MUCH ATTENTION in recent years has focused on the poor academic performance of young people in the North of Ireland who come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Premium service article

Ba mhór an onóir dom a bheith páirteach mar ionadaí an Ard Mhéara agus Comhairle Bhaile Átha Cliath ag ceiliúradh céad bliain ag Cumann Gaelach na hEaglaise, eagras Gaeilge Eaglais na hÉireann. Ar an 29 Aibreán a bhí an seirbhís speisialta in Eaglais Naomh Áine i Sráid Dawson agus ag fáiltiú i Halla Molesworth ina dhiaidh sin. Bunaíodh an Cumann ar an lá sin i 1914 agus i measc siúd a thacaigh leis bhí Ruairi Mac Éasmainn (Roger Casement). Luaigh mé sin i mo chuid focail ar an ócáid, ag cur i gcuimhne don lucht éisteachta go ndúirt Mac Éasmainn gurb ionann an náisíun agus abhainn mór ina théann go leor sruthanna éagsúla. Free article

TÁ OSNA faoisimh ann go forleathan go bhfuil todhcháin na hEorpa thart, is go bhfuil deire leis an gcaint ráiméiseach a d’fhulaing muid futhu le roinnt seachtainí. Free article

DAVID HEALY, a former Green Party councillor for Howth in Fingal County Council and erstwhile adviser to John Gormley (last seen cycling off into a green sunset), probably has the lowest carbon footprint in Ireland. Premium service article

THE death occurred on 5 April of Ray Vaughan of Trim, County Meath. Ray was a lifelong republican, a former prisoner and renowned chef. Free article

FRANK PARKER, a longstanding member of the Troops Out Movement, an anti-imperialist, communist and trade unionist, has died at the age of 90. Free article

Notices All notices should be sent to: [email protected] at least 14 days in advance of publication date. There is no charge for I nDíl Chuimhne, Comhbhrón etc. Free article

Book Reviews: Dorothy Stopford Price: Rebel Doctor and Memoirs of an Old Warrior – Jamie Moynihan’s Fight for Irish Freedom, 1916-1923 Premium service article

FEW SPECTACLES of sporting pageantry have had such a colourful and palpable effect on public life in Ireland as the Giro d’Italia. The world’s second-largest cycling event was a stunning success from start to finish. And what a finish it was. Free article

AN AMERICAN RESEARCHER, working on a thesis about Patrick Kavanagh, landed up one day in Inniskeen in County Monaghan to interview locals who had known the great poet before he had become well-known. One of those who he asked his opinion of described Kavanagh as a “horrid eejit”. That was because Kavanagh, who had been the Inniskeen senior football goalkeeper for some years, had apparently deserted his post during an important championship match to buy himself an ice cream. Free article