Two mental health units have been criticised by the Mental Health Commission for shortcomings, including deficiencies on the use of physical restraint and dirty premises.

Take one sumptuous regency mansion, stuff it full of magical Christmas cheer, add in more than a sprinkle of goodwill and, hey presto — you have the perfect festive recipe for kids who deserve nothing less.

Terminally ill children, others who are seriously ill, and some who have suffered abuse will be setting off on a magical trip to Disneyland Paris next month courtesy of a Cork charity.

Antrim 1-17 London 2-7

Bill Cooper blows out his cheeks when you ask about the response to Youghal’s intermediate championship success last year.

Youghal are the Munster Club IHC champions following a titanic battle with Ballina at Mallow yesterday.

Kilcormac-Killoughey, Oulart the Ballagh and Mount Leinster Rangers booked semi-final berths in the AIB Leinster Club SHC, while their were county title wins for Midleton and St Gabriel's in Cork and London respectively.

Carlow 4-17 London 2-13

St Gabriel’s (London) 2-12 Killimordaly (Galway) 2-11 (aet)

St Gabriel’s (London) 4-17Lisbellaw St Patrick’s (Fermanagh) 2-7

Children attending a school in Limerick were overjoyed yesterday when French soccer star Patrick Vieira arrived at the school for an impromptu PE lesson.

ROBERT Emmetts’ turned up the heat in the second half, to dispatch St Gabriels in the London SHC final.

RAYNERS LANE in Harrow might not sound like a GAA hotbed but the giveaway is the pub, or rather its name.

A WORLD record set in a Belfast shipyard in 1918 has been blown out of the water by an Aer Lingus engineer celebrating his 50th birthd ay in a maintenance hangar in Shannon.

CHRISTMAS may still be two weeks away, but Cork children bravely overcoming serious medical and social problems were given an early seasonal treat yesterday as a special visitor came to town.

DANCE creator Michael Flatley will drive his Rolls Royce to Fota House next week during a two-day event aimed at putting broad smiles on the faces of 240 sick and vulnerable children.

RHONA BUCKLEY came off the bench to score 1-1 as Cork clinched a third successive Bord Gáis Energy Ladies NFL Division 1 crown at Dublin’s Parnell Park on Saturday.

THE reaction of pretty teenager Lorna Ahern at dinner in Disneyland Paris last night summed it all up.

A NINE-YEAR-OLD boy whose wrists are too weak to write, due to a rare bone disease, cannot get funding to buy a special light touch laptop to keep up with school work.

Seán doesn’t believe in Grand National-type training, it’s all hurling, everything with the ball, and it paid off

THE funeral took place in Limerick yesterday of the women who pioneered the development of services for children with disabilities in the mid-west in founding St Gabriel’s centre.

A LIMERICK boy who was the Munster rugby mascot for the recent big Heineken Cup game at Thomond Park, returns home from Spain today after surgery which may help him walk for the first time in his life.

LITTLE Darragh Ryan from Limerick has a big goal.

A 14-year-old boy will appear in court tomorrow accused of murdering schoolboy Joe Geeling, whose body was found dumped in a park on Thursday.

UP to 100 girls attending Crescent College Comprehensive in Limerick hope to raise over €10,000 for St Gabriel’s School and Centre through the Irish Examiner Mini Marathon.

ALL nursing home staff should be properly trained in the use of restraining devices, an inquest jury recommended yesterday after hearing how an elderly woman strangled on a strap as she struggled to get out of her bed.