Noisy protesters yesterday took over a courtroom and forced the abandonment of house repossession cases in Limerick.

A married father of two yesterday broke down in tears at a repossession court as he fought off attempts by Bank of Ireland to repossess his family home.

Three members of a well- known Cork political family — one of whom is currently serving a jail sentence — were among 126 mortgage holders against whom lenders sought repossession orders at a sometimes noisy Limerick County Registrar’s court yesterday.

Troubled middle Ireland crowded into Courtroom 1 at Limerick’s County Courthouse yesterday.

A woman said she “panicked” and hid a bank’s repossession letter from her husband, as experts warned that families in mortgage arrears they can no longer ignore the problems as this will be “the year of the repossessions”.

A lawyer for AIB yesterday described as “outrageous” a rate of €450 per hour charged by a solicitor in a case relating to a Nama debtor.

Two newspapers who published an article which collapsed a criminal trial have disputed the level of costs they are liable for.

She was acclaimed as one of the world’s greatest designers, so why was Eileen Gray ignored by Ireland for so long, asks Manchán Magan

A CIRCUIT Court judge had no jurisdiction to order two national newspapers to pay costs of the collapsed Paschal Carmody trial.

IF you were to go off searching for gold, you’d hardly expect to find it lurking in between the sunlotion, plasters and bathsets at your nearest pharmacy.

THOUSANDS turned out at Dublin’s Docklands yesterday to bid farewell to a replica Viking longship which made the city its home for almost a year.

Richard Collins on a remarkable Danish replica ship.

A MAMMOTH row has broken out over plans to move the Seanad into the Natural History Museum this summer while the refurbishment of Leinster House takes place.

I BELIEVE it’s time for ordinary people to protest to the Government, or through the media, against the cultural vandalism threatening the ancient, sacred site of Tara.

TWO horse racing legends led the field a merry dance at Munster Rugby’s annual golf classic at Dundrum House Hotel in Cashel.

Museum chiefs tonight admitted they were “very lucky” no-one had died after 11 people were injured when a limestone staircase collapsed underneath them.

NEW Green Party Environment Minister John Gormley walked into a storm on his first day in office by suggesting he would be unable to reverse his predecessor’s decision to build the M3 over an historic monument near Tara.

A GROUP of academics has called on Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny to publicly state his views on the Hill of Tara/M3 controversy.

Fresh calls were made today for the Hill of Tara to be protected during the building of the controversial M3 motorway.

THE news of the discovery of a site of major archaeological importance in the Tara-Skryne Valley is exciting.

The Department of the Environment says it's received a report from the Director of the National Museum about the ancient monument found on the site on the proposed M3 motorway in County Meath.

The site of a massive ancient pagan temple unearthed at one of Europe’s most archaeologically significant sites will be buried under a controversial motorway, campaigners warned tonight.

IN the run-up to the general election it’s perhaps timely to consider the appalling lack of respect for our heritage which has been continually displayed by the Government, in particular since 2002 when Martin Cullen and his successor Dick Roche held the Environment portfolio.

A LIMERICK residents group yesterday accused the city council of slipping social housing into their community through the back door.

A CHANCE discovery by a bulldozer driver has unearthed the most significant medieval manuscript found in Ireland in two centuries.

ENVIRONMENT Minister Dick Roche announced that the route of the Waterford bypass must change to protect an important Viking site.

Conservation groups have launched court challenges to plans to build the controversial M3 motorway near the Hill of Tara.

ENVIRONMENT Minister Dick Roche yesterday defended local councillors who spent over €4 million a year attending conferences and insisted that they were not “junkets”.

ENVIRONMENT Minister Dick Roche said yesterday he was keen to build bridges between developers and conservationists.

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern rolled out the heavy hitters yesterday by charging Brian Cowen and Willie O’Dea with the task of holding on to the Fianna Fáil seat vacated by Charlie McCreevy.

A 1,000-YEAR-OLD settlement, described by experts as one of the most significant Viking finds outside Dublin’s Wood Quay, has been discovered in Cork.

DR PAT WALLACE, director of the National Museum of Ireland, is to be commended for the very positive and sincere oration he gave at the annual Béal na Bláth commemoration in honour of Michael Collins.

THE director of the National Museum believes Michael Collins is greatly misunderstood and had a great pride in our history that is sadly lacking today.

Scientists were today investigating the "significant and unexpected" discovery of what is believed to be an early 19th century time capsule.