Student loans ‘off the table’, choosing a business course, academic salaries

The introduction of a State student loans scheme is "off the table" for the lifetime of the current Government. The Union of Students in Ireland said it "cautiously" welcomes a statement from the Minister of State for Higher Education, Mary Mitchell O'Connor, that the issue of student loans is "off the table" while the current Government is in office. Áine McMahon reports.

If you're thinking of taking a business course, you need to look beyond what college you want to go and think carefully about a number of different factors. We asked two experts for advice on what students need to ask themselves before they make that decision. Peter McGuire has more.

The ongoing pensions strike in the UK has brought renewed attention to an issue which, every few years, stirs unnecessary discord: public sector pay. It is a particularly fraught topic in Ireland, with the consensus being that educators are overpaid and underworked: "Sure look at the holidays they get," being the common expression, writes James O'Sullivan.

A fact insufficiently reflected upon is that the first published piece signed by 'Flann O'Brien' was not in 1939, on the cover of the novel At Swim-Two-Birds. It was in 1938, and it was a letter. Maebh Long on the writer Flann O'Brien's riotous letters to the press.

As crazy as it seems, though in this world, that is a high bar, the mercurial president accused of racist comments and the bombastic rapper accused of supporting him have long seemed to enjoy each other's company. Read how US president Donald Trump and rapper Kanye West joined forces this week.

Irish Times writers on six of the best films to see at the cinema this weekend. Films include Superhero chaos in Avengers, the jolting thiller Beast, and a James Whale classic.

I've filled out a lot of forms since moving back to Ireland last summer. One of the easier ones was the RFA 2, the one I need to get my name on the Register of Electors, to get back my vote after all these years abroad, writes Emma Prunty, who hasn't voted in Ireland in 23 years.