In hard times even Santa feels the pinch. That’s the message of “Santa and the Recession,” a timely new book for children written and illustrated in Ireland (where the recession is biting harder than most places).

Dana Delany has opened up about turning down the role of Carrie in “Sex and the City.” The actress and multiple Emmy winner, who first hit it big as Nurse Colleen McMurphy on “China Beach,” is enjoying currently stardom again on “Desperate Housewives.”

Former Taoiseach (prime minister) John Bruton has returned to Ireland after his five-year stint as EU ambassador to Washington, D.C. came to an end on Friday.

News from the 32: Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow

Typical! An American may yet help save the Irish language which is danger of certain death in Ireland. Des Bishop is a well known stand-up comedian, which gives him a platform to reach out to those teenagers and 20-somethings, so many of whom detest the thought of Irish.

Padraig Harrington is looking to win an Olympic gold medal in 2016 after golf was confirmed as an official sport for the games to be held in Rio De Janeiro.

Hillary Clinton will face a full blown crisis in the peace process when she visits Northern Ireland this weekend. Sinn Fein and the DUP are at loggerheads over when policing and justice powers will be devolved to the Northern Irish government from the British parliament.

News from the 32: Antrim, Armagh, Carlow, Cavan, Clare, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Down, Dublin, Fermanagh, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Leitrim, Limerick, Longford, Louth, Mayo, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, Tyrone, Waterford, Westmeath, Wexford, Wicklow

The annual DV green card lottery (DV-2011) begins on October 2, and concludes on November 30, 2009. As in previous years, applications can only be lodged electronically via Form DS-5501, available only through the State Department’s DV website at www.dvlottery.state.gov.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Michéal Martin writes about the Global Irish Economic Forum that is being held in Dublin from September 18-20

Darren Sutherland, a young Irish professional boxer from Dublin whose amateur career was crowned by a bronze medal for Ireland in the middleweight division at the 2008 Olympics in China was found dead at home today by his manager.

Ken Carroll wants to change your world. He wants you to learn Chinese, and he is going to teach you for free. If you are from the Republic of Ireland, that is.

He has the look of an athlete, compact with broad shoulders. He also has something of a pre-game focus, a quiet intensity, and gives the impression, even as he answers questions, that he has his eye on the ball and he’s not forgetting for a moment that right now he’s involved in the biggest game of his career.

Thomas Cahill’s most recent book, A Saint on Death Row: The Story of Dominique Green (March 2009), is a departure from the Hinges of History series. Or is it?

Looking to save money on your vacation this year? Heritage Island is here to help!

Rory McIlroy won the inaugural Lough Erne challenge against Padraig Harrington on Wednesday, posting a score of four under par and beating his compatriot by two strokes.

The computer chip manufacturer has cited a drop in demand for its decision to reduce staff at the plant in Leixlip, County Kildare.

Ireland is set to cut its funding for overseas emigrant groups by nearly 7 percent just as emigration from Ireland is set to expand. The economic advisory group, popularly known as "An Bord Snip," in Ireland has recommended lopping €1 million ($1.4m) off the total budget of €15 million ($21m) for the Irish abroad.

The surname Feeney is one of the most common names in Counties Sligo and Mayo. Taken from the original Gaelic form, O Fiannaidhe, meaning "soldier," the clan originated from the population group Ui Fiachrac, and it has been established that this sect was located in the Connaught province.

PRESIDENT Mary McAleese and Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen led a string of tributes to the memory of the three young doctors, all friends and one a former Riverdance star, who are missing feared dead in the Air France trans-Atlantic disaster. McAleese said, “My thoughts and prayers, and the thoughts of everyone, are with the Irish families and the families of everyone on board at this very difficult time.”

A 25-year-old Irish woman and her 23-year-old Dutch boyfriend died on vacation in Bali after drinking poisoned wine.

Rachel Craig, from College Rise in Drogheda, Co. Louth, died Saturday after drinking the "arak" local wine.

A young Riverdance star is among the three Irish women presumed dead in the Air France airbus A330 disaster. The Irish dancing star, a qualified doctor, was returning from vacation with her two Irish friends and another friend from Britain.

Three Irish people were on board the Air France plane which disappeared over the Atlantic overnight. The plane is feared to have crashed in the Atlantic with 228 people aboard after losing power in a massive thunderstorm high above the ocean. The flight left Rio de Janiero at 5pm EST yesterday and was due to arrive into Paris at 4.15am EST.

Friday is World Environment Day. This year the chosen city to celebrate this is Mexico City. So, what can we do that is “green” and Mexican? Taco’s with Salsa Verde of course!

Tim Pat Coogan: This year’s National Famine Commemoration ceremony at Skibbereen was dignified, efficient, moving.

Eddie Holt on Irish Finance Minster Brian Lenihan's declaration that it was our patriotic duty to support his budget. Maybe he should stick to the numbers and leave it to Irish individuals to decide how to express their love of country.

The seventh leg of the Volvo Ocean Race got off to a rocky start Saturday when a tanker almost collided with the racers as they left Boston Harbor for Galway Bay Luckily, the U.S. Coast Guard steered the hulking 700-foot tanker out of the fleet's way as they prepared to race 2,550 miles across the Atlantic for their arrival in Galway Bay on May 23.

Ireland urgently needs to “harness the global Diaspora and to pull together high achievers from many different countries” says Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin in an exclusive interview with IrishCentral.com.

