Two men were jailed for eight years yesterday for their part in a horrific assault on a man who sustained life-changing injuries less than 100m from his home in Cork City.

The heartbroken mother of a young man who was among 12 people to drown in a 10-day period during last summer’s heatwave has pleaded with young people to stay away from rivers.

A potential buyer has emerged for a failed waste firm at the centre of a sit-in protest which has closed with losses of some €2m and 25 jobs.