Greater alignment of local government and local development has sparked a major political row over the €314m of LEADER funding for rural development.

Critical time was wasted during initial efforts to slow the Gulf of Mexico spill due to a safety valve being wrongly plumbed, a senior BP official claimed.

THE age-old rituals of an Irish teenage summer are being hit by the recession – as demand for Irish college courses has dropped by up to 40% across the country.