You could use the Google Reader app and subscribe to multiple feeds (news or not) - BBC, RTE, Sky News, Irish Independent, the Herald etc etc...
The feeds can be setup in 'folders' and you can pick a folder - e.g. "News" to be the default folder for the Reader widget on your home screen - the widget will then display a number indicating unread stories so you can see without opening it if there's anything new.
The Journal has an app for android in Google Play, in terms of breaking news and some details (at least what you would be reading on a mobile device) i find them perfectly fine.
The Irish Times app is not bad, although the cross-section of new items presented isn't customisable (I've no interest in sports news, for example, but can't remove that feed).
I use Flipboard with google reader and it nicely brings news from Google Reader, twitter and facebook together - making news stories out of twitter/facebook links posted.
Subscriptions include RTE, the Journal, ClareFM, (& a load of tech feeds) etc