Ryanair's dismissal of a pilot in 2000 led others to believe that being a staff representative in the company was "a very dangerous thing", a former pilot being sued by the airline told the High Court.

Ryanair started "a war" against three members of a pilots group after the publication of an email the airline says falsely inferred it misled the market, the High Court has been told.

Ryanair is not trying to punish three pilots for speaking out, the airline's human resources boss had told the High Court.

Ryanair did not accept the results of an internet survey among its pilots about their attitudes to safety reporting procedures because they were anonymous and unverified, the company's HR director, Darrell Hughes, told the High Court.

Ryanair's director of human resources, strategy and operations has rejected claims the airline's pilot representative system for negotiating pay and conditions was a sham.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has denied he once described pilots as "overpaid underworked peacocks".

JANUARY’s not even over yet, but already a second Lisheen Fields home west of Ballincollig in Cork’s Ovens has come to market as a re-sale for a relocating family who are trading up, and moving closer to Cork city.

Ted Murphy's Wednesday was probably a little different to yours.

The Paul Hennessy-trained, John Turner-owned Jaytee Valencia is the inaugural Gain Cup champion following a doughty performance in Saturday night’s decider at Curraheen Park.

The strong-running, tight-railing Absolutely Ace landed the featured Macra Na Feirme A2 525 final on Saturday night’s card at Curraheen Park.

Roz Crowley meets Pierre Lawton, a globally acclaimed wine merchant, whose long line of Cork ancestors includes a mayor

There was great excitement in Midleton on the Bank Holiday weekend. The Midleton Farmers Market was joyfully celebrating its 15-year anniversary.

There was a victory for patience and perseverance in Saturday night’s final of the Hennerty Sales Cork Oaks at Curraheen Park as Rastafari Chic landed the €5,500 winner’s prize for Vic and Jackie Roche, Waterford.

Gardaí did not eliminate Marie Farrell as an important witness in the Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder investigation after establishing she had lied to them, an former senior garda told the High Court.

An important witness in the Sophie Toscan du Plantier murder investigation was never assured by gardai she would not have to go to court: that would be “ridiculous”, a retired garda detective superintendent told the High Court.

- Talk that he had something to do with murder ‘a dreadful, rotten, lie’

The wave of protests by residents of Ireland’s direct provision system spread to a fifth accommodation centre yesterday.

AFTER an admittedly disastrous spring the Irish summer has been quite respectable so far with reasonably warm days and nights and just occasional bouts of rain.

A town council is demanding junior environment minister Jan O’Sullivan resign after she issued a directive ordering the dezoning of land in a suspected floodplain.

HOW many councillors does it take to change a government?

A long-serving public representative has described efforts to have a designated flood plain dezoned as “like the passion of Christ”.

A town council is set to defy a Government request to overturn a rezoning decision.

The State paid out more than €655m over 10 years to firms and individuals providing accommodation for asylum seekers.

A TD has claimed it may be illegal for a town council in Cork to use taxpayers’ money to mount a legal challenge against Environment Minister Phil Hogan’s plans to abolish the country’s 80 town councils.

A local authority has defied the Government’s guidelines and refused to dezone a flood plain earmarked for development.

Environment Minister Phil Hogan’s proposal to abolish town councils is facing a legal challenge.

Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin cannot deliver cuts to allowances because he belongs to a very special group of cynical, cliche-ridden, unprincipled, elected representatives at all levels from the presidency to councillors.

THE contradictory reports and Jesuitical reports attributed to the agencies involved in the liver transplant transport failure confirm the incompetence in our emergency planning when a serious event inconveniently happens outside “office” hours Monday to Friday.

IF we burn the senior bondholders (according to our new political masters) we can expect an immediate withdrawal of EU funds.

An elderly brother and sister were killed in an early morning house fire.

THE country’s only cable car service has been shut down after a mechanical engineer spotted what he described as “a loose bolt” on an overhead mounting.

AS flood clean-ups got under way throughout Cork yesterday the ice returned, creating treacherous driving conditions which are likely to feature in the coming days as the cold snap once again takes a grip.

BLOCKED roads, fallen trees along with flooded homes and farmland greeted the residents of west Cork and Kerry yesterday as continuing heavy rainfall took a grim toll on one of the worst-hit parts of the country.

THE Farmers’ Market movement is coming of age – it’s now over 12 years since Myrtle Allen and I first set up our stalls in Cork’s Coal Quay side-by-side with fish smoker Frank Hederman, vegetable grower Caroline Robinson, Klaus and Hannah Balz with their beautiful bunches of fresh flowers and a couple of other brave souls.

TOURISTS will have to wait until August before they can use Ireland’s only cable car to access an island off the south-west coast.

MICHAEL HEGARTY, the Fine Gael leader on the county council, topped the poll in 2004 with 3,089 first preferences and the Ladysbridge man is expected to be there or there abouts this time out.

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.

MODERN tour coaches cannot access a strategic tunnel route between Cork and Kerry.

A DIRECTOR of Thomas Crosbie Holdings, owners of the Irish Examiner, was one of five luminaries to receive honorary doctorates at University College Cork (UCC) yesterday.

A DIRECTOR of Thomas Crosbie Holdings —which includes the Irish Examiner— is one of five key figures in the worlds of education, literature, business and philanthropy to be awarded honorary degrees at University College Cork next month.