The Government will not write a blank cheque for the developers of Cork’s 6,000-seat events centre who have requested an extra €18m in state funding — almost double what has been sanctioned.

The former head of Beamish and Crawford has called for the controversial Cork event centre project to be scrapped and retendered, writes Eoin English.

The former head of Beamish and Crawford has called for the controversial Cork event centre project to be scrapped and retendered.

Owners of two of Cork’s best-known nightclubs have lodged appeals against a decision to grant planning for student apartments on the former Beamish and Crawford site.

A drone crashing into an abbey, damage caused by metal detectors, and stones being removed from heritage sites are just some of the issues uncovered last year by the Office of Public Works.

The Government has re-advertised the tender for the €3.6m subsidised air services to the Aran Islands, Co Galway that it cancelled in controversial circumstances last October.

A scale model representing one of the country’s most historic towns as it appeared in medieval times will be unveiled today.

Filming for Star Wars: Episode VIII has begun on Skellig Michael with a break in the weather yesterday finally making it possible for the Disney Lucasfilm crew to access the island.

The State is spending €250,000 in a bid to restore Ireland’s only native toad, the natterjack, to its former glory.

Yesterday’s Eircode launch saw a protest by a group that claims 50,000 Irish language addresses are either incomplete or have been entirely omitted from the new postcode database.

Vital funding for Ireland’s non-Gaeltacht islands has been secured for the year.

The Government has insisted it has not cut its funding towards the proposed €50m event centre for Cork after it appeared that the Department of Arts was set to cut allocation for the long-delayed development by more than half.

The board of the National Museum of Ireland has confirmed it is considering a number of options to address "serious funding challenges" in 2015.

Arts minister Heather Humphreys has defended appointing a former Fine Gael election candidate to a state board even though he did not apply for the position.

Victorian drama Penny Dreadful is worth €33m alone to the economy, says Lisa Jewell.

Chairman of Limerick City of Culture Pat Cox has defied calls for him to quit after his former political adviser resigned as the organisation’s chief executive yesterday.

Limerick city’s manager has defended the fast-track appointment of Pat Cox’s former special advisor as the chief executive of Limerick City of Culture 2014.

The Bradshaw Literary Festival runs in Cork over the next two days, until Nov 22.

Gardaí have arrested a man as part of a major investigation into the theft of State-owned art from private storage.

The State spent over €103m renting property from Nama-hit developers, beef barons, business tycoons, banks and even religious organisations last year.

DEMOLITION work is due to start next week to clear a site for West Cork’s new €4.5 million arts centre.

Former Minister for Agriculture Ivan Yates caused many a head to nod in agreement when, during a recent address to the annual lunch of the Dublin Greyhound Track Bookmakers, he commented that the first priority for Greyhound and Horse Racing folk should be to have the respective industries returned under the umbrella of the Department of Agriculture.

THE option of public ownership is among the possibilities being considered by campaigners lobbying to save the future of Cork’s only arthouse cinema.

THE Irish Chamber Orchestra (ICO) based at the University of Limerick is preparing to move into a new €3.4 million studio building, on campus, later this month.

A HIKE in funding for most major arts organisations in Ireland was revealed by the Arts Council yesterday when it announced its revenue funding decisions for 2006.

THE Abbey Theatre has landed the biggest grant of its history with the Arts Council awarding it €25.7 million for the next three years.

THE Abbey Theatre is to have its massive debt of €3.3 million cleared by significant additional funding from the Department of Arts, it was announced yesterday.

THE organisers of Cork 2005, European Capital of Culture, have been criticised for their failure to raise adequate commercial sponsorship to fund the year’s programme of events.

A major new initiative was launched today to encourage international production companies to shoot films in Ireland.

The horse racing industry saw on-course betting increase by 14% to €237m in 2003, of which €183m was generated with the bookmakers.

“NONE shall sing, none shall sing.” Or as Puccini might put it: “Nessun canta, nessun canta.”

THE Government has gone back to the drawing board on a proposed €44m performance arts academy after four years of planning.