The people of Roscrea had their picture taken on Saturday.

The people of Roscrea had their picture taken today.

A town in Tipperary is calling for natives to come home and take part in a unique photo opportunity.

Off-licence owner Pat Keller used an umbrella to fend off a thief after driving to the scene in a hearse.

Nenagh off licence owner Pat Keller was forced to defend his business after finding a thief trying to steal from him.

A fifth of Irish five-year-olds are overweight or obese, a new study has revealed.

Almost a third of families cannot afford or have cut back on the essentials, it has emerged.

The number of families facing difficulties making ends meet has more than doubled in the last four years, according to the latest Growing Up in Ireland survey.

A QUARTER of all three-year-old children are overweight, with a staggering 6% of those obese.

ASTHMA is the most commonly reported illness among three year olds.

Three-quarters of three-year-old children in Ireland are "very healthy", according to a new report.

GRANDPARENTS are increasingly being relied on to act as babysitters because of the cost of childcare and families having to pare back household budgets.

PREGNANT women are more likely to drink if better educated, while one-in-five mothers will drink or smoke at some stage during pregnancy.

Pregnant women are more likely to drink if they are better educated, a report found today.

TWO out of five of all nine-year-olds in Ireland have said they were bullied in the past 12 months, a major new study has revealed.

A new survey has revealed that more than 4,000 children under the age of nine living in Ireland have a mobile phone.

The second phase of a major national study aimed at providing a snapshot of the lives of children was launched today.

A CANADIAN pig farmer convicted of killing six women and butchering their bodies like his animals has received a life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 25 years.

A pig farmer accused of being Canada's worst serial killer was found guilty of second-degree murder today.

NEPTUNE, with four successive victories that includes a sensational win over DCU Saints in the first round of the cup, face their most serious SuperLeague assignment to date when they host undefeated Tralee Tigers at Neptune Stadium tonight.

A blood stain analyst in the murder trial of Robert Pickton said today massive amounts of blood were found on a mattress in a mobile home on the pig farm where he is alleged to have killed at least 26 women.

The lives of 18,000 Irish children will be put under the spotlight in the largest ever research project ever undertaken in the State, it was announced today.

THE Government is to track the progress of 18,000 children over the next seven years to help inform future policy on services for young people.

Grangemockler 2-12 Clonmel Commercials 0-6

A STRONG contingent of Irishmen line up for the Welsh Open strokeplay championship, which begins this morning over the challenging Royal St David's links at Harlech.

Scores from the Irish Amateur Open Championship at Carton House Golf Club (O'Meara Course).

R&A selection chairman Peter McEvoy has named an initial squad of 29 players for next August's 40th Walker Cup, to be held at the Chicago Golf Club, Illinois.

The Tipperary Senior Football team to play Louth in the National Football League on Sunday has been named.

BRILLIANT wing-forward Stephen Kelly is a surprise omission from the Limerick team to play Galway in Division 1B of the Allianz NFL at Ballinasloe on Sunday.

The Tipperary senior football team to play Kildare on Sunday shows two changes from the Waterford match last Sunday.

Allstar Declan Browne has been deemed fit enough to take his place in the Tipperary senior football team to face Down in Sunday's Allianz National Football League first round.

Clare 1-14 Tipperary 1-10

The Tipperary Senior Football team to play Clare on Sunday in the McGrath Cup Semi-Final in Clonmel is as follows:

THE Guinness Cork Jazz festival will hit the right note this weekend when more than E20 million will be spent in the southern capital.

Cork's Guinness Jazz Festival is expected to pump over €20m into the Cork economy over the four days of the October bank holiday weekend (Oct 24- 27).

Charlie Mulqueen, Ballybunion

A MEMORIAL service was held on board HMS Ark Royal yesterday for three British servicemen who died when two Navy helicopters crashed.

Britain's Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon expressed regret today over the “tragic” deaths of two British soldiers whose tank was mistaken for Iraqi armour and destroyed by “friendly fire“.

THE names of three Royal Navy officers who died when two British helicopters collided in the Gulf at the weekend were released yesterday.

IRELAND’S hopes of winning their first Amateur Home International title for 11 years were scuppered in the sunshine at Royal St David’s Harlech yesterday when Wales overcame them 8.1/2 to 6.1/2 in a contest even closer than the scoreline suggests.

An Ohio man has been put on probation for ordering his children to hit their heads against a wall, lick his shoes and stand naked in an attempt to improve their school grades.

Tipperary footballers make four changes from the side trounced by Kerry in the Munster Football Championship last month ahead of Saturday’s losers series match against Louth.