Usage of public bike rental schemes in the country’s four main cities fell by over 5% last year, despite the growing popularity of cycling as a transport mode.

Autopsies are being carried out on several dolphins that have washed up on beaches in the last month.

The Government has asked President Michael D Higgins to quickly sign off on new water charges legislation so that refunds can be issued to households before Christmas.

Plastic fibres have been found in tap water around the world, including Ireland, it has emerged.

A safe enough gambit is that Enda Kenny’s ego is telling him he is the only man for the job, writes Alison O’Connor.

They came in groups, pairs, wearing county colours, leaving cards, candles, flowers, pictures, a half pint of beer, even a wheel hub.

Unfortunately, the little guy didn't make it, despite the best efforts of the Dublin-based MMA star.

Christmas came early for Dace Zarina when she got word of her move to Leuven.

A school chair that could reduce back problems in children and help improve their concentration has earned a young furniture designer a major award.

Two students, who hacked Fine Gael's 2011 election website, were spared jail sentences today and have been left with clean records.

More than one in 10 college courses did not have enough applicants to fill all their places in this week’s first round of CAO offers.

Two students have admitted hacking Fine Gael’s website in the weeks leading up to the 2011 general election as a “stunt” to embarrass the party.

Two students have admitted hacking Fine Gael's website – in the weeks leading up to the 2011 general election – as a “stunt” to embarrass the party.

IN their quest for food, humans do not recognise that all creatures are entitled to their share of Earth’s resources. Overfishing can deprive ocean predators, including whales and dolphins, of food.

Ireland has to date managed the austerity process better than most other countries, but the continued success of the adjustment process depends on maintaining social cohesion and a sense of fairness, according to the Central Bank’s chief economist, Lars Frisell.

Three students have launched a High Court challenge against cuts to higher level grants.

THE father of Clare woman Emer O’Loughlin has said that “someone, somewhere, must know where John Griffin is living.”

COLD-CASE gardaí have offered a substantial reward to anyone with information about a “most wanted” criminal they believe faked his own death after the murder of a young arts student six years ago.

Investigators are offering a “substantial” reward for help to track down an Irishman who faked his own death after the murder of a young art student.

A WORRYING trend of college “shifting” pages has taken over social networking site Facebook.

DISCIPLINARY action has been ruled out by a college against two lecturers who were defendants in a ground-breaking internet libel case.

A COLLEGE lecturer has secured a High Court apology and damages in settlement of the first libel action arising out of defamatory emails.

DOZENS of college courses have been cancelled, forcing students to re-order their preferences ahead of the July 1 cutoff for finalised third-level choices.

A young Irishman shot dead by Bolivian police over an alleged plot to assassinate the country's president was a good-natured, loving son and brother, his Funeral Mass heard today.

The family of an Irish man gunned down by Bolivian police tonight backed calls for an international probe into the killing.

Irish diplomats are to meet senior Bolivian government officials today for high-level talks on the killing of Michael Dwyer, it emerged today.

Irish diplomats are to meet senior Bolivian government officials tomorrow for high-level talks on the killing of Michael Dwyer, it emerged tonight.

The family of an Irishman shot dead by Bolivian police tonight said they were shocked and devastated by the killing.

STUDENT leaders and public representatives in Galway are to begin a campaign to make safe the isolated walkway where Swiss teenager Manuela Riedo was murdered.

GREATER legislative recognition of the country’s traditional and artisan methods of food production was demanded at an awards ceremony in Dublin yesterday.

A group of 13 agricultural engineers from the El Behira Rural Development Project (BRDP), in Egypt, has started a four-week intensive study programme at the Agricultural College in Mountbellew, Co Galway.

Ireland’s experience of the European Union has been “overwhelmingly positive”, the Minister for European Affairs said today.

People must be better informed about the European Constitution before the referendum is held, a junior minister said today.

THE points needed to study nursing have risen at almost all third-level colleges, by more than 115 points in some cases.

A BUSY mother-of-two is getting her big break into public relations thanks to the Alzheimer Society of Ireland who will be using her ‘hero’ concept in a campaign to be launched on World Alzheimer Day in September.

THE Government is to undertake a major review of Gaeltacht areas amid concerns of a dramatic fall-off in Irish language use in many areas.