Highlights

Drug debts: First come bullets in the post. Then the family home is firebombed

Criminals’ primary targets are not the addicts who owe them money but their mothers

Mary Lou McDonald on the screen during the Sinn Féin special ardfheis held in the RDS. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw McDonald’s tricky first year underlines Sinn Féin’s central problem
Liam Neeson. Photograph: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty This is not a Liam Neeson obituary. It just reads like one
‘After nine years in direct provision I have never stopped living’
Dealing with a non-performing mortgage on a family home is a daily reality for 64,510 borrowers, according to the Central Bank. Photograph: Sean Gladwell/Getty Life with mortgage arrears in Ireland: I had ‘seizures from stress’
A mosaic depicting the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez (left) and Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro on a wall in Caracas. Photograph: Getty Images The battle for Venezuela – a smoking political tinderbox
Richard E Grant stars opposite Melissa McCarthy in Can You Ever Forgive Me? Photograph: Mary Cybulski Richard E Grant: ‘Every day I thank God for Withnail and I’
Despite the less than comprehensive level of access, abortions are now happening across the country in hospitals and in general practices. File photograph: Getty Images Abortion in Ireland: Four weeks in, how’s it working?
When it was over and the dead and wounded lay in pools of blood, moaning on the ground, Dyer forbade his soldiers to give any aid to the injured The Amritsar massacre: a cold, callous display of colonial evil
No Child 2020: Fintan O’Toole on a new Irish Times initiative
Will the burger survive? Photograph: AP Photo/ Eugene Hoshiko Meat consumption must drop by 90% to avert climate crisis, report warns
Isis fighter: Alexandr Ruzmatovich Bekmirzaev, who was captured in Syria with Irish passport From Ireland to Isis: The life of Alexandr Ruzmatovich Bekmirzaev
Mary Dillon, Greg Kennedy and Marie Galvin. Photograph: Tom Honan The returned missionaries: ‘I’m more African than I am Irish’
Eoin Cluskey of Bread Nation. Photoograph: Nick Bradshaw 50 people to watch in 2019: Ireland’s hottest young talent
The remains of cars destroyed by the Carr Fire in July in Redding, California. No one was even vaguely surprised that Trump’s response to the wildfires was to deny that they had anything to do with climate change. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Fintan O’Toole: 2018, year of the dark new normal
From cow to cup: Brexit and the threat to your milk’s cross-Border journey
Cycling the Border, 2018: ‘At least yous are Prods, you f**kers’
Lavinia Kerwick: 'He committed a heinous crime next to murder. There’s no forgiveness for that.' Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill Lavinia Kerwick: 'My life in my 20s and 30s was absolutely destroyed, taken away'
Protest meeting in 1918 in Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon, against conscription in Ireland. In April that year, Lloyd George’s government had given itself the power to extend conscription to Ireland. Photograph: Photo12/UIG/Getty Images Fintan O’Toole: The 1918 election was an amazing moment for Ireland
Volunteering can have a number of personal and professional benefits Volunteering: Why and how you should get involved
John Gunning during his fighting days at the 18th Sumo World Championships in Hong Kong in 2012. Photograph: Richard A Brooks/AFP/Getty The Roscommon man who became a sumo wrestler in Japan
John West, former Ireland rugby international Trevor Ringland and John McNally in Holywood. Photograph: Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker North Down on Brexit: ‘The DUP threatens the union more than Sinn Féin’
Ruka Adeluola: after coming to Ireland alone from Nigeria when she was 12, she is studying biotechnology at DCU. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill She was homeless at 12. In college at 20
Pa O’Dwyer from Rathkeale is the winner of Ireland and UK’s Strongest Man competition. Photo: Bryan O’Brien/The Irish Times Pa O’Dwyer is Ireland’s strongest man – the six steaks a day way
Some staff at the Ivy are unhappy about an absence of clarity about how card tips – the majority – are handled. Photograph: Getty Images Tips at the Ivy restaurant: Following the money
Gillian O’Sullivan: ‘He told me there was a lovely new hip on the market that could last a lifetime . . . I would never look back.’ Suspect device: the all-metal hip replacement that caused untold hardship
Irene Edwards: “We don’t talk politics in the shop.” Photograph: Enda O’Dowd Holyhead on Brexit: ‘When will people wake the f**k up?’
