‘I’m in a bad place’: Mark Allen says his snooker career may be over after defeat 20 October 2026 at 14:54

‘I’m in a bad place’: Mark Allen says his snooker career may be over after defeat

20 October 2026 at 14:54

Former world No 1 loses 4-2 to Jordan Brown in Belfast
‘I don’t see a future with snooker in it,’ says tearful Allen

Mark Allen said he was in a “bad place” and his snooker career could be over after losing to Jordan Brown in the first round of the Northern Ireland Open in Belfast.

The 40-year-old was playing his first match since his world championship semi-final loss to Wu Yize in April. Allen missed a match-ball black off the spot at 16-15 in front and went on to lose the deciding frame to Wu, who went on to win the title.

‘How do we welcome the stranger, with humanity or anger?’ The forgotten Germans who found refuge in Ireland 18 October 2026 at 02:00

‘How do we welcome the stranger, with humanity or anger?’ The forgotten Germans who found refuge in Ireland

The Guardian

By: John Kampfner

18 October 2026 at 02:00

A new play revisits the story of Ireland’s 18th-century German refugees, whose experience of prejudice and exclusion resonates with today’s debates over immigration

In the early 18th century, a few thousand Germans fled religious persecution and near starvation in their homeland and ended up in remote rural Irish villages. The Irish Palatines, as they were known, were poor, conservative homesteaders who couldn’t speak the language and were the object of suspicion and violence – precursors to the displaced Syrians or Afghans of the past decade.

Their story is told in Refuge, a co-production between Staatstheater Mainz and the Irish company Fishamble. Part love story, part social commentary, it is performed by a mixed cast, mainly in English but with some German interludes.

James McClean: ‘Wearing the poppy was just never going to happen’ 17 October 2026 at 01:00

James McClean: ‘Wearing the poppy was just never going to happen’

The Guardian

By: Donald McRae

17 October 2026 at 01:00

The former Republic of Ireland international on growing up in a community still reeling from the Troubles and the controversy that scarred his career

“The perception of me is that, basically, I am a madman,” James McClean says calmly. “I’m outspoken. I’m a loudmouth. I’m very opinionated and I hate all things British. That’s from people who don’t know me. The reality is quite the opposite. I’m pretty boring. I go training, go home and switch off. A lot of my days are quite bland, quite basic.”

McClean sounds as sane as he looks gaunt on a bleak Monday in Derry. He spent 14 years in English football and the fact that he is now at war with his own club, Derry City, can’t obscure the fact that he is the fifth-most-capped Republic of Ireland international, having played 103 times. “People define success in different ways,” he says, “but I’m the only footballer from the north of Ireland to win over 100 caps for Ireland. I played 150 Premier League games over five seasons, 800 professional games and won a lot of individual accolades. I count that as success and don’t look back with regrets.”

The Guardian view on Stormont: voters in Northern Ireland deserve more than an endless cycle of dysfunction | Editorial 15 October 2026 at 13:30

The Guardian view on Stormont: voters in Northern Ireland deserve more than an endless cycle of dysfunction | Editorial

The Guardian

By: Editorial

15 October 2026 at 13:30

After the executive’s failure to set a budget, and renewed culture-war confrontations, faith in the government’s ability to act in the common good is evaporating

Late last month, protesters deposited a sizable amount of foul-smelling green water on the steps of Stormont to draw attention to the appalling state of Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles. Years of agricultural pollution have created an environmental disaster in an area of huge ecological significance that once inspired the poetry of Seamus Heaney. Its plight should be a top priority for Northern Ireland’s devolved government. But the executive currently has other matters on its mind.

The sentencing of the former leader of the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) Jeffrey Donaldson, after he was convicted of child sexual abuse, dominated Thursday’s headlines. Meanwhile, a cross-party political crisis continues to play out. Halfway through the financial year, Stormont has yet to set a budget. The current deadlock in negotiations with the Northern Ireland secretary, Sir Chris Bryant, could lead to one being imposed from Westminster. Cuts are already being made by default amid an atmosphere of stasis and policy drift.

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

Former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson sentenced to 15 years for child sexual offences 15 October 2026 at 08:06

Former DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson sentenced to 15 years for child sexual offences

The Guardian

By: Rory Carroll Ireland correspondent

15 October 2026 at 08:06

Donaldson was found guilty in June of 18 counts of sexual abuse including one rape between 1985 and 2008

Jeffrey Donaldson has been sentenced to 15 years for sexual offences against two women who were children when he abused them, completing what was described as a “catastrophic descent into disgrace”.

