A large number of people in serious financial difficulty likely waited for changes to the country’s bankruptcy laws so as to take advantage of the newly introduced shorter term, according to a bankruptcy specialist.

Researchers in Chile have released a series of time-lapse photos showing the dramatic retreat of a glacier in Patagonia.

Detective Superintendent Pat Byrne of the Garda National Drugs Unit said today recent gun seizures had saved lives, with some intercepted weapons known to have been destined for Limerick.

Ireland is being used as an important staging post for drugs arriving into the UK and Europe, police in the North will say today.