Madeline Whelan was removing presents from under the Christmas tree in the front room of the family home in St Mary’s Park yesterday.

A Fianna Fáil senator has spoken of how he has battled with alcohol but is now in a better place and enjoying his life without drink.

Blind Irish adventurer Mark Pollock — who was left paralysed when he fell 25ft from a bedroom window while staying with friends in England — has won his battle for damages in the High Court in London.

The remains of a child found dumped in a suitcase in the South Australian bush are highly unlikely to be those of British girl Madeline McCann, police say.

Madeline’s life is torn apart on her 14th birthday. Having moved to an island with her overbearing, God-fearing father and submissive mother, Madeline spends her days searching for God and playing with her dog. 

TO A TOURIST, the subdued mood in the seaport town of Cobh probably seemed no more than a dose of the post-Christmas blues, but for locals the picture was far darker.

Rory O’Moore, a real family horse, ran his rivals ragged to land the featured Ticket Sales Online Handicap Hurdle at Cork yesterday.

USA: A woman and her daughter both gave birth at the same hospital in Florida on the same day.

Ireland’s oldest man, Luke Dolan, died this week at the age of 108.

It was the “Southie Selfie” that showed just how important the day of Irish celebration is to the most powerful in Boston politics.

A staple of the health food store, Quinoa, pronounced ‘keenwah’, is a highly nutritious grain crop originating in South America, which was once considered ‘the gold of the Incas’.

A senior barrister in Limerick has called on people to boycott products advertised on TV3 following derogatory remarks made about his native city on Come Dine With Me by one of its celebrity guests.

Spring is in the air and thoughts turn towards growing.

The Cost of Living

THE highlight of the Irish squash season had a familiar finish at the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club in Dublin yesterday.

VISITING the slum of lower Raboto, the first thing that hits western senses is the smell. It is hard to imagine that any human could live here. Yet thousands do and pay rent for the privilege.

Camogie and Gaelic football champion Mary O’Connor and squash star Madeline Perry have shared The Irish Times/Irish Sports Council ‘Sportswoman of the Month’ award for September, it was announced today.

The unrepentant parents of a sick girl who died after they turned to prayer instead of getting medical help which could have saved her, were jailed for six months today.

Leading jockeys led tributes on Sunday to two of the sport’s future stars who died in an apparent arson attack.

A YOUNG jockey who jumped to safety from a blaze that claimed the lives of two fellow jockeys rode in a race hours after being discharged from hospital.

Leading jockeys led tributes today to two of the sport’s future stars who died in an apparent arson attack.

A man accused of causing the death of his 11-year-old diabetic daughter by praying instead of seeking medical care has been found guilty of second-degree reckless homicide.

THE funeral took place yesterday of Willie Cotter, a former sports editor of the Cork Examiner, and a leading League of Ireland player in the 1940’s and 50’s who died over the weekend.

Police in Portugal are probing computer links to the key suspect in the Madeleine McCann abduction case today.

The parents of missing Madeleine McCann today reaffirmed their belief that their daughter is safe and well as they stepped up international efforts to find her.

The sales of books by writer John McGahern have increased significantly since his death, it emerged today.

THE great wordsmith John McGahern was laid to rest in his beloved Leitrim soil on Saturday under a shower of spring rain and sleet.

IRELAND and Europe lost a world-class writer yesterday with the death of novelist John McGahern.

PRESIDENT Mary McAleese, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Minister for Arts John O’Donoghue, along with figures from the arts and literary worlds, led tributes yesterday to the novelist, John McGahern.

THE son of former Chief Justice Ronan Keane and social diarist Terry Keane died when fatty tissue from a broken arm sustained 24 hours earlier, travelled to his lungs forming a fatal blood clot, an inquest has found.

A WINTER of discontent awaits the losers of Sunday’s Cork SHC final. However, no matter what the outcome, for Blackrock’s Alan Cummins the months ahead are sure to be filled with warm sunshine and happy memories.

Who ever thought that Rollerball was a good idea? I suppose there is sound logic to not wanting to remake a genuine classic, but aren’t there better, more adventurous properties lying around film producers’ vaults than Rollerball?