sided treatment may often be simplistic or partisan, but that only underscores the corrosive effect of inconsistent application of the law
The Flats: Excellent post-Troubles documentary that illuminates how trauma can nag away for decades
Most of Alessandra Celesia’s film focuses on a man who finds it hard to set aside the old unhappiness
‘This is huge’: Northern Ireland traders hopeful about new EU-UK deal as they battle Brexit ‘mess’
Traders in the North have been struggling with ‘Alice in Wonderful’ bureaucracy on customs and regulatory form filing and hope Monday’s deal will herald positive change
The slogan ‘Belfast’s got the buzz’ always rang hollow. Until now
The city is buzzing with shoppers and tourists when we visit for Queenie’s birthday lunch
Derry’s shirt factories: ‘You can still see the imprints of the factory girls’ feet on the concrete stairs’
A grassroots group honouring the women who once worked in Derry’s shirt factories are encouraging a new generation of fashion talent
Paul Durcan: One of the great mavericks with a commitment to poetry as a calling
Durcan’s work was piercingly honest on difficult themes such as familial relationships
Hauliers seek to keep post-storm Holyhead ferry schedule after ‘transformative’ impact on trade flow
Stena line, which owns the port, plans to revert to the previous sail times
Trauma of the Troubles: ‘I threw my first petrol bomb when I was nine. I felt like a man after that’
The Flats is a riveting new film about the New Lodge complex in Belfast, whose residents are still coping with the trauma of the Troubles
Was it for this craven display that London endured the Blitz?
The relentless focus on trade has skewed any determination to confront the terrifying echoes of the 1930s. Europeans should be much more vocal about it
Local history: Serendipitous signposts to the past, but not all townlands are born equal
Rich in variety, townland names are markers of tradition and belonging, reflecting historical events or landscape features
Should people in Northern Ireland vote in Irish presidential elections?
Unionists are horrified and nationalists entranced by the prospect of polling stations north of the Border
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Stardust
Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
Family NoticesOpens in new window
Weddings, Births, Deaths and other family notices