October

The year she was born Ireland was part of the United Kingdom and King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visited the country.

High-level diplomatic eff-orts are under way in a renewed attempt to locate the remains of murdered Irish aid worker Margaret Hassan and bring her killers to justice.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said the country needs to know there is progress in recovering from the financial crisis as Ireland prepares to host the EU presidency.

A Cork local authority is to become the first in the country to provide industrial-sized kitchens to help fledgling artisan food producers cook up more business.

As private health insurers ring in the new year with a series of premium hikes, customers can expect further hardship in 2013 under government plans to charge insurers for private patients who use public hospital beds.

Waterford wakes up to 2013 without one of its greatest sporting heroes.

Detectives have made a “significant arrest” in connection with the fatal shooting of a man in Dublin’s north inner city last Friday.

A woman died early yesterday following injuries she received in a car crash in Co Cork.

A lot of reflection is needed by the media and politicians following the tragic and sudden death of minister of state at the Department of Agriculture, Shane McEntee, the Tánaiste has said.

Ireland will use its presid-ency of the EU to fight the scourge of youth unemployment as it seeks to exit the bailout programme, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore pledged.

The year-long salute to all things Irish got under way last evening with a torchlight procession through the streets of Dublin as the Gathering officially kicked-off with a New Year’s Eve festival.

The teenage son of restaurateurs Sallyanne and Derry Clarke has died following a tragic accident at home.

A file is being prepared for the DPP after an off-duty female garda had a cattle needle stuck into her buttock by a man in a busy pub last weekend.

Hotels and restaurants are getting to grips with the recession with a 16% year-on- year drop in business failures in the hospitality sector, according to data compiled by insolvency accountants kavanaghfennell.

A kid for Kimye: Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are expecting their first child.

Five Chinese activists defied security and made a brief visit to dissident Liu Xiaobo’s wife Liu Xia, who has been under house arrest since her husband was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize two years ago.

New Kerry captain Eoin Brosnan expects manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice and coach Cian O’Neill will conduct a lot of personal sessions with players this coming season.

Everton manager David Moyes rewarded defender Seamus Coleman with a new five and half year deal and then expressed his hope there were more bargains like him to be found in the lower leagues.

There was mixed injury news in defence for GiovanniTrapattoni yesterday as it was confirmed that long-termabsentee Sean St Ledger will not now need surgery to a troublesome hamstring problem, but a strain in the same area looks likely to keep John O’Shea out of Ireland’s February friendly with Poland.

Referee chief Pat McEnaney hasdismissed criticism of the Football Review Committee’s proposal toreintroduce the yellow card rule.

Ryan Giggs is refusing to get carried away by Manchester United’s seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League.

Manager Arsene Wenger hopes 2013 will be the year that Arsenal confirm all the promise the Frenchman believes his team have.

Martin Jol has admitted he can do little to shake up a Fulham squad in freefall ahead of today’s trip to West Brom.

Frank Lampard believes Chelsea still have every chance of winning the Barclays Premier League this season.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers expects to be back in the dugout to face Sunderland at Anfield tomorrow after being struck down by illness.

Former Chelsea assistant manager Ray Wilkins has branded the club “wrong” not to offer Lampard a new contract.

The turn of the year is a time to look forward, but for some people it’s also a time of regret.

With the transfer window opening today Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has hit out at the network of people surrounding Demba Ba, with his future on Tyneside becoming the subject of frenzied speculation.

Connections of Sir Des Champs retain hope he will be a major player in this season’s Cheltenham Gold Cup following his staying-on fourth in the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown last week.

Andre Villas-Boas has told his Tottenham players it would be “silly” for them to let their standards slip at home again when they host Reading today.

Norwich manager Chris Hughton feels his team have shown enough character during their three-match losing streak to remain positive for the challenges ahead in 2013.

Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert will continue to put the accent mainly on youth as he challenged his players to bounce back from the “hurt” of three successive heavy defeats at Swansea today (tues) .

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has claimed he was “very close” to signing Robin van Persie last summer.

Manchester City have decided not to appeal against Samir Nasri’s controversial sending-off at Norwich at the weekend.

Put it down to guilty conscience.

IT’S hard to know which is the more rash, to make predictions or resolutions at this time of year, but invariably we all end up indulging in some crystal-ball gazing about the 12 months ahead. Just what has 2013 in store?

Connacht centre Eoin Griffin believes his young side have to put more wins on the board to match their ambition.

Munster will be looking to put Cardiff Blues under 80 minutes of pressure as they tune up for must-win Heineken Cup battles later this month with a RaboDirect Pro12 clash on Saturday at Musgrave Park, Cork.

Leinster coach Joe Schmidt has insisted his players are focusing only on Friday’s league trip to Edinburgh, rather than the do-or-die European matches beyond.

The GAA’s higher education committee chairman, Ray O’Brien, claims Queens University were wrong to pull out of this month’s McKenna Cup.

You go up the stairs to the bar in the Mount Sion clubhouse, turn at the landing, and you face a large photograph by the doors at the top.

The locally trained Starkie, in the care of Henry de Bromhead, won the Waterford and Tramore Racecourse Novice Hurdle at the seaside track yesterday.

Crowned champion-jockey for the first time last April, Davy Russell ended 2012 on a high when completing a double for Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown House Stud at Punchestown yesterday, highlighted by Bog Warrior’s emphatic defeat of long-absent Solwhit in the Follow Punchestown On Facebook Hurdle.

Giving infants antibiotics that also kill many evolving healthy gut bacteria could be putting them at risk of developing asthma, obesity and allergies later on, a groundbreaking Irish study suggests.

