The 'Transformers' star says she can't stand the characters she usually plays and would far rather get down and dirty in horror movies as in her new film 'Jennifer's Body'.

It’s the concert of the year. On Thursday October 29 at 8 p.m. the Cross Border Orchestra of Ireland (CBOI), a group composed of musicians aged between 12 and 24, will perform at the prestigious Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in Manhattan.

It seems that the popular thing is to sing your way home from the pubs, at the top of your lungs and as off-key as possible. Though I did here a surprisingly good a cappella version of “Stand By Me” at 5am.

Not only is Liam Neeson one of the busiest A-list actors at work today, but junior high records show that he was one of the top athletes at his school.

The 1911 census, which I discovered and pored over until often five o'clock in the morning, is a joy to possess, and while it would be unwise to consider that long ago period was some kind of golden era in which to have lived, it is indeed a treasure, and brings local history alive.

New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein announced his proposal to create a high school named in honor of the late Pulitzer Prize winning author Frank McCourt at a memorial service to celebrate McCourt’s life and work held at Symphony Space in upper Manhattan last week.

This year marks the Irish Voice's first ever Education 100 list, the inaugural effort to begin to quantify the Irish commitment to excellence in education in the United States.

Irish universities have climbed up the world rankings this year with both Trinity and University College Dublin in the top 100. This is the first year that UCD has cracked the Top 100, up 19 places from 107 to 87, while Trinity moved up six places from 49 to 43.

Mark Axelrod writes about Brian Coffey “who was not only a brilliant translator and poet, but a brilliant mind.”

President Barack Obama's Irish American ancestors were pioneers in 19th century health care reform. Film-maker and historian Gabriel Murray, who found Barack Obama’s great-grand uncle's tomb in Kikenny, Ireland, uncovered the surprise links while he was researching his new documentary, “Obama’s Irish Roots” (visit www.olympia-films.co.uk for more information).

New York local politics will get a major Irish boost on Tuesday when Deirdre Feerick, a second-generation Irish American, squares off against two other Irish-American candidates in the September 15 Democratic primary election in Queens to succeed well known Council Member Eric Gioia who has endorsed her.

Dinosaurs were the only things on the mind of four-year-old Patrick Dillon as he waited patiently with his parents, sister and grandfather for the door of his new school to open at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, September 8.

The New York Jets and New York Giants have said their new stadium at the Meadowlands will be one of the greenest in the country. While they were talking about the environment, an announcement today about the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame makes the new arena even greener. And a bit orange, too.

The Fighting Irish are coming to the Bronx. According to IrishCentral sources, the Universiity of Notre Dame is ready to sign a deal to play the U.S. Army Black Knights in 2010 at Yankee Stadium.

Concordia University has recently expanded their Irish studies program to benefit many students who have a desire to learn about their heritage. At Concordia University, Canadian Irish Studies have recently gone from a small undergraduate minor and certificate program to a full course of studies and renamed “The School of Canadian Irish Studies."

Trinity College Dublin (TCD) Provost Dr. John Hegarty, University College Dublin (UCD) President Dr. Hugh Brady and Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG) chairman John Hartnett met in Dublin on June 15 to announce a new partnership in technological innovation.

Ray Davies, the former Kinks songwriter, will play a concert at The White Lady Hotel in Kinsale on Friday to raise funds for his daughter Eva’s national school.

The Ireland-U.S. Council’s annual student work experience scholarships were presented today at an awards luncheon held at The Metropolitan Club in New York City.

"Angela's Ashes" author Frank McCourt is facing a life-and-death battle with cancer, IrishCentral.com can reveal. Sources say that McCourt was hospitalized recently in New York for treatment. McCourt, who born in New York to Irish immigrant parents, shot to fame on the release of his memoir "Angela's Ashes."

Megan McAllister, the “sweet Irish girl” engaged to accused Craigslist killer Philip Markoff, is on a mission to clear her fiancee’s name in the press.

Megan McAllister, the woman engaged to accused Craigslist killer Philip Markoff, is a “sweet Irish girl,” according to Susan Fagan Madalenna, mother of one of Megan’s bridesmaids.

The president of a California college was killed in a single vehicle car crash on his way to a conference in Ireland earlier this week.

