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).

Finding Jews in Ireland is not an easy task. Of Ireland’s 4.4 million people, only 2,000 or so are Jewish. But finding a menorah, the eight branched candle that celebrates Hanukkah – that’s a cinch.

Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck will hit the road in January for a four-night tour that will feature this unlikely double act in concert halls in Florida, South Carolina, Virginia and New York. The "Bold and Fresh" tour promises to bring conversations of "substance" from the two TV hosts.

About 200,000 Irish fans from all over the world have joined a Facebook petition calling on FIFA for a replay of the France/Ireland match which ended in bitter controversy in Paris Wednesday night. France advanced to the World Cup finals through a disputed goal after star striker Thierry Henry blatantly handled the ball before setting up the winning score.

Ambassador Rooney was on a visit to Kilkenny city Wednesday, November 18, home to the tomb of Obama's long lost relative, Bishop John Kearney. He said he has asked Obama to visit Ireland.

The Football Association of Ireland has lodged an official complaint with soccer's governing body FIFA over the controversial handball by Thierry Henry which dumped Ireland out of the play-offs for the 2010 World Cup. And the FAI has cited precedent for the game to be replayed.

Ireland's meteorologists are warning people to brace themselves for a long weekend of miserable weather.

American born artist Daniel Mark Duffy has been on the receiving end of a moral debate on modern Ireland. The artist’s provocative nude portraits have drawn both criticism and praise from all corners of Irish society.

Emmy award winning actor Brendan Gleeson has confessed he was deeply worried about playing Winston Churchill in the HBO film “Into the Storm” that won him the award.

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

It has emerged that the DUP politician Iris Robinson, also known as the "wicked witch of the North," has 10 Catholic cousins.

The former president of the High Court, Justice Richard Johnson, has called for a referendum to reintroduce the recently abolished death penalty in Ireland.

Dara McBride: Bono is a wonderful musician and a great world citizen — but can anyone really make any sense of his latest column in the Sunday New York Times? It's all about the fall of the Berlin Wall and its impact on this "singer," who is of course Bono. He even catches himself writing about himself in the third person — but I don't know if it works. It all gets kind of weird.

Robert Reynolds: Since Sarah Palin once famously said she didn't know whether Africa was a continent, we in the global Irish community are left to wonder whether she could have ever unscrambled the difference between England, Britain and the so-called United Kingdom. Alas, we won't have to wait too long for Palin's wit (?) and wisdom (?!). Her new book comes out Monday.

Sarah Palin releases her new book 'Going Rogue' this week, and judging by the reviews she really gets her Irish up. John McCain, the media, the Democratic Party, and the know alls in Washington all get it loud and clear from the former Alaska governor.

The undocumented Irish community in the U.S. received a major boost today with the announcement from the White House that it will push forward with a legalization program. Homeland Security boss Janet Napolitano said the Obama administration is seeking a "tough but fair pathway to earned legal status."

Members of the Irish community gathered at a memorial Mass in New York Thursday to remember Sen. Edward Kennedy just over 12 weeks after his death. The senator’s son, Edward Kennedy Jr., Christine Quinn, Speaker of New York City Council, and Irish Consul General Niall Burgess were among those present.

A massive search is currently underway in Maghaberry prison in Northern Ireland after it was suspected that dissident republicans smuggled a small quantity of the plastic explosive Semtex into the prison.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton played a major role in securing the release of Irish priest Fr. Michael Sinnott. The priest was kidnapped 32 days ago by a radical group of Islamic militants called the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The kidnapped Irish Catholic priest, Fr Michael Sinnott, has been released without injury in the Philippines. Arriving at Manila Airport, the 79-year-old Wexford priest even tried to make light of his experience. "Because I am a bit old and I found hiking a bit difficult at times, I think that they'd be glad to kidnap a younger man the next time," he said.

Certainly Irish leaders are called on to comment on everything, but Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen probably took it a bit too far when he answered a question about “Jedward."

Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen has urged workers to embrace reform of the public service rather than viewing it as a threat. He made it clear that a shake-up of the system has to happen in order to make dramatic savings to reduce the country's debt.

John Timoney, 61, the Dublin-born four star Miami chief of police may be seeking pastures new soon if the city’s newly elected Republican mayor has his way.