The sentence at Newry crown court on Thursday sealed the downfall of a former Democratic Unionist party (DUP) leader who once dominated unionism in Northern Ireland.

‘I wanted to change the stigma’: Nikita Hand on winning a civil rape case against Conor McGregor 14 October 2026 at 06:00

‘I wanted to change the stigma’: Nikita Hand on winning a civil rape case against Conor McGregor

The Guardian

By: Rory Carroll in Dublin

14 October 2026 at 06:00

The popularity of Hand’s book Not the Perfect Victim is the latest twist in a story that puts the spotlight on how society responds to sexual assault allegations

Nikita Hand had a compelling reason to not pursue a civil rape case against Conor McGregor. She was, in her own view, an imperfect victim.

The day of the assault, she had been partying with alcohol and cocaine before contacting McGregor, who took her to a Dublin hotel.

British and Irish governments ‘should negotiate paramilitary disbandment in Northern Ireland’ 13 October 2026 at 12:17

British and Irish governments ‘should negotiate paramilitary disbandment in Northern Ireland’

The Guardian

By: Rory Carroll Ireland correspondent

13 October 2026 at 12:17

Report finds ‘window of opportunity’ for formal process involving loyalist and republican groups

The British and Irish governments should engage with paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland to negotiate their disbandment, according to a report.

A “window of opportunity” exists to establish a formal transition mechanism for loyalist and republican groups, provided certain conditions are met, it said.

Forever Is Now review – political study of former Irish Green leader is like The Thick of It but with morals 13 October 2026 at 06:00

Forever Is Now review – political study of former Irish Green leader is like The Thick of It but with morals

The Guardian

By: Cath Clarke

13 October 2026 at 06:00

Eamon Ryan is shown to be principled, likable and hard working in a glowing portrait, filmed while serving in the country’s coalition government

This fly-on-the-wall documentary about the former Irish Green party leader and cabinet minister Eamon Ryan reminded me of the political satire The Thick of It – but without the cynical gags and hapless self-serving politicians. Even after you factor in the skewing effect of it being a favourable portrait, showing him in the best possible light, Ryan comes across as one of the good guys: principled, likable and extremely hard working. The film follows his final 18 months serving in Ireland’s coalition government as minister for the environment and transport before stepping down in 2025.

The title is something that Ryan’s 25-year-old son Tommy repeats over and over. “Forever … forever … forever.” Tommy is autistic and requires full-time care. When Ryan resigns from government, one of his reasons is to spend more time with Tommy. We see the pair of them at the allotment picking raspberries and walking the dog. But other than a quick glimpse of his wife, Victoria, the rest of Ryan’s family life is kept firmly behind closed doors.

Country diary: The story of birds starts with their feathers 13 October 2026 at 00:30

Country diary: The story of birds starts with their feathers

The Guardian

By: Mary Montague

13 October 2026 at 00:30

River Lagan, Belfast: Right now you can see winter in the black-headed gull plumage, and spring in the mallards’. Yet feathers are also vital to how birds even came to exist

On my walk along the towpath, I pick up a small grey feather. It’s a flight feather, probably from the wing of a feral pigeon. I stroke it absently as I watch the birds that are swimming on the river’s surface. Steeped in autumn sunshine, the different species are also feathered with other seasons. Summer is in the fuzzy down of a late-hatched moorhen chick. Winter gleams in the white heads of the “black-headed” gulls. And, while a mallard’s emerald-green head is, as yet, tatty as old velvet, his crisply curled drake’s tails herald the coming spring.

If the story of birds is told in their plumage, then moult – the shedding and regrowth of feathers – is the turn of a page. The moorhen chick reminds me that the first chapter is about keeping warm. I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, almost tucking the pigeon feather in as well. While our hair and birds’ feathers are both made of keratin, they differ in how they grow. In essence, hair extends as a single linear thread, whereas down feathers emerge frothing in all directions. As a fledgling matures, its outer feathers then lengthen, with a central shaft supporting branches that can flatten out and zip together to make a smooth surface.

