A former aide to US president John F Kennedy with strong links to West Cork has wound up his 30-year philanthropic fund with a record €100,000 donation to a domestic violence support group.

They decided to devote it all - all of the resources they inherited - to buying every election they possibly could, writes Fergus Finlay

An emergency action plan for higher education should be introduced by Education Minister Richard Bruton like the one he implemented for jobs, a leading academic has claimed.

This weekend, as all the kerfuffle around establishing a Government fades, it would not be surprising if some senior Government figures, in the darkening quiet of their sitting room at dusk, and in the company of a large whiskey, asked what they had got themselves into and wondered if even a moderate degree of success is possible.

The Mother and Baby Homes Commission has yet to decide whether to ask for an extension of its remit to examine other institutions.

A sample of what made the pages of the Cork Examiner this week 100 years ago.

Cafe goers need to “check nutritional advice” as a report reveals up to 25 teaspoons of sugar in some hot drinks. British campaign group, Action on Sugar, analysed 131 hot drinks sold by big brand coffee shops and revealed one-in-three contain nine teaspoons of sugar or more, making them as sugary as Coca Cola.

The Government should begin removing financial barriers to part-time study by increasing the amount of tax relief available for fees, says a leading academic.

A 21-year-old man who sped from his bed in the early hours of the Feast of the Epiphany, after it suddenly came to light his girlfriend might be with another young man, ended up in court on a charge of dangerous driving.

Parents of children with autism plan to organise a series of fundraising events to help offset a 10% budget deficit imposed on the Brothers of Charity group in Cork.

A member of the Cork-based SouthDoc service was yesterday cleared by a Medical Council fitness-to-practice inquiry into five allegations relating to the care he gave a woman who died hours after being seen by him.

During the first half of the last century, 163 people were officially executed throughout the island — 149 in the 26 counties, and 14 in the North.

Maintaining a decent pension in the forthcoming Budget is vital to keeping elderly people out of the poverty trap, it was claimed today.

A FEW weeks ago in the quarter-final of the Leinster SHC between Galway and Wexford, we were treated to some magic.

ROAD safety is now literally child’s play – thanks to a new national scheme which was launched in Co Cork yesterday.

FANCY a share of a $1.9 million inheritance? Well if you happen to be living in north Cork or south Limerick you’d better start researching your family tree.

THE death has occurredof Richard (Dick) Barry of Dromsligo, Mallow, one of the most prominent and popular personalities in Irish golf for many years.

WAYNE O’DONOGHUE became aggressive with gardaí because of delays in the search for schoolboy Robert Holohan.

The West Waterford Junior Boys Foursome team created history at Dungarvan last Tuesday by bringing the first All-Ireland team title to the club.

RADICAL reform of commercial legal procedures will kick in on January 12 after Justice Minister Michael McDowell announced the setting up of a Commercial Court to deal with cases where the amount in dispute is over €1 million.

FIRE safety legislation and regulations will not work if people don’t take personal prevention measures to avoid the risk of fire, it was claimed yesterday.

NO family should have to live like this today - adults struggling on €124 a week with just €50 for each child.

The funeral of three members of a Co Kerry family killed in a weekend house fire takes place this morning.

A FORENSIC team will travel to Kerry today to examine the scene of a house fire which claimed the lives of three members of the one family.