Widespread child sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Dublin was covered up for decades by senior clerics, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Four Archbishops, including Cardinal Desmond Connell, will be named in a report over their mishandling of hundreds of allegations, including not reporting crimes to the police. The senior clerics’ motive was to protect the church above defenceless children.
The Dublin Archdiocese Commission are the third inquiry in the last four years to rock the Catholic Church …

Irish accent was voted the sexiest language in the world, knocking down French from the top they’ve held for decades, the Daily Mail reports.
Men speaking with Irish accent came top in a poll of 5,000 women worldwide. The Italian was deemed to be second most sexy followed by Scottish. The French only managed to limp into fourth place, just ahead of Australian, and English was sixth.
Here’s the top 10:
1 Irish; 2 Italian; 3 Scottish; 4 French; …

Northern Ireland will next year cut the legal drink-driving limit, following the proposal by Ireland’s Transport Minister Noel Dempsey to lower the legal limit from present 80mg per 100ml of blood to 50mg/100ml.
Northern Ireland’s Environment Minister Edwin Poots said that the limit in Northern Ireland could be even lower than in the Republic of Ireland, the BBC reports. “The consultation would indicate that there is widespread support in Northern Ireland for reducing the drink-drive limit,” he …

Ireland has passed the second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty with an overwhelming majority of 67 per cent in favour as just two of the 43 constituencies voted against it, Irish Times reports.
The referendum was carried with 67.1 per cent of the electorate voting in favour, reflecting a 20.5 per cent swing to the “Yes” side since the June 2008 referendum. In the first Lisbon poll, the “No” side secured 53.4 per cent of the …

Irish voters appear on course to approve the Lisbon treaty, unofficial exit polling by the two major political parties suggested a “yes” majority had been achieved, the Independent reports.
At stake is the painstakingly negotiated Lisbon Treaty, a 2007 reform package designed to modernize EU institutions and decision-making in line with the bloc’s rapid expansion eastward. The treaty cannot become law unless all members ratify it, and Ireland is the only one subjecting it to a …

Dear Irish lads and lasses, who you are going to the polls today to vote on the future of your country, and effectively on the future of the entire Europe(an Union),
I am not going to tell you to vote “no”, because that would be me sticking my nose into your very private matter – which voting is. Instead, I am going to ask you to vote wisely.
The future of your own country depends on how …

Ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair is set to become EU President within weeks if Ireland votes “Yes” in its referendum on the Lisbon Treaty tomorrow, the Daily Mail reports.
Blair’s candidacy for the new post will be rushed through as quickly as possible, according to government sources.
He is among the favourites to become the first President of the European Union, a role that is chosen by the EU’s 27 leaders and not by voters. Such an appointment would …

A huge, 600lb bomb has been defused by Army explosives experts in south Armagh on the Irish border, The Times reports.
It has been described as the most significant attempt by dissident republican terrorists to kill since they successfully murdered two soldiers and a police officer in March this year.
Army experts estimate that the device contained in the region of 600lb of home-made explosives.
A command wire led from the roadside where it was planted in Forkhill, …

Ireland’s Foreign Minister Michael Martin admitted that obtaining a “yes” vote in Lisbon Treaty referendum will be difficult and he had “never been under any illusion but that it would be difficult to secure this”.
Another “no” would derail, possibly for good, EU plans for a president, a foreign policy chief and speedier decision-making, since the treaty must be ratified by all 27 nations, the Daily Mail reports.
Still, he added that he thinks “we can do …

Two notorious IRA killers were released from jail today after serving ten years for shooting dead a Garda Detective in a hold-up, the Independent reports.
Pearse McAuley and Kevin Walsh were part of a Provisional gang which pleaded guilty to killing Jerry McCabe in a high-profile trial hit by witness intimidation.
The pair were freed from prison in the Irish Republic after serving three quarters of their sentences.
Jail-breaker McAuley had been on-the-run at the time of the …

A report detailing the alleged sexual abuse of 450 children by Roman Catholic priests in the Archdiocese of Dublin was handed to the Irish Government yesterday, the Times reports.
It is the second one this year to examine the extent of abuse perpetrated by members of the Catholic Church in Ireland and will undermine further its position in a country that only a few decades ago conformed rigidly to standards set by the Vatican.
Two priests named …

Europe Minister, Baroness Glenys Kinnock announced that former Prime Minister Tony Blair is Britain’s official candidate for the job of European Union President later this year, the Telegraph reports.
“The UK Government is supporting Tony Blair’s candidature for president of the council,” she said.
There is no presidency in the European Union at the moment, but it will be created if the Irish voters accept the Lisbon Treaty at the second referendum, held in October. Prime Minister …

Ireland will hold a second referendum on the EU’s controversial Lisbon Treaty on 2 October, the BBC reports. The treaty which is widely regarded as European Constitution that would, among other issues, create an unelected presidency of the EU, was rejected by Irish voters in June last year.
Irish PM Brian Cowen has now secured binding EU guarantees that Lisbon Treaty will not affect Irish sovereignty over key issues such as military neutrality and abortion. These …

Ireland agreed today to re-run the referendum on Lisbon Treaty that was rejected in the country a year ago.
Irish voters will be asked to try again in early October, after a series of legal guarantees stating that the treaty will not change Ireland’s taxation, abortion laws or military neutrality were agreed by the 27 EU leaders at their summit in Brussels, the Times reports.
EU leaders now hope that the Treaty will come into force in …

From Andrew Allison:
Senator Edward Kennedy is someone who has supported the Republican cause in Northern Ireland for decades. He is not a friend of Britain. Far from it, he is someone who helped Noraid raise funds for the IRA, the same terrorist organisation that murdered Lord Mountbatten, the beloved great uncle of the Prince of Wales. Quite what the Royal Family are thinking now is probably unprintable. No doubt some of the money Kennedy helped …

On Friday, one of the British TV channels showed an old film called “Patriot Games”. The day after we learnt that old habits die hard:
Two soldiers killed in an audacious attack on Army barracks in Ulster yesterday were shot execution-style as they lay injured on the ground, police said today.
Four others were injured in the attack at the Massereene Barracks, outside Antrim, which has been blamed on dissident republicans.
Two pizza delivery drivers were also injured …