Revenue Officers seized around 65,000 unstamped cigarettes, 7.5kg of unstamped tobacco, 57 litres of vodka and a car during a raid in Co Cork today.

“Everywhere there were bodies with no heads. There was a woman screaming while she was holding her baby and she screamed: ‘Where is my baby?’ I told her she was holding her child but she said she had one other that she couldn’t find.”

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins has said three teams seem to have co-ordinated the attacks, and those that targeted the Bataclan concert hall, where 89 people died, mentioned Syria and Iraq.

Luxury brands like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Bentley are just some of the cars which have been issued a refund under the VRT export repayment scheme.

Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has thanked voters for making “a brave choice” in backing his call to reject creditors’ demands for more austerity in return for rescue loans.

In reference to Cork woman Donna Hartnett, and the impassioned and compelling letter she wrote: it struck a chord and encapsulated the immense frustrations of ordinary families facing the onslaught of wave, upon wave of taxes and bills.

I couldn’t help but be annoyed with the comments of Victoria White (Irish Examiner, November 6) regarding the Water charge protests. 

Increased failures in the National Car Test last year contributed to bumper profits at the Spanish firm operating the test increasing by 11.5% to €4.9m.

Belgian police have confirmed that the two bodies found at the scene of a fire in Leuven are those of two Irish students.

Eden Hazard believes fellow Belgium forward Kevin De Bruyne would benefit from leaving Chelsea in January to boost his World Cup hopes.

A car dealer who evaded paying €86,500 tax on high-end vehicles during the Celtic Tiger years has managed to avoid jail.

A judgment is due today in a complex court battle where €131m in damages are being sought for the alleged mishandling of the vehicle registration tax system by Revenue.

If the rumours are true, the property tax will be assessed on both the house and the site.

An armed gang was still on the loose today after killing two people with grenades and guns in an apparently random attack on a Christmas market in the Belgian city of Liege.

Two people were killed and 10 injured in a hand grenade attack in the Belgian city of Liege today.

A witness in the trial of a car dealer charged with evasion of vehicle registration tax on luxury cars has said he bought too many new cars to remember in 2006.

THE death toll from a fierce storm that ripped tents, uprooted trees and flung multi-storey metal scaffolding towers and racks of concert lights across the grounds of a music festival in Belgium has risen to five, officials say.

British band Skunk Anansie’s lead singer Skin has told of the terrifying moment a fierce storm struck an open air music festival killing five people.

The European Commission has begun legal action against the Irish Government over its failure to exempt cross-border motorists from paying Vehicle Registration Tax.

The Government has announced a €5,000 incentive for electric vehicles, with 3,500 charge points to be rolled out by the ESB.

At least 18 people are now thought to have died when two commuter trains collided head-on after one ran a stop light at rush-hour in a Brussels suburb.

Two commuter trains collided head-on after one ran a stop light at rush-hour in a Brussels suburb, killing at least 12 people and injuring 55, a Belgian official said.

Two commuter trains collided head-on at rush-hour in a Brussels suburb today, killing as many as 25 people, Belgian rail officials said.

Two five-story apartment buildings collapsed in eastern Belgium, injuring at least 20 people.

Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has announced that VRT reliefs of up to €2,500 for plug-in hybrid cars is to be extended for further two years to Dec 2012.

THE Green Party has said the swing towards buying energy efficient diesel cars confirms that “green policies do work”.

TURNOVER at Johnson & Perrott fell by 20% to €115.3 in 2008 from €144.7m in 2008, according to figures filed with the Companies Registration Office.

Following the publication of the Commission on Taxation Report, SIMI have said that the motor industry welcomed the opportunity to debate the future of VRT.

MORE than 1,000 motorists have failed to reclaim their cars after they were seized by Revenue in recent months because vehicle registration tax (VRT) had not been paid.

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) today praised both Revenue and the gardaí for their recent success following their clampdown on illegal vehicles on Irish roads.

A CRACKDOWN on owners of foreign-registered cars who fail to pay vehicle registration tax will not take place until next year.

THE first official figures for car registrations in 2009have shown a fall in new car registrations by two-thirds over the same period last year.

MOTOR industry representatives have called on the Government to introduce urgent measures, including a new scrappage scheme, to avert a huge crisis in the trade.

REVENUE’S Customs Service seized almost 1,600 vehicles from motorists trying to dodge paying Vehicle Registration Tax last year.

GOVERNMENT revenue has taken another battering as figures show it raked in €300 million less in vehicle registration tax (VRT) last year from imported cars.

New vehicle sales fell by a staggering 64% in the first week of 2009, official figures revealed today.

The Government agency that promotes sustainable energy says the decision to link Vehicle Registration Tax to emissions has led to a doubling in sales of 'greener' vehicles.

A commuter train today collided with a freight train in south-east Belgium, leaving 30 passengers injured, officials said.

MOTORISTS who face penalties for buying heavily polluting cars have been urged to plug into a greener alternative.

MOTOR dealers yesterday blamed the economic downturn and confusion over the Government’s Vehicle Road Tax (VRT) changes for last month’s 22% fall in new car sales.

Five people died today when a helicopter crashed into a field in central Belgium, including the pilot and three members of his family, officials and news reports said.