A woman who lost a staggering 17 stone has described losing the weight as being “like getting out of prison” — and she says the most important thing is: “Don’t give up”.

Health and motor insurance hikes and several budget measures including increases in taxation and funding cuts for the vulnerable come into effect from today.

Margaret Hassan’s family refuse to give up their quest to find her killers, writes Caroline O’Doherty

A portaloo, an oven, and even a boat were among some of the unusual sights which perplexed motorists met on the roads in the past year.

New court procedures have been introduced to lessen the trauma faced by victims of serious crime in trials.

A major report on illegal practices in intercountry adoption has cited the Irish case of Tressa Reeves as a documented example of illegal adoption.

Ryle Dwyer examines the highly selective way in which state archives have been withheld and released over the years

The publication of the Mahon report in March ended the era of tribunals, writes Michael Clifford

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton suffered a blood clot in a vein between her brain and skull behind her right ear but is expected to make a full recovery, her doctors said last night in a statement released by the state department.

The family of a murdered Indian gang-rape victim will not rest until her killers are hanged, her brother said.

NORMALLY at this time of year I go out and start collecting.

In his 1936 book The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money back-in-fashion economist John Maynard Keynes used the phrase “animal spirits” to describe the emotions that shape human behaviour and the feelings that can be measured in terms of consumer confidence.

Given the increased poverty on our streets and in homes it is heartening to see widespread support in Cork for an array of charities.

I was very impressed recently when I was sent by my GP to the Emergency& Department of Cork Mercy Hospital.

So yet another government is pretending to be keen on efficiency and wanting to get rid of people who are not able for their duties (teachers at this moment).

Arts festival dedicated to encouraging discussion of mental health, says Richard Fitzpatrick

Hollywood hasn’t diminished the magic of Les Miserables, says Marjorie Brennan

Mentalist of the Year Keith Barry’s new show opens in Killarney tonight. David Young plays head games with the maestro

40 years ago today, Ireland joined the EEC. Richard Fitzpatrick revisits the referendum campaigns — and de Valera’s rueful regrets

THE movers and shakers of our fledgling oil industry are small by any standards.

Cork supplies 25% of Ireland’s energy needs but uses 13%, writes Kieran Lettice

Irish onshore and offshore oil and gas reserves could be worth more than €2tn, writes John Hearne

The Government is taking up the EU presidency for the seventh time today.

A number of tough budget measures come into effect from today, including the scrapping of the PRSI free allowance for workers earning more than €18,000 a year.

US politicians have stepped back from the fiscal cliff which many feared could prompt a new economic downturn.

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has claimed he was “very close” to signing Robin van Persie last summer.

Channel 4 is facing a backlash after broadcasting a show featuring a lewd joke about the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon is hoping to have Charlie Mulgrew (rib) and Adam Matthews (ankle) back for the Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash with Motherwell at Parkhead.

Police are expected to formally charge five of six suspects with murder over the death of 23-year-old woman gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi, India.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his people must pursue economic improvement with the same urgency scientists put into the launch of a long-range rocket.

Detectives investigating the attempted murder of a police officer in Northern Ireland have made two arrests.

A father and daughter who are both waiting for a kidney transplant have made a heartfelt plea for people to give the gift of life and carry a donor card.

A post mortem is due to take place later on the body of a 19 year old man who was found dead in Co Monaghan yesterday.

Last year was the safest on the country's roads since records of road deaths first began over 50 years ago.

Iran has tested advanced anti-ship missiles in the final day of a naval drill near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.

QPR boss Harry Redknapp has said he will be without three or four players for the short trip to face Chelsea in the Barclays Premier League.

Mums and dads across the country have been welcoming the first babies of 2013.

World number two Maria Sharapova has suffered a blow to her Australian Open title hopes after having to withdraw from the Brisbane International with a collarbone injury.

Racing at Exeter goes ahead as scheduled this afternoon after a planned inspection was cancelled.

Pope Benedict XVI said he is convinced peace will prevail in 2013, despite the inequality, terrorism and “unregulated financial capitalism” that afflict the world today.

Michael van Gerwen has promised a dramatic finale in the Ladbroke World Darts Championship as he bids to win his maiden title against 15-time world champion Phil Taylor at Alexandra Palace.

Chelsea will be without captain John Terry and goalkeeper Petr Cech for tomorrow’s west London derby against QPR.

An easyJet plane made an emergency landing after an oil leak forced its pilot to shut down an engine, the airline said today.

Six female teachers and one man have been killed in an ambush by gunmen in north-west Pakistan.

A viable pipe bomb has been thrown at a house in west Belfast.

Post Christmas financial concerns have left people feeling increasingly desperate, a top suicide prevention campaigner has warned.

Clashes erupted in the northern West Bank today after Israeli soldiers disguised themselves as vegetable sellers to seize members of a militant group, Palestinians said.

At least 61 people were killed in a stampede when new year celebrations turned into a panicked stampede in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

A 30-year-old man suffered serious stab wounds after being attacked in west Belfast.

Paul O’Connell has set his sights on a return to action in early April after the lock underwent surgery in Dublin yesterday to correct a back injury.

Leinster head coach Joe Schmidt is expecting a difficult test when his side run out in Murrayfield on Friday to take on an Edinburgh team struggling to find form.

Gardaí in Ballybofey are appealing for witnesses to a fatal car crash which occurred in Co. Donegal this morning.

Heavy clashes and shelling have been reported in suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus and other parts of the country.

Three people were killed and 4,000 were displaced when fires swept through shacks in poor settlements in the Cape Town area today, South African media said.

Thousands of people have marched in Hong Kong on the first day of 2013 to call for the city’s Beijing-backed leader to step down.