From early morning they started to come — families, older people and, especially, the young. And the most striking thing about the place was the silence, broken only by birdsong and cars going by in the bright June sunshine.

The Special Criminal Court trial of Brian Rattigan, who is accused of possessing €1m worth of heroin, has heard video-link evidence from a mobile phone forensics expert based in New Zealand.

With HSE plans to change ambulance cover, West Cork knew it had to act, writes Eddie Cassidy

Castletownbere 0-12 Adrigole 0-6

While the sporting rivalry between Cork and Kerry is well-known, the academic stakes were also raised between the two counties yesterday.

One of the top three students in this year’s Leaving Certificate is hoping for a career at Nasa, the Cern physics research centre or, failing that, in a band.

Pride and a fanatical will to win were abundant ingredients in Bantry’s win over Beara in Saturday’s semi-final thriller in Kealkil.

Adrigole 1-14 Castletownbere 0-11

SCIENTISTS have made a breakthrough in treating a cancer that kills 500 men in Ireland every year.

DRINAGH Co-op expects to improve on its satisfactory 2010 performance with its plans for suppliers to increase milk output by 40% when the quota era ends in 2015.

ALL-IRELAND champion Martin Coppinger has a chance to show his true talent by winning the Joe McVeigh Cup at the Ból-Fada Festival in Keady, Armagh on Sunday.

GARY DALY’S senior career came of age on Sunday when he beat All-Ireland champion Martin Coppinger in the last shot of a pulsating Joe O’Sullivan Acorn Life Cup final at Castletownbere.

ANTHONY GOULD finished with two exceptional bowls to take the first big championship of 2011 when he beat David Hubbard in the last shot of their Munster Premier Intermediate tie at Ballinacurra, Upton on Sunday.

SEÁN MURPHY won the Ballinacurra Christmas Tournament by two bowls of odds after a powerful second half display saw him burn off the challenges of Wayne Calnan and Raymond Ryan respectively.

FIVE jet pilots used smoke plumes to script “Welcome to the 37th Ryder Cup” in the sky — officially re-igniting America and Europe’s intense biannual golfing rivalry.

THE underfire board of west Cork’s largest dairy co-op has narrowly survived a heave attempt by shareholders.

Former Formula One star Eddie Irvine used money from two pubs in which he had a 50% stake to stop cheques bouncing in a private account, a tribunal heard today.