Almost €400,000 out of a nationwide total of more than €1.5m was paid into Kerry District Court poor boxes last year.

Overseas charities were the biggest recipients of the €2.18m paid by offenders to the court poor box, according to figures compiled by the Courts Service.

Local charities in Kerry got less than €50,000 from the court poor box last year, while international charities benefited to the tune of €480,000 from offenders who came before the county’s courts.

THE government of Ethiopia has appealed to international donors of food aid to assist those at risk of starvation. This has perplexed those who remember the same government's recent claim of a bumper harvest.