Brian Purcell wrote to his staff in the Department of Justice telling them that he was standing aside before that information became public.

A man who gave evidence in the murder trial of Catherine Nevin cannot continue a legal action against a newspaper over an article stating he tried to sell it photographs of him and Mrs Nevin naked in bed together, the High Court has ruled.

Caroline O’Doherty looks at Martin Callinan’s record prior to this very damaging, badly handled scandal

Kevin Spacey has won two Academy Awards and has an acting CV spanning 25 years. For all that, House of Cards may be the role of his career, says Ed Power. He meets the actor in London.

One of Ireland’s best known exports Brendan Gleeson celebrates his birthday today. So we decided to look back at a few of his best film roles.

Details of Munch’s The Scream — one of the world’s most iconic paintings of which there are only four copies, but also the world’s most stolen painting.

FRANK GILES, an editor of The Sunday Times during the ’80s wrote: “The welcome at Russborough was invariably warm. Alfred and Clem, warned no doubt by the sound of the Jaguar’s tyres on the gravel, would be at the ready in the great hall, genuinely delighted by the sight of their guests.”

The debt collection agency run by Dublin criminal Martin “The Viper” Foley recorded a loss last year, with its accumulated profits plummeting by 83%.

ALL-IRELAND winning Dublin manager Pat Gilroy caused some surprise by confirming he won’t be replacing his retired deputy Mickey Whelan.

AT HIS address on the opening night of RTÉ, 50 years ago today, President Éamon de Valera worried that TV might “lead through demoralisation to decadence and disillusion”.

WESTMEATH’S Leinster club SFC hoodoo was broken in dramatic circumstances by substitute Conor Cosgrove’s injury-time winning free in Tullamore yesterday.

John Boorman sent four men on an ill-fated hunting trip in his classic film Deliverance, which still shocks 40 years on, says Carl Dixon

DECEMBER football doesn’t enjoy the most enviable of reputations but the Dublin and Laois champions made light of the heavy and Baltic conditions yesterday to deliver one of the best games seen in the last 12 months.

A SIX point victory hid a multitude of St Brigid’s sins as the Dublin champions turned in a storming finale to book their Leinster Club SFC semi-final spot at Parnell Park, Dublin, yesterday.

CLASS easily overcame courage in Navan where the quality of Dublin champions St Brigid’s shone through to secure a Leinster club SFC quarter-final spot.

IT was billed as the crowning moment of a sensational season for the Brogan brothers but, in the end, a little known substitute for St Brigid’s stole the show.

ST BRIGID’S manager Mark Byrne conceded he thought his team were dead and buried at half-time of this Dublin SFC semi-final on Saturday.

Cavan footballer Seanie Johnston has welcomed the inclusion of 10 of the U-21 squad in the Breffni County's senior set-up for this summer's Championship campaign.

Tyrone 2-11 Cavan 0-14

TWO second-half goals, one each from Martin Penrose and Paddy McNiece settled this McKenna Cup semi-final at Brewster Park last night.

Division Three

A FUGITIVE criminal and key suspect in the Veronica Guerin murder investigation faces extradition to Britain after being arrested in a small town in Holland.

Cavan senior football captain Martin Cahill says that his side have the leadership qualities and skills to bring them to great heights, but knows that Ulster's minefield ensures that a first provincial success since 1997 will not be easily won this year.

LET’S be blunt. Yesterday’s All-Ireland club final was a very disappointing affair with few positives for fans of the game of football.

Valuable pieces of art escaped damage when a blaze broke out in one of the country’s finest stately homes, it was confirmed tonight.

One of the country’s finest stately homes has been badly damaged in a fire, fire chiefs said today.

Tyrone 2-17 Cavan 1-4

A father-of-three gunned down in front of customers in a Dublin pub was a suspected major drug dealer, it emerged today.

Award-winning filmmaker John Boorman is to be honoured at the Boston Irish Film Festival.

New Cavan senior football manager Tommy Carr has warned the county's players that he expects their full commitment right from the off for his first season in charge.

It is believed that the man shot today at the fitness club at KCR is the well known Dublin criminal Martin 'The Viper' Foley, although this remains to be confirmed by gardaí.

BUILDING will start this year on an isolation unit at the main treatment centre for adult cystic fibrosis sufferers in Dublin, the Health Service Executive announced yesterday.

THE Late Late Show has dropped a scheduled interview tonight with a brave teenager about to undergo painful ground-breaking surgery to give him a chin. Instead, viewers will see a murdered gangster’s daughter plug her book.

THE drug-related killings in Dublin have been described as a clinical gangland murder.

THE former head of the Forensic State Laboratory has rubbished claims by the daughter of Martin Cahill that the gangland boss was not involved in two failed assassination attempts on the scientist’s life.

A criminal gang aborted a plot to kidnap businesswoman Norma Smurfit because they ’felt sorry’ for her, a new book has claimed.

A NEW book on the life of murdered crime boss Martin Cahill sensationally claims that The General once prevented the kidnapping of one of Bono’s children.

Seanie Johnston has been passed fit to start for Cavan in tomorrow night's NFL Division Two semi-final against Roscommon at Croke Park (throw-in 7.45pm).

Tipperary 0-12 Cavan 1-14

EIGHT properties belonging to slain drug boss Martin “Marlo” Hyland are being targeted by the Criminal Assets Bureau.

THE remit of the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) should be extended to haul in the assets of “mini-drug lords” in provincial towns, Fine Gael demanded yesterday.