Louis Lovett returns to his native Cork with the classic operatic take on the story of Hansel and Gretel, writes Marjorie Brennan.

Raymond Deane’s operatic version of the Florence Newton witch trial was great drama with a vivid score.

Marriage proposals from men seeking good wives; butter, milk and potatoes as part payment of wages - such are the anecdotes that populate the pages of a new social history documenting the colourful history of the country's first nurses' trade union.

Cork soprano Emma Nash returns to her hometown with a production of Orfeo ed Euridice featuring a new dance element, writes Cathy Desmond.

Our regular contributors select their highlights of the year

Mary Harney’s legacy of her years as an effective politician and minister will forever be tarnished by her years as the Minister of Health and the driver of the HSE.

When the investigation into the death of Hannah Comber at a north Cork hospital got under way seven years ago, the HSE promised to publish its findings “in the interests of her family, public confidence in their services, as well as openness and transparency”.

Key officials will not be held to account over an unmonitored Siptu fund, writes Conor Ryan

When the very brief discussions — 30 minutes — between Government and unions around a renewed Croke Park deal ended yesterday union leaders expressed dismay and suggested that what they termed as “radical” proposals from Government would not be accepted by their members.

Students from all over Europe are in Cork this week to scour the heavens for doomsday asteroids as part of an EU youth astronomy event.

Almost the entire staff of one of Cork’s main hospitals has been offered the chance to take unpaid leave next month because of its growing financial crisis.

Would the INO not be better off applying increasingly scarce resources to doing the job that its members are paid to do — nursing the sick?

I WONDERED how soon it would be before Fergus Finlay (Opinion, Sept 13) would be rushing to the defence of his slightly beleaguered leader Eamon Gilmore, seeing as no other journalist has seen fit to do so.

A RADICAL overhaul of hospital services in Cork and Kerry which will reduce the number of round-the-clock emergency departments (EDs) to one per county is expected to be completed in just over three years.

A FEW days in New York leaves you wondering – what recession? No point in chipping up to one of the hot restaurants without a reservation.

THE INO deputy general secretary, David Hughes (Letters, December 14) falsely accuses both the government and the media of “undermining and demonising” the public sector.

IRELAND’S five largest private hospital chains are set to be targeted by widescale strikes if staff are forced to accept “illegal” pay cuts of between 4%-10%.

NURSES at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital, who are staging a lunchtime stoppage tomorrow due to emergency department overcrowding&, said cases have spiralled to 1,156 over the past six months, compared to 831 for the same period last year.

NURSES at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital plan a work stoppage at lunchtime this Friday over the manner in which the HSE is dealing with overcrowding at the &emergency department.

INDUSTRIAL action by nurses is looming at the Mid-Western Regional Hospital over the way the HSE is tackling overcrowding.

PATIENT safety is compromised when too many patients are kept on trolleys in emergency departments according to a consultant in emergency medicine at the Midwest Regional Hospital in Limerick.

ANY negotiations leading to do-or-die decisions will be characterised by leak and counter leak, by kite flying and brinkmanship of the most imaginative and undermining kind. Some represent realistic proposals, others are toe-in-the-water long shots to distract or provoke.

CONTINGENCY plans by the Health Service Executive to deal with yesterday’s industrial action by the public sector trade unions worked well, the health authority claimed last night.

GARDAÍ are expected not to issue penalty points and fixed charge notices to motorists next Tuesday as part of the public service day of industrial action.

Members of the IMPACT trade union have decided not to strike at Mercy Hospital in Cork on Tuesday because of flooding at the hospital.

Nurses were tonight the latest group of angry public sector workers to vote for industrial action over threatened Government cuts.

THOUSANDS of people will have to wait until next summer before receiving the swine flu vaccine because of delays in accessing the seven million doses ordered by the Government.

The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) says industrial action protesting government cutbacks will not interfere with the rollout of the swine flu vaccination programme.

THE cabinet is working a double shift. Along with their regular weekly Tuesday meetings they sit every Thursday to deliberate on the budget. Their target is to obtain a €4bn reduction in public expenditure.

The stand-off between Government and unions over pay cuts worsened today as more than 100,000 frontline public sector workers revealed plans to vote on industrial action.

THE Irish Nurses Organisation said the €70,000 bonus awarded to the chief executive of the HSE typifies the “blatant double standards” which are now the norm in society.

Minister for Health Mary Harney today expressed her support for the board of the Health Service Executive after a lucrative €70,000 bonus was approved for HSE chief Professor Brendan Drumm.

More than 300 people were waiting on trolleys in A&E units around the country this morning, according to figures from the Irish Nurses Organisation.

THE number of hospital beds lost due to closures and delayed discharges is the equivalent of three large hospitals, according to figures from the Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) and the Health Service Executive (HSE).

TRADE unions and associations representing more than 100,000 public servants have reacted angrily to an alleged attempt to gag the military and prevent it from joining with an alliance fighting pay cuts proposed by the McCarthy report.

THOUSANDS of community workers took to the streets of Dublin in protest at proposed cuts they say will undermine essential community services.

Almost 9,000 operations were cancelled in Irish hospitals in the first half of this year, according to figures obtained by Fine Gael.

Campaigners for the Lisbon Treaty today launched a new website which they claim detects lies about the charter.

THE Government has indemnified the manufacturers of the swine flu vaccine from any liability for side effects as it emerged that babies under the age of six months will not be given the jab.

NURSES have been warned they have a professional responsibility to their patients to avail of the swine flu jab as soon as the vaccine becomes available.

There are at least 171 patients sleeping on hospital trolleys in Irish hospitals today, according to the latest count from the Irish Nurses Organisation.

The Irish Nurses' Organisation (INO) today claimed a 405% increase in the number of patients on trolleys at Naas General Hospital in July compared to the same period last year.

The Irish Nurses Organisation is warning that government cutbacks could lead to a severe reduction in services at Letterkenny General Hospital in Co Donegal.

The HSE has agreed to defer 21 job cuts in the Midland Regional Hospitals following discussions with the Irish Nurses' Organisation.

THE Irish Nurses’ Organisation (INO) yesterday pointed out that the number of people on trolleys around the country in June was almost 30% higher than in the same month last year.

UP to 1,000 new permanent jobs will be created this year in the latest reconfiguration of services by the Health Service Executive.

NURSES at Sligo General Hospital have put off this week’s planned strike in a row over staffing levels.

The Irish Nurses Organisation (INO) is planning to stage another strike at Sligo General Hospital next week over staffing levels.

NURSES at Sligo General Hospital held a day-long strike yesterday over job cutbacks and the non-renewal of temporary contracts for 19 nurses.

Nurses will today stage an all-out strike at Sligo General Hospital as a dispute over staffing levels escalates.