In hindsight, the name Phoenix House has proven particularly apt: rising from the crash, Cork’s €20m-plus Phoenix House third generation office building a mile from City Hall has secured its first, sizeable tenant, Regus — almost 10 years after it was built.

Friends star Matthew Perry has spoken about overcoming his drug and alcohol addiction as he was reunited with his former co-star Lisa Kudrow to receive an award for his work with rehabilitation centres.

Civil servants retiring this year have been given an average lump sum payment of €87,000 as well as an annual pension of €29,000, a figure described as “modest” by Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin.

Lindsay Lohan is the latest star to tumble from Hollywood’s heights into the tumult of substance abuse, continuing a sad tradition of young celebrities who deal with mounting or fleeting fame by turning to drugs or alcohol.

PRISON officers warned over a year ago that a pre-release female prison unit, from which two inmates escaped last Sunday, was “out of control”.