FIRST ACTIVE, now part of Ulster Bank, is to dispose of 49 branch outlets nationwide. The bank bills it as one of the largest property portfolios ever to be placed on the Irish market, although the value of the freehold properties is only put at about €13.5 million.

IT TOOK nine fire crews more than an hour to bring a huge fire at a disused Cork hotel under control last night.

OWNERS of the land outside Cork city which was revealed this week as a dumping ground for hospital patient records recently put the site up for sale.