A sweatshop worker does an 18-hour-day, making $1. Is this really fair?

Most people would find keeping a large Labrador in their back yard a bit of a challenge – but Belfast woman Denise Austin went one better. She kept an elephant in

An Irish company has invented a super potato which they say can protect the body from heart disease and cancer. The super potato is packed with selenium, an essential mineral and super antioxidant which plays an important role in the immune system. The company, Peter Keogh & Sons of

Youths in hoodies, with covered faces, hurling rocks at the security forces. Gaza? No - we're back in Northern Ireland.

The Irish are known for their "gift of the gab," and these 10 are no exception to the rule. Here's our list of the top 10 Irish TV personalities.

A new social networking Web site for Irish dancers and musicians is proving to be a big hit on the Internet.  Diddlyi.com, the creation of two brothers from Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, went live in April

"Do I Love You" By Paul McDonald Not a lot of people know this, but in the 60s Northern Ireland had a surprisingly dedicated soul music appreciation club. They really liked to dance too, inventing a dedicated white person’s take on an original — the “very athletic” style of Northern Irish soul

Visa Lottery Instructions LEGAL residents of the U.S. - and we emphasize legal - and all others living abroad should take note that the entry period for the annual DV-1 diversity visa lottery, also known as the Schumer visa program, especially in Irish circles, began on Wednesday, October 3, concluding at noon on Sunday, December 2.

THE annual DV green card lottery (DV-2010) begins this week on October 2, and concludes on December 1 at noon. As in previous years, applications can only be lodged electronically through the State Department's DV website at www.dvlottery.

Four years ago Celtic Woman, the five member Irish super group, traveled from Ireland to America on a fast track journey to super stardom that has been like a dream come true for vocalists Chloe, Lisa, Lynne, Alex and Celtic violinist Mairead. This week the all-female super group are back in the U.S.

Miss Ireland 2007 was crowned last weekend in Cork.

The 21-year-old Blathnaid McKenna is quite a stunner, though it's hard to tell by the accompanying photo due to the pile of feathers she's plopped on her head. (What is it with European women and hideous hats?) McKenna also qualifies as an all-Ireland winner, as she hails from Co.

JONATHAN Rhys Meyers has landed another plum film role. He'll star in remake of the comic Mandrake the Magician as Mandrake himself. Filming begins early in the New Year in China and the U.

LOOKS like Jonathan Rhys Meyers won't have to worry about his next acting gig for a long, long time.

He'll head to Ireland in the next few weeks to start shooting the third season of The Tudors, the series on Showtime about King Henry VIII that's been a big hit for the cable network. "The Tudors is now a fixture for us at Showtime, and we're on our way to completing the entire saga of all six wives of Henry VIII," said a Showtime spokesperson.

For fiscal year 2005, which concluded on September 30 of that year, guess which nation was issued more green cards – Ireland or Syria? Or how about Ireland or Iran?

Donald R. Keough, 82, is former president of the Coca-Cola Company and now chairman of Allen and Company the New York investment bank. He is the best selling author of "The Ten Commandments of Business Failure.

News from ireland

By Frank Shouldice

Gov't Takes Pay Hike

With widespread evidence of the economy slowing down, the Irish government aroused an angry public reaction by awarding itself a double-figure pay hike. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will take a 14 percent pay rise which, at 38,000 euros, is itself worth 5,000 euros more than the average industrial wage.

The substantial pay increase will apply to cabinet ministers as well as senior officers in the civil service, garda (Irish police force) and academia.

News From Ireland

Cowen Replaces Ahern as Prime Minister

Brian Cowen has replaced Bertie Ahern as leader of the Fianna Fil party. The Laois-Offaly Dil deputy also assumed the office of Taoiseach when Ahern stood down on May 6 following his address to the joint Houses of Congress in Washington, D.C.

David McWilliams is Ireland's most talked about economist for a reason. He's whip smart, opinionated, and acidly funny. He talks to CAHIR O'DOHERTY about his new book The Pope's Children, which describes how the Irish economic boom got going and hints optimistically at where it's likely to lead.

FOREIGN Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern has defended Cabinet colleague John Gormley over his comments about Tibet that prompted the Chinese ambassador to Ireland to stage a protest walkout from the Green Party annual convention in Dundalk last weekend.Gormley was delivering his party leader's address to the conference when he condemned "flagrant" human rights abuses in Tibet and called on the Chinese government to enter into dialogue with spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.Gormley told cheering delegates that human rights must extend to all countries and cultures.

WHEN Anne Donovan, the youngest of eight children from New Jersey, gathered with the U.S. women's basketball team for their first practice this week, she was continuing a proud Irish American tradition at the Olympics which has endured for a century now.

Ireland's Olympic medal winners arrived home to Dublin and a raucous welcome on Tuesday evening.

Several hundred delighted fans cheered loudly when, with a Tricolor flying from the cockpit window, the plane carrying the Irish Beijing Olympic team was escorted by three fire and rescue tenders as it taxied to Pier C.Friends and family waited inside the terminal building and waved as the aircraft came to a stop.

Under-siege Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen this week caved into public demand and did a u-turn on a controversial decision to remove free medical services from thousands of elderly folk.

After delaying a trip with a trade delegation to China to deal with the crisis that threatened his government, Cowen announced on Tuesday changes to the budget proposal. He said there would be a new income threshold of $917 a week for those over 70 - a rise of $262 - under which they would continue to qualify for free medical services before they need to undergo income assessment.