Former Irish Olympic swimming coach and child abuser George Gibney to be sentenced 11 October 2026 at 05:38

Former Irish Olympic swimming coach and child abuser George Gibney to be sentenced

The Guardian

By: Rory Carroll Ireland correspondent

11 October 2026 at 05:38

Gibney, 77, will face justice for abusing athletes in the 1970s and 80s after decades of effort to track and extradite him

More than half a century after he started sexually abusing children, and enjoyed prestige as Ireland’s Olympic swimming coach before fleeing to the United States, George Gibney is to face justice.

The 77-year-old will be sentenced at the central criminal court in Dublin on Monday for abusing four young female athletes in the 1970s and 1980s.

Northern Ireland secretary Chris Bryant bans Drumcree parade 9 October 2026 at 16:58

Northern Ireland secretary Chris Bryant bans Drumcree parade

The Guardian

By: Rory Carroll Ireland correspondent

9 October 2026 at 16:58

Prospect of contentious Orange Order march through Garvaghy Road in Portadown has led to a nearly two-week standoff

The Northern Ireland secretary of state has banned the Drumcree parade after a 13-day impasse between the Orange Order and nationalists.

Chris Bryant announced on Friday night that it was “not in the public interest” for Orangemen to march the contested route through Garvaghy Road in Portadown, which Catholic residents had blocked.

Lourdes gets a Vegas glow-up at Dublin theatre festival, where canvases are slashed 8 October 2026 at 07:23

Lourdes gets a Vegas glow-up at Dublin theatre festival, where canvases are slashed

The Guardian

By: Helen Meany

8 October 2026 at 07:23

A musical about a drama group’s pilgrimage and reflections on activist art join an intriguing show about lost languages

In a Dublin theatre festival programme tackling heavy themes of racism, conflict and prejudice, Lourdes! The Musical (★★★★☆) promises something effervescent. Xnthony Ltd, the creators of Oliver Cromwell Is Really Very Sorry, have turned their lightly quizzical gaze to the French pilgrimage town – “a holy Blackpool, a divine Las Vegas” and a site of hope or desperation for five unlikely travelling companions.

Back in his home village in “Countryland”, in 2008, following a diagnosis of HIV that punctures his dreams of Los Angeles, singer-songwriter Matthew (Riain Cash) lends his star power to a parish drama group taking a musical about Saint Bernadette to Lourdes. Interweaving this show-within-a-show and the pilgrimage strands, Xnthony’s lyrics and Matthew Floyd Jones’s score blend pop, club beats and soulful ballads. Directed by Sarah Meadows, the supercharged ensemble joining Cash as, variously, a droll priest (Iestyn Arwel), a terminally ill mother and her transgender daughter (Nichola MacEvilly and Danielle James) and an eager tour manager (Molly Lynch) carry the music’s tonal shifts effortlessly.

Bendy elm still standing against all odds crowned UK tree of the year 7 October 2026 at 19:01

Bendy elm still standing against all odds crowned UK tree of the year

The Guardian

By: Pippa Neill Environment reporter

7 October 2026 at 19:01

Hundred-and-fifty-year-old Wych elm in Newcastle, Co Down, has grown sideways owing to strong winds

The “astonishing and bizarre” Bendy Tree in Northern Ireland has been crowned the winner of this year’s tree of the year competition.

The wych elm tree, located in Newcastle, County Down, owes its name to its near horizontal trunk, which has grown sideways owing to the strong seaside winds coming off the Irish Sea.

Artists including Noel Gallagher show support for Garvaghy Road residents in Drumcree dispute 7 October 2026 at 11:15

Artists including Noel Gallagher show support for Garvaghy Road residents in Drumcree dispute

The Guardian

By: Rory Carroll Ireland correspondent

7 October 2026 at 11:15

Actors and musicians sign open letter urging government to protect residents amid impasse over Orange Order parade

Dozens of artists, actors and musicians including Susan Sarandon and Noel Gallagher have expressed support for Garvaghy Road residents in the impasse over the Drumcree parade in Northern Ireland.

In an open letter to the secretary of state, Chris Bryant, they urged the government to protect residents and to appoint an international mediator to resolve the dispute between the Catholic residents and the Orange Order in County Armagh.

Mark Zuckerberg Buys an Irish Castle 22 August 2026 at 09:28

Mark Zuckerberg Buys an Irish Castle

NYT: Technology

By: Alan Yuhas

22 August 2026 at 09:28

The prominent landowner has added a nearly 200-year-old estate to his holdings. Archival information says it can take “a brisk walk of 4½ minutes to reach the dining room from the kitchen.”

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