1986 is not a year most Irish people would like to relive. But the ESRI says we are on our way there, writes Caroline O’Doherty.

CORK harbour has been linked with the 1722-founded Royal Cork Yacht Club since, well, 1722, though the club’s name and even its location has changed a bit down the centuries.

Bob Geldof hit the big time as leader of the new wave band the Boomtown Rats, but it was getting musicians behind the fight against African famine that put him on the world stage.

THEY were born six years and 10 miles apart in a city depressed and repressed, with a chip on its shoulder and uncertainty in its soul.

BOB GELDOF yesterday announced plans for five star-studded concerts to take place simultaneously in a bid to pressure world leaders into eradicating African poverty.