The Irish president is to give the commencement address at a prestigious women's college.

Long Island mom Jean O’Dowd is proud of her Irish heritage. So imagine her shock when her son Patrick's school, Roanoke Elementary, left her a pre-recorded message that St. Patrick’s Day was no longer operative and instead March 17 would be “heritage day.”

Thinking about brushing up on your Irish Studies? Check out our pick of some of the best Irish Studies programs throughout the U.S. and Canada

In a sense, Thomas Mallon's fictional portrait of Tim Laughlin in "Fellow Travelers" supports the real-life themes of a new book by Joshua Zeitz called "White Ethnic New York: Jews, Catholics, and the Shaping of Postwar Politics." Exploring the Irish as well as other ethnic enclaves, Zeitz argues that Irish Americans and other Catholics remained deeply unmelted even after Word War II, when many people believed they'd simply faded into the vast American middle class and became like everyone else. "Between the 1940s and the late 1960s, New York's three largest white ethnic groups, Jews, Italian Catholics, and Irish Catholics, numbered as many as 4.

Carole O'Malley Gaunt's "Hungry Hill" is a coming-of-age memoir in which the world of high school dances and budding romance is shattered by the death of the author's mother. Seven brothers and an alcoholic father become Gaunt's reality in this harsh yet poignant book set in the working-class Irish world of Springfield, Massachusetts. $19.

STEPHEN Dunne, 31, the Irish law student who last June sued the Massachusetts State Bar Association for $9.75 million for including a gay marriage question on the would-be lawyer's exam, has had a dramatic change of heart. Last year Dunne, originally from Dublin, refused to answer a question on same sex marriage and flunked his bar exam, but then he sued for religious discrimination.

A NEW York-born comedian has been credited by a teachers' leader with contributing more to the campaign to revive the Irish language than Education Minister Mary Hanafin.Angela Dunne, president of the Irish National Teachers' Organization (INTO), criticized Hanafin's decision last year to ban the use of the Irish language for every subject in all-Irish schools.The policy in most all-Irish schools - known as gaelscoils -- to teach entirely through Irish and not begin English teaching until children reach the age of seven, was firmly prohibited in a directive to schools.

IT'S the experience of a lifetime for Irish students Peter Mannion and Phil Allister, who are interning with the two presidential candidates while on a two-month work experience program in Washington, D.C.Mannion is interning for Democratic candidate Senator Barack Obama and Allister is interning with his GOP rival, Senator John McCain.

EDUCATION is the latest prospective victim of the economic crisis. The government has floated the idea of reintroducing fees for students at university and other third-level colleges.The suggestion -- which is all it is so far, but the debate is gathering pace -- threatens to split the rainbow Cabinet and has already prompted angry student protests.

A delegation from Queens University in Belfast was in New York a couple of weeks ago to forge research and education links between Northern Ireland and the United States.

The team, led by Queens University President and Vice Chancellor Professor Peter Gregson, held a series of high-level meetings with business and academic leaders here, including representatives of Fordham University, Georgetown University, Co-operation Ireland and the prestigious Marshall Scholarship program.

The highlight of the four-day visit was the conferment of an honorary degree on Dr.

Irish President Mary McAleese made a heartfelt plea on behalf of the Irish undocumented living in the U.S. during a visit to San Francisco last week.

In one of the most powerful street demonstrations in recent years, up to 60,000 teachers, parents and children marched through Dublin on Saturday to protest against budget cuts that campaigners claim have put Irish education back into the last century.

The demonstration followed a month of regional protests, including one in Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen's home town, Tullamore.

Irish National Teachers' Organization general secretary John Carr told the Dublin protesters in Merrion Square that the presence of so many on the streets sent a clear message to the government about the kind of society people wanted for their children.

When I first came to America three years ago, I wasn't impressed. Everything seemed familiar from the movies, and nothing was beautiful in the European sense that I had become accustomed to. I had a fun vacation traveling around with my friend, from New York to Miami to San Diego to Chicago, but decided I'd never waste spare holidays by coming here again.

IT'S been widely observed that Ireland is now accepting immigrants the way it used to send them to other countries. There has been some head-shaking over these developments, which would have seemed unthinkable a decade or two ago. Of course, there has been some tension as well.