A strange set of circumstances led Jim Mountjoy to suggest a jazz festival for Cork in 1978. Little did he know how his idea would snowball, writes Des O’Driscoll

We’ve delved into the archives to share some of our favourite stories from the last 40 years of the Cork Jazz Festival.

Four seats are to be left vacant by Education Minister Richard Bruton on the board of the body responsible for the spending of €1.2bn a year by third-level colleges.

BUSINESSES will benefit from new rules on intellectual property which will make it easier for entrepreneurs to turn creative ideas into “smart” jobs, according to the Enterprise Minister Batt O’Keeffe.

A NEW board of the overhauled Abbey Theatre was announced yesterday by Arts Minister John O’Donoghue, in a move aimed at putting expertise in place to better manage the troubled national theatre.

A DUBLIN technology company which had retained losses of €2.3 million at the end of 2004 has been sold for about €45m.

Payments software provider Trintech has appointed Dr Jim Mountjoy as a non-executive director to its board.

EIRCOM, travel website GoHop.ie and the Royal College of Surgeons were among the winners at the annual ICT Excellence Awards last night.

TÁNAISTE Mary Harney has announced the board of Science Foundation Ireland, the body set up to fund research and development.

elta Partners has provided €1.1m seed funding for Dublin laser optics company Tsunami Photonics.