Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was forced into an embarrassing climbdown after being accused of seeking to politicise the serious injuries to a homeless man in Dublin this week.

Friends of a terminally-ill mum-of-two who has passed away after meeting her music idols, Take That, are pleading with the public for financial support to help with her funeral costs.

Pat Smullen will return to the saddle on Irish Champions Weekend in September for the Pat Smullen Champions Race For Cancer Trials Ireland.

A 76-year-old mother of six died after losing 17 litres of blood during surgery for the treatment of pancreatitis, an inquest has heard.

A young cyclist has died following a collision with a truck in Dublin.

The brother of a woman killed last year took his own life weeks after her death, an inquest has heard.

The father of a 17-year-old boy who died after he fell from a bridge claims his son was bullied because he was gay.

Jimmy Woulfe canvasses with Willie O’Dea and finds knowledge of the local area is his number one asset.

A man who was found guilty but insane of the murder of his mother died after stabbing himself in the neck, an inquest has heard.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has insisted Health Minister Leo Varadkar must stop being “some sort of detached analyst” and take responsibility for health service crises if the problems are to be addressed.

A man’s internal organs started dying after he took headshop drug mephe-drone, an inquest has heard.

Australia batsman Phil Hughes remained in an induced coma and critical condition last night after being felled by a ‘bouncer’ at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Monday.

The number of Irish women opting for breast reconstruction surgery after a mastectomy has doubled in the past year, according to a leading plastic surgeon. 

Gardaí believe two young men who were lucky to escape with their lives in a reckless gun attack in a busy pub were innocent, and mistakenly shot.

The Irish man who had been found with a broken arm after being missing for five days in Sydney, Australia, has undergone two bouts of brain surgery and is in a critical condition.

The stand-off between a cystic fibrosis charity and a Cork hospital over the ringfencing of beds means work is yet to begin on building a ward which should be complete by now.

A man in his 40s has been taken to hospital after an armed siege outside a house.

Belfast priest, Fr Alec Reid, described as one of the architects of the peace process, has died.

Following the close shave of the surprise vote to save the Seanad, its most famous son David Norris has shed his trademark beard in gratitude.

A Dublin man has been sentenced to eight years for stabbing his friend in the stomach and chest leaving him with life-threatening injuries.

Global pharmaceutical giant Novartis has selected Dublin’s Elm Park Business Campus, near St Vincent’s Hospital, as the home for its new regional business services centre.

A man who went into liver failure after he took a paracetamol overdose told doctors he did not want to die, an inquest heard.

A man opened fire in a hospital in Alabama, US, wounding a police officer and two employees before he was shot dead by police.

A 19-year-old man has died in a two-car crash in Co Wexford.

An incident which led to the death of a Dublin man when he was run over by a limousine after jumping on the bonnet was a tragic misunderstanding, Dublin Coroner’s Court has heard.

Cathy Durkin’s three young children brought a family photograph, a camera, an apron, and story books to the altar for her funeral Mass in Dublin yesterday.

RTÉ’s Marian Finucane has called for the national roll-out of programme for healthcare professionals providing palliative and cancer care to lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) patients.

IT WILL soon be that time of year — you either love it or loathe it, but it has to be done.

HUNDREDS of mourners turned out yesterday to hear tributes to the Irish backpacker who died last week after falling into a coma on his dream holiday.

GAY BYRNE has refused to rule himself out of a run at the presidency as it emerged that some members of the Oireachtas may consider approaching him with an offer of support.

DID you hear the one about the big British star who walked into a pub in Ros Na Rún?

A Romanian man charged with murdering his ex-girlfriend in Dublin last year told gardaí that she had cut his throat, not the other way around.

THE pedestrian who was killed by a falling tree in Dublin on Thursday evening was a mother of three who was looking forward to her 46th birthday.

A 45-YEAR-OLD woman has been killed by a falling tree in Dublin city, as high winds and heavy rain swept across the country.

A “PREVENTABLE accident” in which a car struck a stationary ambulance transporting a gravely ill man to hospital was described at an inquest as being like “a crash test” on the TV show Top Gear.

THE case of a man charged with assaulting an English motorist, who died after an alleged road rage attack in Dublin last September, has been upgraded to murder.

FOUR former Fianna Fáil councillors and businessman Jim Kennedy are to face a criminal trial on charges of planning corruption related to the rezoning of lands in Carrickmines, Co Dublin, during the 1990s.

GARDAÍ were waiting to resume questioning of businessman Jim Kennedy last night after he was taken to hospital early yesterday morning, hours after being arrested by detectives from the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB).

BOB GELDOF had a lot to say about his dad at his funeral Mass yesterday, not just because he had lived such a long life.

A woman was found stabbed to death in an apartment today.

TRIBUTES were paid last night to a Irish civil servant, Dermot Nally, who played a key role in the peace process. Mr Nally died suddenly last night in St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin, aged 82.

A man was fighting for his life in hospital tonight after being shot on a farm.

Gardaí have issued an appeal for witnesses to a fatal car crash in Co Wicklow yesterday.

A FOOTBALL thought to be from the ‘Bloody Sunday’ Croke Park game between Tipperary and Dublin in 1920 is just one of the items set to make thousands of euro at Mealy’s and Adam’s auctioneers Independence Sale.

FIVE people were lucky to escape with their lives yesterday after an explosion which destroyed a house in Blackrock in Dublin.

A 29-year-old man has died following a road crash in Co Wexford this morning.

A MAN suffered severe head injuries while working underneath a trailer when a mechanism in the suspension airbag failed, an inquest has heard.

Gardaí were today quizzing a 43-year-old UK national after a woman was found stabbed to death in a flat.