Keeping Ireland Alive: The Health Service in a Day airs on RTÉ One at 9.35pm on Monday.

A novel exploring the violent world of Latin American drug cartels was a hit among Irish readers at the country’s 336 public libraries, figures show.

Waterford readers are the nation’s bookworms

Readers here had austerity on their minds last year with Strumpet City the most borrowed book of adult fiction from public libraries, figures show.

The Fifty Shades blockbuster trilogy, which sold 100m copies, contributed to the Irish arm of WH Smith almost tripling pre-tax profits last year to €1.542m.

Irish readers had legal matters on their minds last year with John Grisham’s The Litigators the most borrowed book from public libraries in 2012.

Almost half a million Irish bookworms — mostly women — spent more than €3m on the erotic Fifty Shades trilogy last year.

Honesty is the best policy. So says ‘Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days’, the third chapter of exaggerated adolescent angst in as many years based on Jeff Kinney’s best-selling series of books.

MANNY, Ellie, Diego and Sid are hauled out of the deep freeze for another shaggy mammoth tale in Ice Age 4: Continental Drift (PG).

THINK again if you were going to buy your teenage child, niece, nephew or godchild a good book for Christmas because the chances are they won’t really mean it when — or if — they say “thank you”.