Children have a “very bleak future” if the Government is unable to take on the vested interests in the alcohol and sports industries, the country’s largest representative body of community drug projects has said.

THE team overseeing the Croke Park pay and reform deal has said a “one-size-fits-all approach” will not work and each public service sector will have to decide how best to implement the terms.

OVER €70 million has been invested in the Government’s National Solidarity Bond since its inception in early May – with €20m of that being injected inside the last three weeks.

IRELAND’S elderly population needs to fight plans to extend the retirement age unless concerns over ageism and training for older people in the workplace are addressed, according to a new report.

THERE were an estimated 100,000 new cases of swine flu last week in England, the Health Protection Agency said yesterday.

ENTERPRISE Ireland has said it has changed its focus and support structure for client companies, in a bid to help them better cope with the economic downturn.

DRUG smuggling prevention measures at ports and airports are in a “shambolic state” despite Government assurances of further resources and security measures.

CONSUMERS are being hit by a triple whammy of airport baggage charges after three airlines increased their luggage fees within days of each other.

THE institutes of technology do not see any need to abandon the college entry points system sought this week by a university president, according to their umbrella organisation.

MOTORISTS are reaping the rewards of dramatically lower insurance premiums as accident and death rates on Irish roads tumble, figures show.

THE Government’s ambitious research and science policies are doomed to failure unless research staff in universities are offered better pay and conditions, it was claimed yesterday.

THE State’s regulator for pharmacists believes stricter controls on the sale and supply of paracetamol and ibuprofen are needed to prevent deaths and poisonings.

A STATE advisory body is seeking the introduction of new laws, including a “hate crime” to combat an upsurge in racist incidents.

HOSPITAL consultants have warned they will “walk off the job” if any member is sued over the failure to resolve a row over who is liable for claims of past medical negligence.

A study by the Government’s National Advisory Committee on Drugs and the North’s Drug and Alcohol Information and Research Unit is reportedly set to contradict last week’s United Nations report claiming Irish youngsters were among the highest amphetamine users in the world.

Pop diva Christina Aguilera’s latest music video has offended Thais, but not with its explicit dancing and revealing costumes.

Two Indian children snatched by paramilitary patrols at the height of Guatemala’s bitter civil war in 1982 have finally been found and reunited with their families.

Forty-four survivors were recovering in an Indonesian refugee camp today after their boat sank off Java island, drowning several hundred people.