Irish TV host Pat Kenny came under fire on his new TV show this week - for the second week in a row. An audience member at "Frontline" erupted in fury as Kenny (€600,000 a year or $900,000) interviewed Government politician Mary Hanafin about the looming cuts in social welfare.

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

According to a recent study, Dublin has the highest rate of gun murder in Europe. The rate is almost as high as some cities in the U.S. like Washington D.C. So far this year, 19 gun murders, all of which were gang related, have occurred in Ireland’s capital city, which has a population of 1.2 million.

Former Progressive Democrat and junior minister, Tom Parlon has denied tipping a chauffeur $2,620 while on a state trip to Atlanta as part of the St. Patrick Day celebrations in 2006.

The undocumented Irish have picked up a key new supporter in Congress. Congressman Bill Delahunt (D-MA) has pledged to support the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform and its efforts on behalf of the undocumented Irish in the U.S.

Government officials have warned Irish Minister for Finance that high earners are likely to flee Ireland if he raises taxes again in the Budget, set for next month. Currently many key Irish figures including U2 members, and billionaires

The great review in The New York Times on Monday for "The New Electric Ballroom," the new play by Irish playwright Enda Walsh, further reinforces the remarkable story of Irish success in New York in recent years.

Niall O'Dowd: Ted Kennedy Jr. will preside — and Irish tenor Ronan Tynan will sing in his first New York engagement since his controversial firing by the New York Yankees — at a memorial Mass for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.

A furious row has broken out over U2's mini-gig in Germany Thursday night as part of the MTV European Music Awards. U2 - who brought on Jay-Z as their surprise guest - played a free gig at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.

Public urination has got to such an unacceptable level in the town of Ennis in County Clare that one local councilor has proposed that two urine wardens should be employed to patrol the town and prevent inebriated party people from peeing in public.

IRA dissidents - backed by IRA veterans - now pose a major threat to peace in Northern Ireland. That's according to the Independent Monitoring Commission which says the security threat is the highest since the 1996 Good Friday Peace Agreement.

The Irish premiere of Kilkenny man Gabriel Murray's documentary on the Irish heritage of U.S. president Barack Obama will be screened on Sunday as part of the Waterford Film Festival.

Labor Party leader Eamon Gilmore has claimed Ireland is “hurtling headlong into a period of conflict, strife and division.” His warning came as talks resumed between government and unions on public sector pay -- and as exchequer returns for the first 10 months of the year revealed a deficit of €22.7 ($33.7) billion.

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.

The Bank of Ireland is reeling today after it announced losses of €1 ($1.4) billion for the half year accounting time up to the end of September.

Robert Reynolds: It's now clear that Mayor Michael Bloomberg became New York's third term mayor because of the Catholic vote. Irish and Italians in the boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island provided the margin of victory for Bloomberg in a much tighter contest than was anticipated.

Niall O'Dowd: Somewhere in Australia there's an Irish lad called Rowan McCormick who broke Maureen Dowd's heart. When she went back in the early 1970s to visit her homestead in County Clare, hard by the majestic Cliffs of Moher, she met him and fell madly in love.

Mike Bloomberg hasn't been re-elected Mayor of New York City, yet, but giant Irish bookmaker Paddy Power has been taking no

English musical theater actress Elaine Paige says Susan Boyle is just like Evita.

Robert Reynolds: Is Bill O'Reilly the new moderate voice of America's right? That would seem to be the case after Bill O' took on Rush Limbaugh, the fire-eating grand poobah of everything right-wing on his show.

It's official! Thanks in no small part to Colin Farrell, the Irish accent is now the sexiest in the world. French men can only hang their heads in shame as they came FOURTH - just ahead of the Australian accent.

Abuse victims submitted a petition to the Northern Ireland Assembly Monday demanding that an inquiry be established that would investigate institutional abuse in church run institutions in Northern Ireland in the same way the Ryan Report documented the abuses in the South.

U2 could be hearing from the Dublin City Council over the decibel levels reached at their three concerts in Croke Park earlier this year.

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

Be it the economic downturn or the increase in apparitions across the country, the number of those attending Mass in Ireland is on the up.

The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) and the Irish American Unity Conference (IAUC) have joined together in a renewed effort to support an independent truth commission to deal with the past in Northern Ireland following last week's Congressional hearing into collusion there.

Recently released files from the British National Archives reveal that the IRA targeted Buckingham Palace and other famous London landmarks during the 1970s London bombing campaign.