Denis O’Brien, the dossier and the spy who came into the Dáil
For months, Denis O’Brien has battled Dublin public affairs firm Red Flag in the High Court, claiming that an illegal conspiracy exists to damage him. But how did it come to this? Peter Murtagh explains a tortuous trail . . . For many years, Mark...
A Ballaghaderreen solicitor’s spectacular fall from grace
Declan O’Callaghan and his wife were seen as pillars of community before finances came under scrutiny There is a joke doing the rounds in Ballaghaderreen. “What does it cost to post a letter in Ballagh?” goes the opening line. “Ohhh, around €1,800,” goes the...
Chopper gives ‘top cover’ to Capt Dara Fitzpatrick at emotional farewell
Poignant salute delivered at pilot’s funeral after fatal helicopter crash As Capt Dara Fitzpatrick’s tricolour-draped coffin was eased into the hearse after her funeral mass, a huge Sikorsky helicopter emerged from the western sky, flying low through the mist and...
The Denis O’Brien dossier: what happened to the USB memory stick?
Why did O’Brien give the memory stick to Martin Coyne? And who is ‘Employee 18883’? One question stands out among the many that arise in the Denis O’Brien versus Red Flag Consulting legal action. Why did O’Brien give the USB memory stick, the sole piece of evidence...
Anatomy of a car crash: Part 1
At 4.40am on January 1st two men died in the first fatal road crash of 2014, near Ballina, Co Mayo. This series of articles - now published in full on irishtimes.com - investigates the collision and asks why it occurred The first Irish road deaths of 2014 occurred...
Soft singing and tears as a family filled with pride bids Madiba farewell
In the village of Qunu, a small group gathers to watch Nelson Mandela’s funeral on television The cock crowed soon after 4am and before long, there were sounds coming from the kitchen. Fifty-litre paint buckets were being filled with water for the bathroom and toilet....
Amid the rubble and chaos, a father provides for his family and finds hope
For one man in Guiuan, the simple slaughter of a pig offers a way forward When Salvador Duran woke the other morning, he knew that this would be a good day. He got up and he walked out of his wooden hovel home on Guimbaolibot Avenue and he had a pee. Then...
Medics reach remote island communities which survived on guts and generosity
You could see the sign clearly from the air as the chopper came in. On a square white sheet, perhaps 10ft by 10ft, the word HELP faced skyward. The plea was on the beach, tied down by lumps of coral and toppled coconut palms. Behind it lay the reason: the remote...
Grim resting place for victims of Typhoon Haiyan
Hundreds killed in Philippine city Tacloban are buried, unidentified, in mass graves There’s not much dignity when the end is a body bag put into a mass grave, without a marking and without loved ones present. In Tacloban yesterday some 200 victims of the typhoon and...