The 1979 song was inspired by a trip the singer made to Belfast during the Troubles

The singer’s new limited edition book of artwork, lyrics and school essays will start at about €1,150

Thirty-three years on, it’s perhaps the greatest Christmas song ever. Here’s how it was made

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If a bomb went off at the National Concert Hall gig that would have been it for the Irish music scene

Tickets for the January National Concert Hall gig, which features a stellar line-up, go on sale this Friday

‘It’s one of our most basic instincts; to listen to a song, listen to a poem – even in this era when people have their noses stuck in their tablets, it still works’, says the poet Paul Muldoon

John Murry: A Short History of Decay, TV Records, 4 stars

As part of today’s celebrations, Lewis Kenny will be writing personalised verse at Poetry Ireland’s HQ

A new book asks music critics and fans that very question, and as you'd expect, the answers vary widely

Can just anyone write a Christmas hit and essentially ‘win the lottery’ by coining it on royalties every December? Patrick Freyne and Anna Carey certainly hope so. Here's the story of their entry in the Christmas FM song contest

Some well-known people tell Conor Pope about their best and worst gifts ever