THE daughter of a woman who went missing from a Dublin hospital more than 31 years ago said at the conclusion of an inquest that the pain of her mother’s disappearance is as great today as it was then.

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.

DOCTORS could not operate on a man requiring urgent surgery as there was no out-of-hours scan facility at the hospital, an inquest has heard.

THE family of a woman who went missing from a Dublin hospital more than 30 years ago are overjoyed at a decision by a coroner to direct further excavation work to be carried out in the vicinity of a trench which was filled in the morning after she disappeared.

A MAN died after consuming the head shop drug MDPV, which has a similar effect to cocaine, but is 20 to 30 times more potent.

GARDAÍ are to excavate a trench at a Dublin hospital in the search of a woman who went missing from the facility more than 30 years ago.

Gardai have carried out searches at the offices of Wicklow County Council today, as part of the investigation into a fire which killed two firemen.

THE young Tipperary man shot dead by police in a Bolivian hotel was being investigated by the authorities there prior to his death, the country’s ambassador has told an inquest into his death.

Security worker Michael Dwyer went to Bolivia with two colleagues to better his career prospects, his inquest heard today.

The heartbroken family of a young Dubliner shot dead by a police officer in America today revealed they will never get justice for his killing.

A senior fire officer arrested in connection with a blaze which claimed the lives of two of his men was released without charge today.

Detectives were tonight continuing to question a senior fire officer over his handling of a blaze which claimed the lives of two of his men.

PUBS should take their duty of care towards their clients more seriously, the jury recommended at an inquest into the death of a teenager who died after he was struck by a car after being sent out of a nightclub because he was intoxicated.

FAMILY members of a man who died in hospital three days after he was transferred from a Dublin nursing home yesterday expressed concern that when they found their brother unwell in the home they were told a doctor would not be available until the following day.

A SCHOOLBOY died of extensive burns, along with other injuries, after being struck by a bolt of lightning.

AN 11-YEAR-OLD boy was found hanging from a bunk bed by his 10-year-old sister.

A garda is to face a new charge of driving a vehicle with a tyre tread depth below the legal limit the night a man was killed by a car.

THE case of a motherof one who collapsed in the kitchen of her home after taking cocaine with her boyfriend and uncle, was one of four inquests into drug-related deaths heard at Dublin County Coroner’s Court yesterday.

TWO teenagers who drowned in Dublin’s Grand Canal during a night out with friends were intoxicated with ecstasy and cocaine and had gone swimming to cool down, an inquest heard yesterday.

SAYING he presided over 26 cocaine-related deaths in 2007, the Dublin County Coroner yesterday issued a stark warning to people about the dangers of using drugs, including cocaine, which he termed “by far the biggest killer” of all.

A YOUNG man died after ingesting a large amount of cocaine at his girlfriend’s house.

A MAN with a profound intellectual disability, who had developed a habit of self-strangulation over the course of his life, died from asphyxia arising from the habit.

A NEW virulent strain of the recently detected hospital acquired infection clostridium difficile (C diff) is fatal for one in 12 patients who contract it and is of huge concern for hospitals across the country, a consultant respiratory physician at a Dublin hospital told Dublin County Coroner’s Court yesterday.

AS A grieving mother made a heart-rending appeal for an end to gun violence yesterday, a priest working with disadvantaged youths has accused the Government of handing over youngsters to the drug barons.

THE husband of an Irish pilgrim whose body was found several months after she went missing in Medjugorje has said he was not surprised that the authorities in Bosnia and Ireland were unable to determine the cause of her death.

A MAN who underwent a routine operation to remove a substantial tumour from his large intestine died from septicaemia due to the malfunction of a surgical instrument, an inquest heard yesterday.

The inquest will be heard today into the death of a woman who mysteriously disappeared while on pilgrimage in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

A 21-YEAR-OLD man died from head and chest injuries after he was knocked down on the Main Street in Arklow, Co Wicklow, in February of this year, an inquest heard yesterday.

THE Dublin county coroner has adjourned an inquest into the death of an MS sufferer who was confined to a wheelchair, citing suspicious circumstances.

COCAINE was instrumental in the deaths of two men in two separate incidents, the coroner’s court in Dublin heard yesterday.

THE nursing home where a woman died, and whose body was in what was described by an undertaker as a “shocking state”, refused to answer queries yesterday.

A MAN accidently shot himself in the head when a stolen car he was travelling in went over a speed bump, an inquest heard yesterday.

A DREAM holiday in Thailand turned to tragedy after a 23-year-old collapsed and hit his head when a mystery virus caused him to suffer a heart attack, an inquest was told yesterday.

A DUBLIN man, who was the prime suspect in a 2003 murder investigation, was killed six months later when his motorcycle crashed during a high-speed garda pursuit.

The allegations of abuse and claims of a sordid incest ring have ripped apart the Murphy family.

A man accused of raping two of his sisters in an alleged incest ring today denied any of the abuse ever happened.

An inquest into the death of a baby girl found covered in blood in a Dublin lane more than 30 years ago is due to hear evidence from dozens of witnesses when it begins today.

The inquest into the murder of teenager Raonaid Murray will reopen close to the eighth anniversary of her death next year, it was confirmed today.

Market stalls selling magic mushrooms helped kick-start demand for the powerful mind altering drug in the late 1990s, a report revealed today.

JUSTICE Minister Michael McDowell has been asked to sign an order to allow for the exhumation of the body of a baby girl who was found stabbed to death in a laneway in Dun Laoghaire over 30 years ago.

A MAN arrested for a second time in connection with the investigation into the murder of Rachel O’Reilly was last night released without charge.

The father of a young man who died from vCJD warned questions must be answered after it emerged two Irish victims lived within a five-mile radius of each other.

FIRST it was “Niamh”, who told of giving birth to a baby girl in her teens after years of sex abuse.