Ireland

Irish voters would be playing a dangerous game with their country's economic future if they reject the European Union fiscal treaty in a referendum this month, Finance Minister Michael Noonan warned Wednesday. Noonan told a Dublin conference that the Irish government expects to win the May 31 vote but will campaign hard, mindful of past voter rejections of EU treaties in 2001 and 2008. Ireland is the only signatory to the 25-nation treaty requiring it to be ratified by a national vote.

A U.K. court has charged three men from the same family a range of serious terror offences in a Northern Ireland court. Paul John Duffy, Damien Duffy, and Shane Duffy, all appeared at Lisburn Magistrates Court on Saturday to face charges of conspiracy to murder, collecting information likely to be of use to terrorists, planning acts of terrorism and conspiring to cause an explosion. Paul John Duffy also faced an extra charge of directing dissident republican terrorism. All three are held in custody.

Out in Leenane, a little town in the west of Ireland, the bodies are piling up in a rash of murders and suicides. Brothers Coleman and Valene Connor have just buried their dad, who met a bad end with a shotgun. An accident, supposedly, but the truth behind his gory demise fuels the brothers' bitter, profane, petty, and violent struggles. "I think people will really find it to be a riot," says Colin Hamell, artistic director of Tir Na Theatre. Hamell plays Coleman opposite Billy Meleady as Valene in the Tir Na production of Martin McDonagh's "The Lonesome West," opening Thursday at the...

Irish voters would be playing a dangerous game with their country's economic future if they reject the European Union fiscal treaty in a referendum this month, Finance Minister Michael Noonan warned Wednesday. Noonan told a Dublin conference that the Irish government expects to win the May 31 vote but will campaign hard, mindful of past voter rejections of EU treaties in 2001 and 2008. Ireland is the only signatory to the 25-nation treaty requiring it to be ratified by a national vote.

President Michael D. Higgins of Ireland is making his first trip to Boston as the head of state this weekend, marking Boston's selection as the international location for the Irish government's annual commemoration of the Great Famine. Higgins attended an economic promotion luncheon Friday at the University of Massachusetts Club in the Financial District and later met with Mayor Thomas M. Menino. Saturday morning, Higgins delivers a lecture on the famine and its impact on Ireland and Boston at Faneuil Hall, according to the Irish consul.

DUBLIN - Ireland unveiled painstakingly negotiated plans yesterday to invest $9 billion in its two largest banks, Allied Irish and the Bank of Ireland , in hopes of easing international fears that Ireland's financial system could be headed for collapse. After weeks of negotiations, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan was forced to increase Ireland's original plan to invest just $2.5 billion in each bank after his hopes that the banks could attract matching capital from foreign investors were dashed.

DUBLIN - Ireland announced yesterday that it is closing its embassies to the Vatican and two other nations, but denied that its deteriorating relations with the Catholic Church played a role in its choice of cuts. Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore said Ireland was under grave financial pressure as it tries to slash spending in line with its international bailout last year. He said a review determined that Ireland's diplomatic posts to the Vatican, Iran, and Timor Leste offered the least returns in foreign investment.

DUBLIN — Ireland’s international bailout boosted its bank stocks yesterday but outraged many hard-pressed taxpayers, who questioned why the government’s pension reserves must be ravaged as part of a deal that burdens the whole country with the mistakes of a rich elite. Shares in Ireland’s banks rose sharply as markets were encouraged by the bailout’s immediate focus on injecting about $13 billion into the cash-strapped lenders out of a total of $89 billion in loans. But the Irish were shocked by a key condition for the rescue — that the government use $23 billion of its...

Ireland? "It'd be a great country if it had a roof over it," says comedian Noel V. Ginnity. His joke about the country's sometimes drizzly weather merely drives home the point that you don't go to Ireland for its climate. You go for the beauty and the history, the sights and the friendliness, all of which is as abundant in fall and winter as in the height of the summer tourist season. In addition, the attractions are less crowded, so you won't get stuck behind a half-dozen tour buses while viewing, say, the Ring of Kerry.

FIRST VISIT: "Sixteen in our group had never been to Ireland," said Barrett, who wanted to play host to his children and their families, who often travel together.

