One trend Ballincollig Guild president Cathie O’Neill noticed at her craft classes this spring is the increased interest in crafting for charity – whether it’s knitting blankets for premature babies in Cork or crocheting matinee jackets for infants overseas.

Northern Ireland Secretary Dr John Reid is to marry his fiancee Carine Adler in the ‘‘not-too-distant future’’, it was announced today.

The Northern Ireland Secretary plans to marry a Brazilian film-maker he met following the death of his first wife.