Ireland celebrate as Jacob Stockdale scores the game’s only try. Photograph: Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters Gordon D’Arcy: Ireland are serious contenders for World Cup
Yan’an, in the Shanbei region of China’s Shaanxi province: “the dusty birthplace of an epochal story of social change, where an agrarian, inward-looking country evolved into the world’s second-biggest economy”. Photograph: Getty Images China rising: The country is set to take its place as a superpower
President Michael D Higgins at the beginning of the presidential inauguration ceremony at Dublin Castle on Sunday. Photograph: Maxwells Miriam Lord: Michael D reinstalled with due warmth and ceremony
Rusangano Family: Straight into the mainstream. Photograph: Eric Luke/The Irish Times Una Mullally: It took a nation of immigrants to bring Irish hip hop to life
(Original Caption) 'Germany: World War I Armistice: Officers celebrate at captured German canteen.' In reality, the industrial nature of the slaughter destroyed all the notions of individual heroism and chivalry. Fintan O’Toole: The first World War is still being fought
Northern Ireland goalkeeper Tommy Wright is beaten by Alan McLoughlin’s shot during the World Cup qualifier at Windsor Park on Wednesday, November 17th 1993. Photograph: Joe St Leger ‘There was poison in the air’: 25 years on from that night in Windsor Park
Aidan Harris Lgiehon in Dublin in August 2017. Photograph: Tom Honan. Aidan Harris Igiehon - the Dubliner on the cusp of making it to the NBA
Mayor for Dublin No more buck-passing or dithering – Dublin needs a new boss
March of time: winter and summer clock changing may soon be a thing of the past. The clocks have gone back, but is it for the last time?
Rough journey?: Irish Rail had 407 complaints of anti-social behaviour last year, 117 reported incidents of intimidation and 70 vandalism complaints. Photograph: Eric Luke ‘I thought I was going to die that night’: Violence on Irish Rail
Guards at the Poland-Ukraine Border On the Poland-Ukraine frontier, ‘frictionless border’ is a joke
Vanessa Manunga photographed by Cyril Byrne I was smuggled into Ireland: Vanessa’s journey from Congo to Dublin
Lone Star state: Beto O’Rourke at a rally in Texas this week. Photograph: Loren Elliott/Getty The anti-Trump: Could this Obama-style Texan turn the tide?
Haulier Stephen Heasley at Manfreight in Portadown, Co Armagh. Photograph: Liam McBurney for The Irish Times Brexit, the truck driver and 20 tonnes of frozen chicken
Protesters in Sofia. With incomes as little as a tenth of the EU top earners, Bulgaria is the poorest member state, followed by Romania, Croatia, Poland and Hungary. File photograph: Stoyan Nenov Rich Land, Poor Land: The EU’s wealthiest and neediest members
Student rape: most research suggests that rape and sexual assault involving students – especially first-years – are a feature across third-level campuses. Illustration: Getty Images Students and sexual assault: ‘We had sex. Well, he had sex’
. Some oppose the plan because they stand to lose direct routes. File photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times The bus battle: ‘Moving routes won’t solve Dublin’s problem’
Always getting better? Michael O’Leary decided to re-engineer Ryanair by improving its customer service. Illustration: Paul Ryder Inside Ryanair: Michael O’Leary’s making of a ‘nicer’ airline
Irish prisons: warring gangs use threats and acts of violence against other inmates, their family members and staff. Illustration: Dearbhla Kelly Ireland’s prison gangs: ‘You hear a scream and suddenly a fella’s pumping blood’
Orla Tinsley: even at one moment of clear distress, when death is too near to laugh at, she imparts a motivational message to the camera Orla Tinsley: A beacon of best-life positivity through every setback
Dominic Ryan of Leicester Tigers tackles George North of Northampton Saints during the fateful Aviva Premiership match at Franklin’s Gardens on September 9th, 2017. Photograph: David Rogers/Getty Images Dominic Ryan: The terrifying concussions which have forced my retirement
Leslie Buckley: The inspectors will examine suspicions that he and Denis O’Brien may have discussed “inside information” about INM. Photograph: Dara Mac Donaill Stakes are high for INM as it prepares to allow inspectors across its threshold
Dublin’s Philly McMahon lifts the Sam Maguire in front of Hill 16. “Why would we not want to win an All-Ireland? Why would we not want to win six or seven?” Tyrone. Photograph: Tommy Dickson/Inpho Dublin still out there on their own – splendid and fearsome
Ciarán Byrne and his wife, Martha Kearns,with their two children, Ciara and Leo, in Hazelwood, Sligo. Photograph: James Connolly Goodbye to Dublin: ‘I had preconceptions about people in the west before I moved here’
The buzz is back on Grafton Street. Photograph: Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images Emigration in reverse: ‘Now the brains are coming back’
Pope Francis: Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano claimed the pope had covered up abuse cases involving a former Archbishop of Washington and now former cardinal Theodore McCarrick. Photograph: Andrew Medichini/AP The civil war in the Catholic Church breaks into the open
A single person earning €100,000 a year in Ireland pays almost €12,000 more in tax every year than a married person. Photograph: iStock Singletons in Ireland pay high price for their marital status