Q. I am a college senior, graduating in May. I am currently undertaking two internships, and one of them will include a job offer when a position opens up. But I don't know if I should take it. I have always had a passionate desire to live in Europe. Since childhood, I have never wanted anything so much. Last year, I studied abroad in England, and it only made me more determined to go back. The internship job is terrific. I'd love the position, and it's also possible that there will be an opportunity to go to Europe as part of the program now and then.

Out in Leenane, a little town in the west of Ireland, the bodies are piling up in a rash of murders and suicides. Brothers Coleman and Valene Connor have just buried their dad, who met a bad end with a shotgun. An accident, supposedly, but the truth behind his gory demise fuels the brothers' bitter, profane, petty, and violent struggles. "I think people will really find it to be a riot," says Colin Hamell, artistic director of Tir Na Theatre. Hamell plays Coleman opposite Billy Meleady as Valene in the Tir Na production of Martin McDonagh's "The Lonesome West," opening Thursday at the...

President Michael D. Higgins of Ireland is making his first trip to Boston as the head of state this weekend, marking Boston's selection as the international location for the Irish government's annual commemoration of the Great Famine. Higgins attended an economic promotion luncheon Friday at the University of Massachusetts Club in the Financial District and later met with Mayor Thomas M. Menino. Saturday morning, Higgins delivers a lecture on the famine and its impact on Ireland and Boston at Faneuil Hall, according to the Irish consul.

Irish President Michael D. Higgins is making his first trip to Boston as the head of state this weekend and is scheduled to meet with city officials and mark Boston's selection as the international location for the Irish government's annual commemoration of the Great Famine. Today, President Higgins will attend an economic promotion luncheon at the University of Massachusetts Club in the Financial District and later meet with Mayor Thomas M. Menino at the Parkman House. This evening, Higgins will address a black-tie gala for Self Help Africa's...

DUBLIN - The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, said Wednesday that he will not resign despite new accusations that he failed 37 years ago to alert the parents of victims of a serial pedophile priest, allowing the abuse to continue for more than a decade. The cardinal's statement blamed other members of the church hierarchy as failing to halt the priest, Brendan Smyth. "With others, I feel betrayed that those who had the authority in the church to stop Brendan Smyth failed to act on the evidence I gave them," Brady said in his statement.

Ireland is successfully cutting its deficits, bolstering its banks and pursuing job-creation strategies, its international bailout creditors said Thursday as they signaled support for a further round of loans. Ireland welcomed the verdict from the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund following the organizations' latest 10-day review of Irish efforts to rein in runaway debts as part of the country's 2010 bailout agreement. Ireland has already spent more than two-thirds of the (EURO)

KINVARA, Ireland -- The biggest mistake rookie tourists in Ireland make is trying to see too much. They look at a map and say, "Well, the Ring of Kerry isn't too far a drive. " Or, "It's only 86 miles from Galway to Sligo. " Those distances are misleading. To cite Dorothy Gale, you're not in Kansas anymore. Irish roads are narrow. While there are far fewer farmers in the country than there used to be, those who still work the land seem determined to slow the rest of us down.

DUBLIN — Europe’s debt crisis spread widening ripples yesterday, with Irish officials denying that their talks with other eurozone governments were aimed at getting a bailout, while Greece’s prime minister accused Germany of making things worse with talk of forcing creditors to take losses. The flare-up in tension adds to pressure on European Union finance ministers, who will be in Brussels today for their monthly meeting. After spending their recent gatherings focusing on crisis prevention, a weeklong sell-off of Irish and Portuguese bonds has thrown them...

LONDON - Police chiefs in London and Northern Ireland said Friday they had suspended officers from duty following a raft of new investigations into alleged racism, including some cases reported by police staff to their superiors. London's Metropolitan Police, Britain's largest police force, said it was dealing with 10 new race-related complaints from 20 staff, among them an allegation that an officer used a racial slur while arresting a black man in the aftermath of riots last August.

DUBLIN - Anti-austerity protesters are claiming victory after the government acknowledged that around 50 percent of Ireland's estimated 1.6 million homeowners failed to pay a new, flat-rate $133 property tax by the March 31 deadline. "It is quite clear a mass boycott has really sent this government a significant message it didn't want to hear," Luke Flanagan, one of the parliamentary deputies leading the opposition to the new household charge, said in an interview Monday. "When we started this campaign, even 25 percent support translating to several hundred...