A PATTER of little feet is expected at a General Election candidate’s door imminently, but it won’t be his canvassing party.

ANOTHER leading Fine Gael politician in Co Cork has announced that he will not be contesting the next general election.

THE political landscape of the Cork South-West constituency has changed forever following the announcement a second long-serving TD will not seek re-election.

THE country’s second-longest serving TD has announced he is to step down from the Dáil to make way for a younger person.

IRELAND’S only cable car will be out of action for several weeks after it was discovered that its suspension cables were fraying.

IRELAND’S only cable car is set to be replaced next month — exactly 40 years on from when it was first installed to link an island off the south-west coast to the mainland.

HUNDREDS of people from all walks of life turned up to pay their last respects yesterday to a man who was the longest serving newspaper editor in the country.

Éire Óg 1-8 Ballygarvan 1-5

The 140 boxes containing the votes for the Cork South West constituency were opened under the command of returning officer Jerome O’Sullivan at 9am.

THERE has been heavy betting on two General Election candidates in Cork North Central, one of whom entered the race at the last minute, according to Celtic Bookmakers.

Fianna Fáil is to make a last desperate effort to hold its second seat in Cork South West after a party poll showed it was just a few hundred votes behind Fine Gael, according to the Evening Echo.

ONLY three Cork-based TDs are racing certainties to be re-elected to the next Dáil, according to a former minister — and bookmaker.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern is to be asked to explain why his Education Minister is refusing to reply to Cork County Council queries about a promise made by the Government five years ago to provide an extension for Clonakilty Community College.

UNSCRUPULOUS and unlicensed waste collectors are removing incriminating evidence from bags of domestic rubbish before dumping them in fields and on the side of the road.

BUSINESSES are being forced to pay water-out charges in a West Cork town that was promised a sewerage treatment plant in 1999, which isn’t likely to see it materialise until 2010.

ENDA KENNY and Pat Rabbitte will remove the €100 million debt hanging over Cork Airport if their parties are in power after the election.

MEMBERS of the public were urged yesterday to tell Government parties they will vote against them unless they do a U-turn on Cork Airport’s €100 million debt.

BERTIE AHERN’S brother is be told by council officials that his Seanad claim that Fine Gael councillors were holding up a massive 100-house scheme in West Cork is inaccurate.

THE proposed €18 million northern relief road for Mallow has been put on hold, it emerged yesterday.

THE total mileage of roads in Cork far exceeds any other county.

FIANNA FÁIL’S chances of retaining two seats in Cork South-West at the next General Election were dealt a further blow last night, when one of their prospective candidates confirmed he was seriously considering an offer to represent the Rural Alliance Party (RAP) — which has promised him a substantial war chest.

FIANNA FÁIL’S race to replace Joe Walsh on the ticket for the next General Election was dealt a further blow last night when a prominent member of the party said he wouldn’t be seeking a nomination.

PROPOSALS have been made by Cork County Council officials to increase refuse charges by 5% next year, the first time it has upped charges in two years.

THE Mayor of Co Cork, Cllr John O’Shea, made a shock announcement yesterday when he confirmed that he would be withdrawing his name from tomorrow night’s FG selection convention for the Cork South-West constituency.

PROPOSALS which include a desalination plant are being examined to prevent a repeat of water shortages experienced last summer on a popular holiday island.

FIANNA FÁIL is wooing a party defector to stand as a candidate in Cork South West in the general election.

A POLITICAL row blazed between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil yesterday over claims that the country’s biggest party will lose several seats in Cork in next year’s general election.

PEOPLE who lost out as refuse contractors collapsed in West Cork, or who have never had a proper collection, could be in for good news.

CORK County Council is to appoint a consultant who will report on the feasibility of producing bio-fuel at the former sugar plant in Mallow, Co Cork.

COUNTY councillors have reacted angrily to a letter from the Department of Transport telling them only limited finance will be available to do up harbours in Cork before they are taken over by the local authority.

ANGRY scenes were witnessed yesterday as approval was eventually given for a controversial amendment of the Cork County Development Plan, which will allow construction of more than 100 affordable and social houses in West Cork.

YOUNG West Cork couples trying to rebuild old houses belonging to their ancestors are being refused planning permission because they have a view of the sea, it was claimed yesterday.

DESPITE a massive increasing in recycling, county councillors are to go on tour in West Cork to view areas hit by indiscriminate dumping.

PLANS by a voluntary housing association to build 20 homes in West Cork were virtually scuppered yesterday by Cork county councillors.

LOCAL democracy doesn’t come cheap. In fact taxpayers had to fork out a whopping €1,617,686 last year to finance expenses and meeting allowances for their council representatives in County Cork.

ANGRY Cork county councillors have claimed the ESB is failing in its duty to repair public lighting in reasonable time and have demanded that the local authority seek contracts with an alternative energy-provider.

ANGRY councillors in west Cork are to summon senior National Roads Authority (NRA) officials to explain why their region is being overlooked for proper infrastructural funding, which is leading to a drop-off in tourists and turning off potential industrialists.

A ROW broke out at Cork’s County Hall yesterday when FF councillors were accused of hypocrisy after seeking to have collection of waste water charges postponed for a year.

THE Minister for Agriculture is to be asked if the development of a 41-acre site for 100 local authority homes will compromise an agricultural college.

Sean O’Riordan

Sean O’Riordan

DETAILS of alarming cancer rates have led county councillors to call on Health Minister Mary Harney to open a 30-bed ward at Cork University Hospital for sufferers of the disease.

APART from grand occasions, like a price increase, it’s an awesome sight to witness a gathering of a couple of hundred publicans spontaneously rise to their feet to give a standing ovation.