Bartering is back as Irish go swapping

Websites for bartering over goods and services are booming as thrifty internet users try to save money

The Troubles return with a dangerous whimper

Northern Ireland’s dissidents may have been foiled in their recent attacks but they can still scent a victory of sorts

Abuser priests packed off to foreign parishes

Senior clergymen sent problem clerics abroad with no warning about their perverted behaviour

Church with a rotten core

Murphy has revealed horrific failings of the church and state and exposed the depths of their unhealthy bond

Final word: Read my lips - don’t shave your moustaches

Why limit the undoubted pleasure of wearing a crumb-catcher to just one month every year?

Parties were outspent by ‘underdogs’

Many independent candidates had larger election funds behind them than the main political parties

Parks boost house values by up to 14%

Having trees close to your home has financial benefits

Law Society urges solicitors not to be bullied by insurers

Legal practices are being denied professional indemnity cover following a jump in claims against them

Maternity leave can hit careers

Time off may hurt mothers professionally

Archbishops colluded to cover up sex attacks

Irish government report found conspiracy to hide abuse spanning decades with priests treated as above the law by police

Clerical power has been ‘market driven’

In traditional Catholic Ireland, the priests were not only respected and accorded power, they were regarded as family

Case study: The altar boy

‘Look the other way and you’re just as guilty,’ says Andrew Madden, who as a 12-year-old boy was abused by a Dublin priest

ANALYSIS: it defies belief, but they did it

In the Irish Church obedience was not to God or the law, but to the overarching policy of: 'Don’t ask, don’t tell'

'They owned you and they made sure you knew it'

John Kelly was just 13 years old when he was committed in 1963 to Daingean Reformatory School in County Offaly

Irish order pays £146m to victims of abuse

A body which has played a leading role in national education has agreed to transfer cash and property after decades of abuse

Nationwide strikes bring Ireland to standstill

250,000 public sector workers are on strike to protest government plans to cut their pay in next month's budget

Siobhan Fahey returns from the dark side of pop

From Bananarama and Shakespears Sister to break-ups and breakdowns, Siobhan Fahey is back from the dark side of pop

Paul Anthony McDermott: France should feel the long arm of the law

Wednesday night was the biggest daylight robbery ever to have occurred in Paris, albeit one that took place under floodlights

Think Tank: Smash Windows to get free

Linux shows we don’t have to use Microsoft