A former junior finance minister who became a lobbyist for the construction industry months after losing his seat has denied that firms were too close to politicians during the boom.

WITH the commencement of the new school term I was shocked to see a large number of children are now heavily overweight.

NOBODY deserves to die in the way murdered taxi driver Michael Healy did, but this is not the time for anger, mourners were told at his funeral Mass.

A PROPOSED motorway will physically divide a County Cork community, causing serious concerns for the safety of pedestrians.

TOM PARLON has been appointed director general of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF), following the retirement of Liam Kelleher.

CORK’S All-Ireland winning skipper, Juliet Murphy, yesterday paid tribute to coach Eamon Ryan and his management team for guiding them to a third consecutive ladies senior title.

THE split-barrier overtaking system near Mallow has cut accidents to a trickle along a road where 15 people had died in the seven years before it was planned.

LADIES football All-Ireland final day may have to be staged outside of Croke Park if attendances do not increase by at least 50%.

PEOPLE are leaving banking and stressful white collar occupations to take up well-paid crafts jobs in the construction sector, a conference has heard.

The Construction Industry Federation has claimed that bureaucracy and red tape are causing a delay of up to seven years in the physical delivery of new houses and infrastructure projects.

SCHOOLCHILDREN are the target of a new safety campaign to warn them of the danger of playing in areas around construction sites.

The Construction Industry Federation (CIF) and the Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) have launched a campaign to remind primary school children of the dangers of playing on building sites.

A LADIES football coach willing to spend €3,000 to attend an All-Ireland final is disgusted that authorities refused to put the game back by 90 minutes.

ENVIRONMENT MINISTER Martin Cullen must suspend development levies throughout the country until a High Court challenge to their introduction in Dublin has been decided.

BUSINESS overall would have to dig deep to fault the minister’s seventh Budget and the reaction overall has been positive.

THE Construction Industry Federation (CIF) has called on the Government to press ahead with the National Development Plan (NDP) and see it through to completion at the earliest opportunity.

The Construction Industry Federation has said more money needs to be spent on bringing the country's infrastructure up to the standard of our European neighbours.

DRINKING and drug-taking on construction sites are to come under the spotlight in a new effort to curb deaths in the workplace.

THE cost overrun in the National Development Plan on roads is set to treble, the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) warned yesterday.

CHANGES in Capital Gains Tax will bring in an extra €250 million next year, boosting the Government’s coffers.

The Construction Industry Federation is taking the unprecedented step of calling for a “yes” vote in the Nice Treaty referendum.