Michael D. Higgins

The Irish author Edna O’Brien, famous for her groundbreaking and feminist literature, died on Saturday at the age of 93, her representative and publishing house announced today.

After spending most of a day on a whirlwind countryside tour of his ancestry, President Joe Biden is turning back to diplomacy on Thursday, with an address to the Irish parliament and meetings with the country's leaders, and Ukraine is high on the agenda.

Ljubljana – Congratulations to Slovenia are pouring in on Friday as the country is marking Statehood Day and the 30th anniversary of its independence. Congratulations to President Borut Pahor were sent today by the leaders of Italy, Austria, Croatia Germany, the Czech Republic, Russia, Japan, Belgium and Switzerland, the president’s office said.

There is often a very thin line between the real and the imagined, like an invisible border on the ground between two countries, two regions, two villages. No checkpoints, no barbed wire, no customs inspection. Just the feeling that something has subtly changed. They speak a different language here. They see things differently on this side of the mountain. Or do they?

Irish President Michael D. Higgins (l) and Cyprus' President Nicos Anastasiades shake hands before their meeting at the presidential palace, Nicosia, Monday. Higgins is in Cyprus for three-day official visit. [Petros Karadjias/AP]

As many as 21 presidents from the European Union signed, on the occasion of Europe Day, an appeal for Europe before the European Parliament elections, informs the Presidential Administration. The elections in 2019 have special importance: you, the European citizens, are the ones who decide the path that the European Union will follow.

The recent visit to Athens by Michael D. Higgins, president of Ireland, was a reminder of the great similarities and also the great differences between Greece and Ireland.

Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos (r) speaks with his Irish counterpart Michael D. Higgins during talks in Athens Thursday. Pavlopoulos underlined the need for an end to the austerity policies that are broadening social inequality within the European Union and fueling populism.

Irish President Michael D. Higgins is arriving in Athens on Wednesday on an invitation from his Greek counterpart Prokopis Pavlopoulos for an official visit that will also include a trip to a refugee camp.

Irish President Michael D Higgins has arrived to the UK on the first official state visit by an Irish head of state, Tuesday.

The four-day trip, which comes three years after the Queen visited Ireland, includes an address to Parliament and a focus on the contribution Irish emigrants have made to UK life, The Guardian reports.