Caitríona Lucas, a 41-year-old librarian and mother-of-two, was a highly experienced volunteer with the Irish Coast Guard’s Doolin unit. ‘Caitríona Lucas could still be alive, if we had known what we should have known’
Declan O’Callaghan photographed in Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons A Ballaghaderreen solicitor’s spectacular fall from grace
US president Donald Trump: his claim that immigrants “infest” the US is test-marketing of whether his fans are ready for the next step-up in language towards “vermin”. Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo Fintan O’Toole: Trial runs for fascism are in full flow
Pope Francis. File photograph: Tony Gentile/Reuters Dear Pope Francis: ‘A year after John Paul II came, I was raped by a priest’
Former first minister Peter Robinson at the MacGill Summer School in Glenties. Photograph: North West Newspix United Ireland? ‘The south of Ireland doesn’t want us and can’t afford us’
The challenges of the teenage years are as normal a stage of child development as the sleepless nights, endless bodily fluids, food-spattered walls and temper tantrums of the first two years. Photograph: iStock Parenting the teenage brain: a user’s guide
Related indicates that not receiving enough likes or comments on a selfie post can result in individuals feeling badly and/or experiencing low self-esteem. Generation Selfie exposes itself to image problems
Asset classes: Residential property, deposit income, commercial investments and shares have over the years exceeded and fallen short of expectations. Which is the best investment – your house or shares?
Sean Spicer in the Trump Hotel in Washington: set to embark on a month-long tour to promote his new book. Photograph: Mitchell Long Sean Spicer: ‘I became the story too often’
Ilac Centre Library. Photograph: Tom Honan/The Irish Times A day in the library: ‘This is a safe space for people’
Almost a decade after the banking crisis, the trust of bank customers has been shaken again by the tracker-mortgage scandal. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien Ireland’s bankers have learnt little from the crash
Mesut Özil meeting the president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Londaon last may. Photograph: AFP Skayhan Ozer/AFP/Getty Images Mesut Özil: Is it because I’m a Muslim?
US president Donald Trump and Russia’s president Vladimir Putin attend a joint press conference after a meeting in Helsinki, on Monday. Photgraph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images Fintan O'Toole: Trump does and says pretty much what Putin wants him to do
Kylian Mbappe celebrates with the World Cup after France’s 4-2 final victory over Croatia. Photograph: Matthias Hangst/Getty World Cup 2018: The Irish Times writers’ review
US president Donald Trump. “Trump’s trade war – and his other antics – run many more risks than a mere dent to global economic growth.” Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Trump and global leaders show deep ignorance of history
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry leave St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle after their wedding. File photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire Meghan Markle is far from a feminist icon
The Irish language derives from a world in which the unseen is as real as the seen. Photograph: Istock A magical vision is hidden in the Irish language – we need to rediscover it
“Sitting in the car as the sun seared over the Papal Cross, I realised I had finally learned how to swim, all on my own. I was finally at peace with myself.” Photograph: iStock ‘For the first time in my 20s, I feel at peace. And not in a rest-in-peace way’
Rosey Blair, sitting right behind her targets, detailed every turn of the developing relationship on Instagram and Twitter. Hell is other people and other people can’t keep to themselves
The Battle of Aughrim by John Mulvany. Photograph : Matt Kavanagh King Billy’s other July 12th victory: Aughrim of the Slaughter
Backing the president: Bikers for Trump members at a rally in Phoenix, Arizona. Photograph: David McNew/Getty Pulse of America: 'Trump will go down in history as the greatest US president'
Dr Jane Goodall with a chimpanzee at the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre in June 2018. Photograph: Sumy Sadurni The woman who redefined man: Jane Goodall’s life of activism continues
A mural depicting Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan on a Dublin wall on November 24th, 2010. In early October Ireland had crossed the threshold from financial vulnerability to irreversible crisis. Photograph: Getty Images Avoiding the ‘doom loop’: Why Ireland needed the IMF in 2009
A water tanker near Vartry Reservoir in Co Wicklow. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire Panicked response to water crisis won’t fix Dublin’s leaky network
Mayo’s Keith Higgins, Conor Loftus and Diarmuid O’Connor react as referee David Gough awards Kildare a late free at Newbridge. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Jim McGuinness: Mayo are the greatest team never to win an All-Ireland
The Irish housing market has had a uniquely volatile nature over the past 20 years Why are Irish house prices so volatile - and will the rollercoaster ever end?
