A father drowned while trying to save his son and his girlfriend after they were swept out to sea by a freak wave last summer, an inquest heard yesterday.

A hero, a magnetic presence, even a boy wizard – Barry Davis Ryan was many things, and yesterday he was the central figure in the celebration of a young life cut short and the story of those who helped to bring him home.

Yesterday’s search effort was most comprehensive to date, with about 250 dives from 5am to 9pm

The first of the victims of Tuesday’s triple drowning will be laid to rest tomorrow with the funeral of Cork student Niamh O’Connor.

The shockwaves from Tuesday’s tragedy have reverberated around the Baltimore area, where Barry Ryan’s wife, Ann Davis, is from and where the family have lived for the past two decades.

Primark opened its doors in France last month, the same year they recorded a 44% increase in yearly profits.

A veritable who’s who of rugby, the wider sporting arena, society figures, and even a hint of Hollywood stardust turned out to pay homage to Ireland’s greatest rugby player at the Convention Centre in Dublin last night.

The Business and Finance Awards have taken place in Dublin last night.

A MAN found with an Uzi submachine gun in a Limerick hotel was yesterday jailed for 10 years.

TESCO saw sales in Ireland drop 7.5% to €2.9 billion in the year to the end of February as it took a hit of almost €38 million following price and supplier changes.

Developers and investors today vowed to create about 6,000 jobs in a massive regeneration of The Square at Tallaght.

ARTHUR Ryan – the Dublin-born founder and head of cut-price clothing retailer, Primark – is set to stand down as managing director of the company in September; 40 years after establishing the business.

British fashion retailer Primark’s £200m (€287m) profits haul crowns another successful year for the chain, which is the UK’s second largest clothing retailer by volume

A LOADED handgun, fitted with a silencer, was given to an Egyptian national by a Limerick gang for delivery to a major drugs dealer in Dublin, a court heard yesterday.

A man has appeared in court charged with threatening to kill a 19 year-old barman who was shot twice last Sunday night in a busy Limerick city pub.