Finishing touches, and staff training among a multi-national barista workforce were in full swing on Cork’s rejuvenating Maylor Street yesterday in the run-up to the opening of a sizeable new cafe/coffee shop, Warren Allen Coffee, set to employ up to 15 when it officially opens its doors next Monday.

A Dublin taxi driver has been ordered to pay €1,050 for overcharging two Christmas shoppers who had to hand over €47 for a €15 fare.

Sales of Power Rangers and Frozen dolls last year helped family-owned Irish toy-seller Smyths enjoy a 34% increase in pre-tax profits in its British and Northern Irish operations to £4.3m (€5.86m).

A new Star Wars film also means an entire new range of toys, and they’re almost ready to launch.

Let it glow: Frozen’s Snow Glow Elsa was the most in-demand toy at Christmas and the new Lego Disney Princess Elsa’s Sparkling Ice Castle has already picked up a Best New Toy Award at the London Toy Fair.

Santa will be leaving lots of presents under the tree next week but there will also be gifts from parents and other family members, often some books, puzzles or a new board game to play together over the holidays. 

JUST sold for year’s end, after 40 inquiries and a competitive tender process for a receiver, is the Kinsale Road Business Park in Cork - by the city’s busiest traffic junction, the Kinsale Road Roundabout, passed by 85,000 cars a day.

Have a look at these handcrafted wooden charts, they’re only fab. 

Gardaí have confirmed they were called to a toy shop in Dublin yesterday as customers fought to get their hands on a doll from the Disney film 'Frozen'.

Protestors gathered outside a Smyths Toy shop in Dublin over the sale of products from Israel today.

The country’s largest chain of toy shops has begun an internal investigation after one of its stores cleared Israeli-made toys from its shelves.

Smyths toy store has told staff at a Dublin branch to take down a sign on the door informing members of the public they had removed products made in Israel from their shelves.

A US diet supplement that’s currently favoured by celebs such as Kim Kardashian and Britney Spears is now available in Ireland.

Soccer superstar Lionel Messi has signed a three-year contract to promote the Dutch-manufactured Space Scooter, available exclusively at Smyths in Ireland.

A little stress is a good thing. It has the power to motivate and stimulate us, pushing us to do better but becoming too stressed, particularly during high pressure periods like exam time, can negatively affect our performance.

Fans of Henry Hugglemonster on Disney Junior will be delighted with his new range of super soft toys, all suitable from birth.

Collect precious memories of your children as they grow with the ClevaMemories Keepsake Suitcase from Clevamama, €29.99.

LET’S face it. It isn’t easy to find a hotel that will welcome you open-armed when you step up to reception with an eight- year-old, two-year-old and a baby.

When Peaches Geldof tweeted that the ClevaFeed was son Astala’s “new fave thing“, it soon became one of Irish company Clevamama’s top sellers.

Looking for that dollhouse from The Late Late Toy Show? It was the Kidcraft Magnolia Mansion, €179.99, supplied by Mimitoys.

IMAGINE. We’ll spend €1.5bn on food, drink and presents this Christmas — more than any other EU country.

Experiment with slime, create an electronic circuit or zap the microbes in your gut at the annual Discovery Science Festival, in Cork’s City Hall.

Sales of Furby, Monopoly Millionaire, and learning tablets last year helped the British and Northern Ireland arms of family-owned Irish toy-seller Smyths record combined pre-tax profits of £2.7m (€3.2m).

Probiotic powder

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TOYS SPURGE: Smyths is predicting that Monday next will be the biggest toy shopping day of the year as parents prepare early for Christmas.

The self-declared People’s Republic of Cork has joined an exclusive club of regions around the world to get their own version of the world-famous board game.

Teach pre-schoolers colours and matching skills, while challenging their reflexes with Chameleon Crunch, a new fun game from Mattel.

Sacked haulage workers at tax debt-ridden company Target Express claim they have been told that a €154,000 pot to pay unpaid wages has been frozen by the Revenue Commissioners.

Sacked haulage firm workers are staging a sit-in after one of the country’s largest companies stopped trading with the loss of nearly 400 jobs.

YES: ‘Phones offer great advantages to kids’

A South Dublin couple who lost their High Court claim that they were exposed to very serious and aggravating noise from the LUAS, which runs close to their home will have to pay some of the Attorney General's legal costs.

A south Dublin couple whose home is close to Luas green line have claimed before the High Court that they have been exposed to a very serious and aggravating noise nuisance on daily basis since the light rail network went operational four years ago.

“BRING us back a parrot!” was the cry of canal bank Dublin urchins years ago as they waved to barges seen heading to imagined exotic destinations. Like Meath. Or Kildare.

TWO of the country's largest retailers have reported mixed results for the past year.