AIB is seeking summary judgment for sums totalling around €25m against 14 businesspeople in Cork and Kerry over alleged default on loans which they had guaranteed.

Rockybay Thomas can send Curraheen punters home on a high by making the most of a favourable draw in the finale.

Leave the weighing scales at the doctors: the power to fight child obesity lies with parents and the food we decide to give, and not give, our children.

Running: The inception of the Dublin marathon in 1980 proved to be a catalyst for the original running boom in Ireland, and for Jerry Kiernan, it was a glorious time.

Helen O'Callaghan says weighing scales should be used regularly

A shock defeat for Droopys Jet and the elimination of that great old veteran Tyrur Big Mike were the major talking points last night at Shelbourne when the first eight heats in the second round of the Ladbrokes Irish Derby were run.

Many of the top fancies go into action in the Ladbrokes Irish Derby at Shelbourne Park tonight.

Ante-post favourite Ballymac Vic will be the last of the big names to launch their Ladbrokes Derby challenge when he lines out in tonight’s final heat of the opening round at Shelbourne Park.

The cream of Ireland’s female talent served up some terrific performances at Shelbourne Park on Saturday night as the opening round of the Sporting Press Irish Oaks came to a conclusion.

The Betfair 600 decider is one of the most competitive finals ever seen at Shelbourne Park.

There could hardly have been a better line-up for the Betfair 600 final, which will be featured on RTE’s first live telecast of the year on Saturday night from Shelbourne.

Except for a few high profile absentees most of the big names will be chasing the €25,000 prize when the classic commences at Shelbourne on Saturday.

MUCKY Donal, trained by James Kelleher for Don and Gerard Buckley, is a very promising youngster and he produced the performance of his fledgling career to win Saturday night’s final of the New Year A3 550 at Curraheen Park.

WITH the Derby now history for another year, the focus down south will now swing to the Pat Hennerty Sales Irish Laurels which will kick off at Curraheen Park on Friday night of next week.

PATRONS should get to Shelbourne Park early on Saturday night.

THE draw for tonight’s final of the Irish & European A2 is such that the Brendan O’Shea-trained Crossfield Star rates the best bet of the night.

DAMIAN and Noel Fleming, who bred English Derby winner Taylors Sky, earned the plaudits at Curraheen Park on Saturday night when that one’s half-brother, Rising Magic, took the featured O’Riordan Brothers’ Tarmacadam A1 final.

CROSSFIELD BRUCE, from the prolific Millstreet kennels of Brendan O’Shea, can land heat three of the Seftec NMCI Offshore A4 525 Stakes at Curraheen Park tonight.

MELODYS Royal looks likely to be aimed at the biggest competitions in the calendar in the coming months after a stunning display in the final of the Joe Dunne Memorial Puppy 525 at Shelbourne Park on Saturday.

The facilities will be limited but it will be a happy occasion when Shelbourne Park re-opens for racing this evening following the longest break the track has had since the Foot and Mouth outbreak.

TONNES of military equipment was shipped out of Cork last night for a major EU battle group military exercise in Sweden next week involving Irish Defence forces.

A RESEARCH team led by two military historians has compiled the most complete record of all Cork people who died in the Great War.

PRESIDENT Mary McAleese will attend a major conference in Cork at the weekend to mark the 90th anniversary of the 1916 Rising.

Up to 1,000 Irish patients may be dying every year due to mistakes in treatment or diagnosis, Dan Buckley reports on the rise of medical negligence.

FOUR soldiers killed at one checkpoint, three civilians at another.

FLU sufferers have been warned not to misuse supermarket-purchased remedies to fight the illness.

DOCTORS who don’t address patients’ unwanted advances quickly enough may be assaulted or stalked, a leading medical union has warned.

PATIENTS with brain disorders are still waiting up to two years to see a consultant despite a promise three years ago by the Health Minister to address the shortage of neurologists.

HEALTH information on the internet can be unreliable and website visitors need to be cautious, the professional body representing GPs warned yesterday.

STRESS levels among doctors are at least 10% higher than the general population leading to high rates of alcoholism, depression, substance abuse and suicide.

PEOPLE who abuse commonplace painkillers like Panadol or Solpadeine can be just as addicted as those who take hard drugs, according to an expert in addiction control.

JER O’DONOGHUE (Leevale) once again highlighted his liking for the Nenagh Indoor Arena with another sparkling performance in the 60m at the Munster indoor championships yesterday, clipping six hundredths of a second off the time he ran at the AAI Games a week earlier.

REDUCING junior hospital doctors’ working hours without appointing additional consultants could force the closure of smaller hospitals.

DOCTORS should be paid on the basis of the number of patients they cure as opposed to the number on their books, according to BUPA Ireland managing director Martin O’Rourke.

AN international study has shown the removal of the breast is unnecessary in the treatment of cancer.

PARENTS are packing their teenagers' lunchboxes with less healthy foods once they reach their teens, a fresh study of eating habits has shown.