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Sister Teresa McKeon received her award from Irish Ambassador Aidan Fitzpatrick at a ceremony in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Irish nun honoured for 70 years of work in Sierra Leone

An Irish nun who has worked in Sierra Leone for 70 years has received a Presidential Distinguished Service Award for her work in education and the development of women.

Ireland • 13 Feb

The 'Cotton Tree' was the most important landmark in Sierra Leone

Storm fells Sierra Leone's historic tree

A giant tree that towered over Sierra Leone's capital for centuries and symbolised freedom to its early residents crashed down overnight during a heavy rainstorm.

World • 25 May 23

The diamond is between the 10th and 15th ever found in the world

Sale of €5.5m 'peace diamond' to aid Sierra Leone

A huge so-called "peace diamond" sold by the government of Sierra Leone to discourage crime-tainted "blood diamonds" has fetched €5.5m at auction.

News Lens • 05 Dec 17

Members of the burial team gather to collect bodies

600 still missing after Sierra Leone floods

Concern in Sierra Leone has shifted to the estimated 600 people still missing and thousands made homeless by deadly floods in the capital.

World • 16 Aug 17

Hundreds confirmed dead after mudslide in Sierra Leone

Rescue workers have uncovered nearly 400 bodies so far from a mudslide on the outskirts of Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, its chief coroner Seneh Dumbuya told Reuters this evening.

World • 15 Aug 17

The death toll is expected to rise as more bodies are recovered

Hundreds dead in mudslide in Sierra Leone

Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed when a mudslide struck the outskirts of Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, Vice President Victor Foh said this afternoon.

World • 14 Aug 17

Sierra Leone was declared Ebola free on 7 November 2015

Sierra Leone reports Ebola death

A woman who died of Ebola this week in Sierra Leone potentially exposed at least 27 other people to the disease, according to an aid agency report.

News • 15 Jan 16

A healthworker takes the temperature of a child and her mother in Sierra Leone

Ebola warning 'like shouting into a desert' - MSF

A leading charity has said early calls for help in tackling the spread of Ebola were ignored by local governments and the World Health Organisation.

News • 23 Mar 15

A health worker prepares to remove a corpse from a house in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Ebola-hit countries seek economic help

The three west African states hardest hit by the Ebola outbreak have asked for help from donors to repair the damage to their economies now that the epidemic seems to be waning.

News • 03 Mar 15

Red Cross workers in protective suits in Monrovia

Five Ebola cases left in Liberia - minister

Liberia, once the centre of west Africa's deadly Ebola epidemic, has just five remaining confirmed cases of the disease, a senior health official said.

News • 23 Jan 15

Pauline Cafferkey has been treated with blood plasma from an Ebola survivor containing virus-fighting antibodie

Nurse's condition may stay critical for some time

Pauline Cafferkey, the British nurse who contracted Ebola in west Africa, remains in a critical condition inside a hospital isolation unit and her health may not improve for "some time", her family have said.

News • 09 Jan 15

Ebola has killed more than 2,700 people in Sierra Leone to date

Govt to fund burials in Ebola-hit Sierra Leone

The Government is to provide an additional €778,000 to fund ambulance and burial teams in Sierra Leone to fight the Ebola outbreak.

News • 02 Jan 15

The virus was first detected in the south eastern forest region of Guinea early this year

Ebola death toll reaches over 6,000 in worst areas

The death toll from the Ebola outbreak in the three worst-hit countries in west Africa has reached 6,583 according to the World Health Organisation.

News • 12 Dec 14

Health workers check each other's protective clothing at a treatment centre in Guinea

Ebola spreading quickly in Sierra Leone

Ebola is still spreading quickly in western Sierra Leone and deep in the forested interior of Guinea and more foreign health workers are needed to help tackle the epidemic, a senior UN official said.

News • 09 Dec 14

Bruce Aylward praised Sierra Leone government's efforts to combat the Ebola epidemic

WHO: Sierra Leone Ebola prognosis 'very good'

The World Health Organization has said Sierra Leone does not yet have enough beds in treatment centres to isolate Ebola patients in the west of the country.

News • 01 Dec 14

A US Marine arrives to take part in Operation United Assistance in Monrovia, Liberia

Intensity of Ebola spread 'unseen since AIDS'

The spread of Ebola in West Africa is something unseen since the outbreak of AIDS, according to the Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

News • 09 Oct 14

World Bank warns that if efforts to halt the spread of Ebola fails, West Africa faces a threat of economic catastrophe

Ebola cost to Africa economy could top $32 billion

The deadly Ebola epidemic could deal a $32 billion-plus blow to the West African economy over the next year if officials cannot get it under control, the World Bank warned today.

Business • 08 Oct 14

A child cries outside a clinic in the Sierra Leone capital after the deaths of her parents from Ebola

80 people had contact with US Ebola patient

Texas health officials said as many as 80 people were in contact with the Dallas Ebola patient at some point, NBC News reported.

News • 03 Oct 14

Cuba is sending 165 doctors and nurses to Sierra Leone to help fight the Ebola outbreak

Ebola death toll passes 2,400

The death toll from west Africa's Ebola outbreak has risen to more than 2,400 from at least 4,784 cases.

News • 12 Sep 14

The World Health Organisation says the outbreaks are racing ahead of control efforts in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia

Ebola death toll at more than 1,900 - WHO

The number of deaths from the ebola virus in west Africa has surpassed 1,900, more than all previous outbreaks combined, according the World Health Organisation.

News • 04 Sep 14

A security agent controls the temperature of a woman at the entrance of the port of Monrovia, Liberia

Obama says Ebola could be beaten after MSF warning

US President Barack Obama has told west Africans that Ebola could be beaten, but cautioned that it would not be easy to stem the spread of the deadly disease.

News • 02 Sep 14

More than 700 people have died in West Africa in the latest outbreak of Ebola

WHO chief says Ebola out of control

The head of the World Health Organisation has said the Ebola outbreak in West Africa is moving faster than efforts to control it.

News • 01 Aug 14

The number of deaths attributed to an epidemic of Ebola virus in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone is at 467

African leaders to discuss Ebola outbreak

Health ministers from 11 west African nations and experts in disease control are meeting in Ghana's capital to plan "drastic action" to fight the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history.

News • 02 Jul 14

Charles Taylor sits in court during his trial

Liberian warlord Taylor given 50-year sentence

Former Liberian president Charles Taylor has been sentenced to 50 years by a special UN court in The Hague.

News • 30 May 12

Charles Taylor is the first African head of state to be found guilty by an international tribunal

Charles Taylor found guilty of war crimes

A UN-backed Sierra Leone court has convicted former Liberian president Charles Taylor of war crimes.

News • 26 Apr 12

Sierra Leone