Henry Ford paid an emotional visit to Cork in 1912 and here, Denis McSweeney imagines the scenario that unfolded.

Grant aid for households to install security alarm systems is being sought in Co Kerry, to combat burglaries.

The Cheltenham Festival and St Patrick’s Day don’t always coincide on the calendar, but the organisers know a good thing when they see one. So it is that the third day of this four-day bonanza is always designated as ‘St Patrick’s Thursday’.

I was standing at the tip of Mizen Head last Saturday morning when a combination of a still Atlantic and blue skies created a scene neither Lucas Films nor Disney could replicate with a billion dollars.

HANDY CRAFT: The popular Alex & Ani range has a charm to suit any gift occasion. 

Bringing both All-Ireland senior finals forward by week will help "revolutionise" the GAA calendar, claims GAA president Liam O’Neill.

AS we all know, St Patrick’s Day was last week and we were all able to celebrate our Irishness once again. It’s a festival celebrated globally and we, the Irish, should be honoured to have a festival celebrated so universally.

Has Leo made his lunge? Mr Varadkar, our thrusting, Thatcherite Transport Minister, appears to have fired the first shot in the War of the Blueshirt Succession.

One of the few Irish St Patrick’s Day celebrations that matches the splendour of those in America, a mix of paint, performances, pageantry, parades and parties, promises to make this year’s Dublin festival one of the most spectacular ever.

Gardaí and the Road Safety Authority have revealed that one fifth of drivers and passengers killed in road crashes last year were not wearing seatbelts.

While vegetarian curry may not be the most traditional of native nosh, The Menu shall nonetheless join the anticipated 5,000 diners on Cork’s Grand Parade at Feed The City (March 15), one strand of the city’s St Patrick’s Festival weekend.(www.corkstpatricksfestival.ie)

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Kilkenny chairman Paul Kinsella has questioned the scheduling of the All-Ireland senior hurling champions’ first home league game on a bank holiday Monday.

Gardaí on mountain bikes are to become a daily feature of life in Killarney National Park as concerns grow about public safety.

All in all, it wasn’t exactly the most memorable of St Patrick’s Days for the Irish at Cheltenham yesterday.

City officials monitored the voluntary dismantling of the Occupy Cork camp yesterday — 150 days after it was established.

Tommy Bowe believes pride has been restored to Irish rugby following their 24-8 RBS 6 Nations demolition of England.

MORE than 675,000 people from home and abroad lined the streets of Dublin for one of the world’s most colourful St Patrick’s Day parades.

Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world are expected to throng the streets of Dublin today for the annual St Patrick’s Day parade.

Parts of the country saw the wettest March in more than 20 years, forecasters revealed today.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern has led calls for safe driving over the Easter holiday weekend as more than 1,000 additional gardaí will be on duty in an effort to clamp down on drink driving and speeding.

Thousands of tourists packed Dublin today as the St Patrick’s festivities continued in advance of tomorrow’s mammoth parade.

SEAMUS MCENANEY’S call to play the postponed Dublin-Monaghan game at Croke Park next weekend, seems destined to fall on deaf ears with HQ set to close down for work on the pitch after today’s club final.

HOLIDAYMAKERS are fleeing to the sun to take advantage of the earliest St Patrick’s and Easter holiday in living memory.

LIMERICK’S St Patrick’s weekend festival will showcase sport, culture, community organisations and multicultural groups.

The group behind the St Patrick's Day celebrations in Dublin says there will be no change to their plans for a parade on March 17, after Ireland's bishops decided to move the Church's celebration of the day to March 15 next year.

TWO legendary giant celtic characters descended on Limerick yesterday to help launch the forthcoming St Patrick’s Springfest.

DUBLIN Zoo is leading the hard-nosed charge to help save rhinos in Africa, India and Indonesia.

THE cost of flights for Justice Minister Michael McDowell’s junket to Argentina for St Patrick’s Day celebrations amounted to more than €35,000.

Traders selling shamrock on the streets during St Patrick’s Day celebrations had an unexpected rival this year – in the form of a French market.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone was today signing a friendship agreement with the Lord Mayor of Dublin aimed at promoting culture, tourism and business in both cities.

The IRA 'will not accept unrealistic demands' for its disbandment, a senior source in the organisation claimed today.

Agents operating within paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland were tonight urged to think carefully about how they operate if it is proven republicans were behind the break-in at a high security police station two weeks ago.

The National Safety Council has appealed to motorists to take extra care on the roads this weekend in an effort to avoid any fatalities.

Government Ministers will go ahead with their trips abroad for the St Patrick’s Day period in an effort to counter the adverse image of Ireland that has been created by the foot and mouth crisis.