County councillors have expressed their disappointment that both the HSE and Irish Water have refused to come to their meetings to address issues in North Cork.

A special meeting is to be held by councillors in North Cork to draw up a battleplan aimed at persuading the government to locate a new elective hospital for the county in Mallow.

Cork County Council hopes to save €18 million over the next 20 years by replacing all existing street lighting with energy-efficient bulbs.

Cork county councillors have welcomed this news and yesterday's signing of a contract to design a planned northern relief road in Mallow.

County councillors who want to take control of parking away from a private company will have to wait until December 16 to see if council management will veto their proposal.

Multi-million euro plans have been unveiled to upgrade a historic castle and enhance recreational amenities in a North Cork town.

Cork County Council bosses have been asked to use its Economic Development Section to come up with some kind of support or compensation package for businesses which suffer financial losses during major infrastructure works.

Many councillors said they now felt a naming and shaming policy was the only way they were going to stamp out the problem which is blighting many towns and villages in the county.

Independents will hold sway in Cork’s County Hall despite Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael continuing to underline their dominance as the main parties in the local authority.

A single six-seater in 2014, the Kanturk-Mallow municipal district will be two separate electoral areas this time around.

A local authority is to consider placing spy cameras inside old washing machines or television sets in an effort to detect illegal dumping in rural areas.

MUSIC and dance have long been believed to possess transformative powers, from Turkish spinning dervishes dancing to elevate their souls, to African tribal healers stomping in frenzied trances to cure illness.

Dripsey 1-16 Dromina 2-11

A company that has withdrawn a controversial planning application for a waste depot on the edge of Waterford City wants the public to email it with alternative site suggestions.

Residents, businesses, and a third-level college are among the objectors to plans for a waste facility on the edge of Waterford City.

The enthusiasm of young members was celebrated, when the Cork Holstein Friesian Club took a break from the bad weather for their annual summer barbecue and herds competition prize-giving in Kinsale.

A public works’ contractor landed a local authority with an €11m bill after completing a project for which the tender price was just over €6m.

“It’s a great night for us, the pressure is off, and from now on we will be able to hurl with freedom and without fear,” were Dromina coach Gary Morrissey’s words of praise after his side scraped past Dripsey in round three of the IHC in Kanturk on Saturday night.

The first documented attempt by white-tailed sea eagles to breed in Ireland for the first time in 100 years has failed.

The late former Clare mayor, Sean Hillery, was yesterday described as “a man of great stature”.

A former mayor of Clare said yesterday that remuneration of mayors should be increased to fund proper research and back-up for holders of the office during their one-year term.

World Rally star Craig Breen has beaten the competition to be crowned Person of the Year in his native county of Waterford.

World Rally star Craig Breen has been named Waterford Person of the Year 2011.

PLANS to extract water from Lough Derg as a planned drinking supply for Dublin and parts of the Midlands will be resisted.

A MOVE by Pat Rabbitte, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to grant a prospecting licence for gold and silver to a Dublin-based firm for land in east Clare, has created great local excitement.

A senior Fine Gael minister has insisted that there has been no direction given to councillors to block David Norris' bid to get on the ballot paper for the presidential election.

A BURREN expert said yesterday he hopes securing a UNESCO-supported Global Geopark network designation for the unique landscape will lead to better protection of the area.

THE drafting of an invasive species strategy will form part of a €500,000 spend by Clare County Council in its new heritage plan.

SCENES of jubilation from Dromina hurling supporters greeted the final whistle in Castletownroche last night as they secured their IHC status for another year after a hard fought victory over Cobh.

THE doors of the Loop Head lighthouse overlooking the Atlantic in west Clare were opened to the public yesterday for the first time — 341 years after the first lighthouse was built.

PAYMENTS of €48,000 to councillors for attending three conferences were in accordance with departmental rates and agreed with the Environment Minister, a county manager has stated.

AN 80-year-old retired farmer who has lived in fear of cars crashing into his home for over a decade, may soon be able to use his front door again following news that Clare County Council will erect a crash barrier outside his home.

AN elderly man is living in fear after another serious road crash outside his home – only 10 days after the last incident when a car crashed into his property.

AN elderly man has had a miraculous escape after a car crashed through his front wall and into his home.

Kilbrittain 2-15 Dromina 2-9

AN east Clare priest has launched a “pirate” radio service to bring the Gospel to his housebound parishioners every Sunday morning.

KILKENNY GAA chiefs will lodge a formal complaint with Croke Park in the wake of the chaotic scenes after their All-Ireland SHC final win over Tipperary.

WATERFORD City Council’s three electoral areas have been altered slightly, and renamed, for these elections.

SEVEN days after they perished in the house they shared in an isolated part of Co Kilkenny, Sharon Whelan and her two daughters will be buried today in the same grave.

GARDAÍ will this morning begin a fifth day of forensic examination of the farmhouse where a fire claimed the lives of a young mother and her two children on Christmas morning.

Detectives and fire authorities were keeping an open mind today on the cause of a Christmas Day house fire which claimed the lives of a mother and her two daughters.

A close-knit rural community was today coming to terms with the tragic deaths of a mother and her two young children in a Christmas Day house fire.

SOME of the 278 items examined in Europe’s first audit of farm machinery, which was conducted in County Clare, were of significant historical importance.