COMMITTED healthcare activist and part-time journalist Orla Tinsley was last night named 2009 Irish Tatler Woman of the Year at a ceremony in Dublin’s Mansion House.

An elderly Irish priest released after 32 days in captivity in the Philippines today told how he hiked through jungles, survived raging seas and slept in a swamp under a tarpaulin before his release.

FREED aid worker Sharon Commins has urged Irish people to use their skills for the benefit of people around the world in greatest need.

Freed aid worker Sharon Commins has been honoured with a humanitarian award.

I WISH to congratulate Hilda Kawuki and Sharon Commins for having been so resilient during all those weeks of uncertainty and fear while held hostage in Sudan.

FEARS are growing about the wellbeing of kidnapped Irish priest Fr Michael Sinnott, who is entering his third week of captivity in the Philippines today.

SMILING alongside Ireland’s most powerful office holders, a grateful but nervous Sharon Commins was praised for her courage and endurance after her 107-day ordeal in Sudan.

President Mary McAleese tonight paid tribute to the courage and strength of aid worker Sharon Commins, who suffered almost four months in captivity in war-torn Sudan.

An Irish aid worker touched down on home soil after being held captive for almost four months in war-torn Sudan.

“I AM very, very relieved to be free and just coming to terms with that now and just very, very excited now that the 107 days are over.”

SHARON COMMINS arrived home to an emotional family reunion last night following her 107-day ordeal at the hands of Sudanese kidnappers.

AID worker Sharon Commins arrived home late last night after a terrible few months.

An Irish aid worker held captive for almost four months in war-torn Sudan revealed today that her abductors staged mock assassinations by shooting around her.

Aid worker Sharon Commins, held captive for almost four months in war-torn Sudan, revealed today that her abductors staged mock assassinations by shooting around her.

Aid worker Sharon Commins was returning home today, following more than three months of captivity in war-torn Sudan.

RELEASED GOAL aid worker Sharon Commins’s thoughts were for the need to continue humanitarian work and for the people of Sudan who helped secure her release, when she spoke just hours after the end of her 107-day captivity.

The mother of freed aid worker Sharon Commins today said she could not wait to hold her daughter in her arms again.

Aid worker Sharon Commins and her Ugandan colleague kidnapped in war-torn Sudan more than three months ago have been freed, the Government revealed today.

A 79-YEAR-OLD Irish priest has been kidnapped in a southern region of the Philippines after he was bundled into the back of pickup truck.

It has been 100 days since the Irish aid-worker Sharon Commins was kidnapped in Sudan.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs will today continue talks with the Sudanese government in an attempt to secure the release of Sharon Commins.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs Michéal Martin will today hold talks with Sudanese government officials in an effort to secure the release of Irish aid worker, Sharon Commins.

The aid-agency GOAL is welcoming the Minister for Foreign Affair's decision to travel to Sudan as part of on-going efforts to secure the release of Sharon Commins.

THE Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that Minister Micheál Martin flew to Khartoum last night to meet Sudanese officials as part of ongoing efforts to free kidnapped Irish aid worker Sharon Commins.

THERE have been several “false dawns” in the campaign to get Irish aid worker Sharon Commins freed from captivity in Sudan, Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin has admitted.

THE charity Concern is worried people may be discouraged from becoming aid workers because of the increasingly precarious nature of the job in some countries.

AT the start of every day in the close-knit community of Clontarf, families come together to offer prayers for the safe release of kidnapped aid worker, Sharon Commins.

The aid agency GOAL is thanking the Irish public for the support it has shown over the ongoing attempts to free kidnapped aid worker Sharon Commins and her Ugandan colleague Hilda Kawuki.

Aid agency GOAL has said efforts to secure the release of Sharon Commins are intensifying.

THE Sudanese government still expects the imminent release of aid workers Sharon Commins and Hilda Kawuki despite a ransom demand of US$2 million (about €1.43m) from the gang holding the women captive.

FINANCE Minister Brian Lenihan has urged a yes vote on the Lisbon treaty as a way to strengthen the European Union’s role in conflict prevention.

HOPES were high last night for the release of a young Irish aid worker and her Ugandan colleague after it was confirmed Irish Government officials were in direct negotiations with their kidnappers.

A SENIOR government minister in Sudan yesterday said he hoped kidnapped aid worker Sharon Commins and her Ugandan colleague will be released “in a few days’ time”.

THE parents of missing Irish aid worker Sharon Commins are to meet the Sudanese Ambassador to Ireland tomorrow after he said the net was tightening on the gang who kidnapped her.

THE Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday cooled speculation that the kidnappers who abducted an Irish aid worker and her Ugandan colleague at gunpoint last Friday may be seeking a ransom.

Ireland’s ambassador in Cairo is on his way to Khartoum to help free two aid workers kidnapped in Darfur, officials confirmed today.

POLICE units in Sudan are searching for an Irish woman who was kidnapped at gunpoint while working for an aid agency.