While emergency aid is vital, Irish companies must think strategically about their engagement with Africa if we are to solve the food crisis in the long term, argues Gorta’s Brian Hanratty

Rising food prices have pushed more than 70 million people into extreme poverty worldwide, according to the charity Gorta.

AT a time when charities find themselves under severe pressure because pockets are empty due the economic downturn, it is disgraceful to learn that charity shops are being targeted by unscrupulous robbers.

THERE was a time when Gary Maguire had to sustain himself on back-slaps and handshakes.

LIKE Steve Staunton at the start of an ill-fated stint in charge of the Boys in Green, Mary Coughlan can — for the foreseeable future — tell teachers, their unions and their schools: “I’m the gaffer…”

AN Irish charity building houses in Haiti has said it has exceeded its targets in the impoverished country despite the destruction wrought by the hurricane last winter.

THIS week we saw, depending on how the dice falls for you, how different life in Ireland can be.

Army tanks will be parked alongside tractors and livestock at the Ploughing Championships later this month.

One of the country’s best known historical writers is among group of experts who will decide how to honour the million people who died in the Great Famine.

The charity Gorta has today called on anyone who gets unwanted Christmas gifts this year to donate them to one of its 10 charity shops across the country.

IRELAND’S commitment to helping to reduce hunger in developing countries will be reiterated today.

Aid agency Gorta is calling on the Government to abolish the minimum threshold on tax relief for charitable donations.

THE State has been told by the European Commission it must give tax relief to donations and gifts made to non-Irish charities.

SETTING up a chocolate company to give away part of its revenue to the Third World isn't the average business plan but Chocaid in Kinsale is determined to make it a success.