A man with serious addiction problems was jailed for six months yesterday for stealing drink from behind the counters of bars and at shops around Cork.

A young woman was struck on the head with a full 7-Up bottle by her ex-boyfriend in a shopping centre.

WITH plans afoot for the €70m-plus investment property sale of the ‘old’ Roches Stores/Debenhams Cork’s store by the publicity-shy Roche family, the arrival of a neighbouring niche investment with a more modest €1.5m price tag has impeccable timing, and opportunity.

The legacy of the late Owen O’Callaghan can be seen throughout his native Cork and beyond.

A solicitor avoided jail at the 11th hour when he came up with a bank draft for €23,000 he should not have held back for work on administering two estates on behalf of a will executor.

Homelessness and rough sleeping has become acceptable in Ireland, a leading charity has claimed.

A turnaround in the fortunes and occupancy levels of Cork city’s premier retail boulevard Patrick Street is predicted in the next year, with significant national international brand names set to arrive and take significant floor space.

In its annual review the Merchants Quay charity noted that drug abuse is growing throughout the country.

A new report shows an increase in the growth of drug use outside of Dublin.

The EU drugs agency has published a report backing the controversial provision of heroin to chronic addicts.

Community and voluntary sector employees will have fallen by more than 16,000 by 2015, even though the numbers who need their services have multiplied due to the economic crisis.

THE seizure of 12.5kg of heroin — the biggest haul of the drug in four years — will have an impact on the streets, drug groups said yesterday.

PAUL NEWMAN’S charitable legacy has yet again benefited Ireland with a €25,000 cheque to fund much-needed medical detox beds for drug addicts.

A RESTAURANT company with five outlets and around 225 jobs has gone into liquidation, but is aiming to continue trading via its liquidator with the businesses to be offered for sale as going concerns.

MORE than 130 people are using a new homeless service in Dublin city centre amid fears of more people sleeping rough.

Homeless and drugs services charity Merchants Quay Ireland provided support to almost 9,500 people last year, an increase of 9% on 2008.

A STUDY on the level of drug use in prisons and the possible need for needle exchanges in jails will begin this autumn under the terms of a tender issued this week.

One of Ireland's leading drug addiction centres registered 20 new heroin users every week last year, it was revealed today.

LOCAL political, business and drug groups yesterday welcomed a major Garda operation targeting drug dealers in Dublin city centre.

GARDAÍ are searching for a hooded gunman who pedalled away by bicycle from a Dublin shooting, the second gun murder within hours of a gangland figure in the capital.

CENTRAL Statistics Office figures for last year reveal several types of prescription drug tablets being seized in their tens of thousands for the first time.

More than 17,000 new injectors attended a syringe exchange in Dublin last year according to the annual report from the Merchants Quay Ireland.

THE State was yesterday accused of taking its “foot off the pedal” in the fight against heroin, as Customs officers seized their biggest ever haul of the lethal drug.

NEW colour-coded syringe caps are to be given to injecting cocaine users in a bid to combat the spread of infectious diseases.

Mountjoy Prison is to get a team of dedicated counsellors to treat the 250 inmates battling heroin addiction in the jail, it was revealed today.

THE ship came in for a voluntary group working with drug users and homeless people yesterday.

YOU highlighted (Irish Examiner, September 29) the plight of a number of Eastern European immigrants who have had to use the services of the Merchants Quay Ireland organisation.

An Irish Olympic rower is making his final preparations for an epic journey across 3,000 miles of open seas in a bid to become the fastest man to row across the Atlantic.

THE number of homeless people and drug users seeking help continued to rise last year, according to a leading charity.

MORE than a third of problem cocaine users in Dublin have recently taken crack cocaine, according to research.

THE shortlist's for the 2005 eircom/Soccer Writers' Association of Ireland Personality and Goalkeeper of the Year Awards were announced yesterday.

Dublin City Council is to take a number of new initiatives to fight the problem of drug addiction in the capital.

THIS week a decomposing body was discovered in a derelict house in Co Kildare. It was that of a young woman who had been missing for a fortnight.

DEATHS caused by drugs have increased by over 1,000% in Ireland in the last decade, according to figures released yesterday.