Roscommon: 14 Acres Hill, Ballinameen, Roscommon Town. Sold: €71,000; Salary needed to buy: €18,321 What salary will buy a typical house around Ireland?
Former FBI director James Comey backstage before a panel discussion about his book “A Higher Loyalty” earlier this week in Berlin. Photographs: Carsten Koall/Getty Images James Comey: ‘We weren’t trying to hurt Hillary. Or help her’
sdlfkji From Syria to Wicklow: A desperate family, an Irish welcome
Mothers and babies wait at a Concern Worldwide outpatient centre for malnutrition screening. Photograph: Kathleen Harris Rohingya crisis: ‘We have no one, no idea what is going to happen tomorrow’
Tax haven: Yanis Varoufakis says Ireland is a freerider piggybacking on the rest of the world. Photograph: Matteo Bazzi/AFP/Getty Fintan O’Toole: Ireland is becoming the tax haven of choice for profit-shifting multinationals
Republic of Ireland fans at the European Championships in 1988. Photograph: Billy Stickland/Inpho Euro 88: When everything seemed possible
As a woman, you do not have to go to great lengths to be called difficult: stick rigidly to an opinion, foster great ambition, question the status quo and there you have it Are we all difficult women now?
Bray Boxing Club murder: gardaí at Pete Taylor’s sports club, where Bobby Messett was shot. Photograph: Colin Keegan/Collins Bray Boxing Club murder: When ‘the wrong person’ is shot
The 100 best restaurants, cafes and places to eat in Ireland
A former resident outside the laundry at Sean McDermott Street, where there are posies and a bouquet left at the door in memory of women who spent their lives inside. Photograph: Cyril Byrne / The Irish Times The last of the Magdalenes: 'The nuns took my childhood'
The vigil for Cameron Reilly at St Brigid’s church, Dunleer, Co Louth. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Fintan O’Toole: Catholic Ireland is now a religious rust belt of half-empty churches
A single rose is held aloft at Dublin Castle as the crowd gathered to celebrate the Yes vote. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw Miriam Lord: It took 35 years to build this stunning result
Jastine Valdez: gardaí have yet to establish if Mark Hennessy first encountered his 24-year-old victim in the Bray restaurant where she worked part-time The last hours of Jastine Valdez and her killer Mark Hennessy
In the early hours of Sunday morning, people stopped and hugged, lit candles or left notes at the mural depicting Savita Halappanavar at Portobello. Photograph: Bryan O’Brien How the death of Savita Halappanavar revolutionised Ireland
Covers from Banshee, The Moth and Poetry Ireland Review Ireland's thriving literary magazine scene: space for tradition and experimentation
Jonathan Dowling, youth worker at Belvedere Youth Club. By the age of 10, he says, he was robbing shops and by 14 he was helping older boys to steal cars. Photograph Nick Bradshaw I was one of those lads, robbing shops, stealing cars
Ruqayeh al-Araj was five years old in 1948, when the war came to Walaja. She hopes one day she will be able to return to her old village Homeless since 1948: 70 years since the creation of Israel
Kathy Foulds at the spot where her friend Petra Riedel was killed in a crash in Cork in April 2012. Photograph: Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision The cycling fatalities: ‘Never cycle in Ireland’
Ann Lovett’s boyfriend: Ricky McDonnell. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons I was Ann Lovett’s boyfriend
The grotto where 15-year-old Ann Lovett died after giving birth to her stillborn baby. Photograph: Brenda Fitzsimons Ann Lovett: Death of a ‘strong, kick-ass girl’
Students arm in arm during civil unrest in Paris on May 30th, 1968. Photograph: Getty Images May 1968 and the death of a French revolution
Adrian Crevan Mackin: The making of a garda killer