Spring is late this year but at last the magnolias are staging their pink and white displays; the flowers of some species reach a third of metre in diameter.

A nursing home was sued for €48,000 yesterday by the family of an elderly woman who was injured when she fell out of bed during the night.

Investigators looking into what caused the crash of a Virgin Galactic prototype spacecraft that killed one of two test pilots said a five-mile path of debris across the California desert indicates the aircraft broke up in flight.

GARDAÍ following up a report of a gun being held at a house in Blarney found a cannabis-growing operation during their search, Cork District Court heard yesterday.