The State’s bid to save the corncrake from national extinction suffered a further blow last year as the numbers of calling males fell to 140.

Gardaí have released the names of two people killed in separate road accidents this weekend.

IMAGINE, if you can, that first your husband and then your son have been murdered by burning and you are told you are next on the list. You feel you must leave the country and go to a safer place — a place where you believe and hope you can find sanctuary.