A major one-day conference on the Labour movement and the struggle for independence takes place in University College Cork on Saturday. Here Luke Dineen looks at the labour movement in Cork.

The investigation into the mother and baby homes was expected to be a journey into history and past practices long since laid to rest.

The Dáil is set to debate the establishment of a special committee to conduct hearings into the possible health effects of toxic chemical exposure among Air Corps personnel, after two years of revelations in the Irish Examiner, with TDs expected to back the investigation before the summer. Joe Leogue looks at what has brought us to this point.