"Home is not the same when it is missing so many people who made it what it is. Empty high stools at the bar at Christmas, one less person travelling to the match. A quieter house and a disrupted routine; a land missing its heart," writes Niamh Towey, in a gorgeous tribute to her emigrant friends which is proving a popular read online today.
1,000 Irish students will attend university in the Netherlands this coming academic year. What's attracting them? Kayle Crosson speaks to a few who have already studied there about low fees, fewer points, and a different approach to education which is drawing so many.
Some Irish students spending the summer in Vancouver have been accused of urinating on dancefloors and absconding from restaurants and rental properties without paying their bills, Meadhbh Monahan reports.
As the 20th anniversary of the Omagh bombing was marked this week, Yvonne Watterson recalled how a trip with her baby daughter back to Northern Ireland to surprise her mother was marred by the tragedy.
In Sweden, three weeks' summer holidays are sacred, humility is essential, and parental leave shared - there's a lot Irish workplaces could learn, writes Anne Pihl. And as Vienna is named the "most liveable city" in the world by the Economist, Irish readers living in the Austrian capital shared their views with Irish Times Abroad about the cheap transport, excellent healthcare and a vibrant cultural scene that makes it such a great place to live.
The Toyotara Céilí band, who are playing in this year's Fleadh Cheoil, are part of a growing number of young Japanese fiddlers and pipers playing Irish traditional music .Why is it so popular? JJ O'Donoghue met some musicians in Tokyo to find out.
"Emigrating often means shedding the past so we can embrace the future. But sometimes it's as much about what we hold onto as what we let go." Epic, the Irish Emigration Museum will be gathering stories from members of new Irish communities who have moved to Ireland from other countries this weekend in the Dublin Docklands. The stories will then become part of the online Europeana Migration Collection, Europe's digital library, museum, gallery and archive. For more information see epicchq.com/epic-invites-new-irish-communities-storytelling-collection-weekend
You'll find plenty more stories by and about the Irish diaspora this week on irishtimes.com/abroad.
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