The former Lord Mayor of Cork, who conferred the freedom of the city on Albert Reynolds in 2008, has paid an emotional tribute to his old friend.

TWO Fianna Fáil dynasties in Cork have been wiped out after the party lost four seats – almost half its representation – on the city council.

A GREEN PARTY local election candidate has pledged that if elected on Friday, he will plough all his council payments and expenses into developing public parks.

THERE may be a question mark over the absence of his party logo from his election literature.

HISTORIAN Kieran McCarthy could be shaping Cork city’s future if he is, as predicted, in the final shake-up for the extra new seat in the city’s largest ward.

CORK CITY COUNCIL has spent almost €37,000 of public money over the last two years on seven official trips to Shanghai — its highest profile twin city.

HUNDREDS bid a fond farewell yesterday to a much-loved man who believed the arts and sport were the heartbeat of humanity.

A VETERAN Fine Gael politician followed in his late father’s footsteps to become lord mayor of Cork last night.

FORMER British prime minister John Major has said he is “enormously touched” to be chosen to receive the freedom of Cork.

PEOPLE caught throwing chewing gum on the ground will face a €150 fine as part of a new nationwide crackdown.

MORE than 200 amateur cyclists will set off today in an attempt to raise €125,000 for victims of the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

CORK’S lord mayor has said that, despite controversy, he has no regrets about his decision to confer the freedom of the city on John Major.

IT’S going to be thirsty work, as runners are set to consume 80,000 litres of water when they pound the streets of Cork for the June Bank Holiday marathon.

FORMER British prime minister John Major and former taoiseach Albert Reynolds are poised to receive the freedom of Cork.

THE man whose crime-fighting work while head of the state’s forensic science lab nearly cost him his life will be honoured tonight for bravery.

THE country’s first fully licensed Christian radio station was launched yesterday vowing to spread its message of hope over the airways.

DETAILED custody record forms are to be given to the country’s 703 Garda stations “in the very near future” according to Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy.

THE week long Six Nations Under-18 rugby tournament, which gets underway in Cork tomorrow, is estimated to be worth in excess of €500,000 to the economy of the city.

ABOUT 300 people, including President Mary McAleese, yesterday accorded a standing ovation to the man responsible for the success of the Cork International Choral Festival.

THE original legal charter conferring the title of Lord Mayor on the head of Cork City Council has been returned to the city where it is being put on public display.

THE build-up to Cork’s 30th jazz festival began yesterday with the first of a series of free public concerts designed to broaden its appeal.

BERNIE MURPHY, one of Cork’s great “characters” who rocked the political establishment with his election to the city council in 1985, died at the weekend.

THE legacy of Seamus Murphy was everywhere to be seen in Blackpool yesterday as Cork paid tribute to one of its greatest artists.

ONE of the largest menswear stores in Europe, situated in the heart of Cork city, was yesterday announced as the third quarter winner of the Cork Business Association business of the year award.

BIG-TIME cycling returned to Irish streets and byways yesterday — and the public came out in their thousands to lap it up.

A WEST Cork man who emigrated to the US and built up a multi-million-dollar business is to be honoured in his native county this weekend.

IRELAND’S showband legends are to be immortalised Hollywood-style.

SINN FÉIN gained an extra seat on Cork City Council last night despite a row over procedures for filling vacant seats.

CITIZENS of the country’s three main cities had new lord mayors elected last night.

GARDAÍ have charged a 35-year-old woman in connection with the death of an Uzbek man following an incident in a Cork suburb on New Year’s Eve.

DOG POO doesn’t usually figure on the political radar as a major issue.