IN JUNE 1974, Ireland was in turmoil as the Troubles were in their fifth year. In the Six Counties, internment without trial was in force and the British Army was on the rampage throughout nationalist areas. Free article

CYPRUS AND IRELAND share a similar contemporary history. In the 20th century, these two small island nations fought back against occupation by the British Empire. Both Ireland and Cyprus later found themselves partitioned, their north-eastern corners held by a much larger neighbour. Free article

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

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

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