Tomorrow, bargain hunters will be in seventh heaven with some stores opening at 6am for a pre-Christmas shopping phenomenon.

A 50-year-old man whose “modus operandi” was targeting vulnerable people in burglaries has been handed a four-year jail sentence.

Struggling shops can look forward to 2015 with a sense of cautious optimism, a leading business body has said.

Retailers are predicting a growth in shopping and spending this year as the sector declares it has reached a turning point in recovery from the recession.

The drinks industry has urged the Government not to increase excise on alcohol in the next budget as it could threaten a sector that has huge growth potential in the future.

A fifth year student who has contributed to a scientific effort to solve an 80-year-old mathematical puzzle is the 50th BT young scientist of the year.

IF AFTER the first Young Scientist Exhibition, you told Tony Scott that in 2013 he would be talking about its migration and expansion in Africa, you might as well have told him it was on its way to Mars.

We must aspire to be a republic of creativity, President Michael D Higgins declared as he opened the 50th BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in the RDS, Dublin.

The 50th BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition has opened. Last year 1,200 students submitted 550 projects and over 45,000 people visited the exhibition.

A retired sportswriter was “savagely” beaten and kicked during a €3 robbery by a teenager who now takes part in martial arts events.

Ireland’s father of invention, physicist Dr Tony Scott, was busy yesterday judging the latest batch of budding boffins at the Young Scientists Exhibition.

In the industrial age, 80% of people were hired for their skills from the neck down, but in today’s information age, 80% are hired for their attributes from the neck up.

A changing of the guard is imminent for Clare and Limerick over the next eight days with the chairman of each county calling it a day.

A Christian community with almost 1,000 members celebrated an international feast in Cork yesterday with 70 dishes on offer.

God loves a trier and on the salmon season’s opening day last Wednesday Peter Wolstenholme hooked the first salmon of the 2012 season on the Bandon Salmon & Trout Anglers club waters.

SALTHILL/KNOCKNACARRA needed a Sean Armstrong point in added-time to grasp a draw after a terrific second-half comeback from Tuam Stars almost saw them reach their first Galway SFC final in 16 years.

FAVOURITES Salthill/Knocknacarra qualified for the semi-finals after a four-goal blitz of Moycullen at Pearse Stadium yesterday.

GALWAY SFC champions Killererin were dumped out of this year’s competition after being taken apart by an outstanding Salthill/Knocknacarra in Corofin yesterday.

THE visit of President McAleese and Queen Elizabeth II to the Garden of Remembrance and the Irish National War Memorial Gardens at Islandbridge was hugely symbolic in our nation’s journey of reconciliation.

TOM BURKE is to retire as general manager at Leopardstown following the Irish Champion Stakes meeting on September 3 after serving the racing industry for more than 40 years.

Tom Burke is to retire as general manager at Leopardstown following the Irish Champion Stakes meeting on September 3 after serving the racing industry for more than 40 years.

LEOPARDSTOWN general manager Tom Burke reports conditions to be improving ahead of their rearranged fixture this Saturday.

Leopardstown general manager Tom Burke reports conditions to be improving ahead of their rearranged fixture this Saturday.

Leopardstown’s Hennessy Gold Cup meeting has been rescheduled for next Saturday.

This afternoon’s meeting at Leopardstown, featuring the Hennessy Gold Cup, has been cancelled due to waterlogging.

WILLIE MULLINS reports Hurricane Fly in good form ahead of his FRBHP Insurances Irish Champion Hurdle run on Sunday.

Officials at Leopardstown remain optimistic that Sunday's high-profile meeting will go ahead.

JOCKEY Brian O’Connell admits Dunguib will have plenty on his plate as he returns to action in Sunday’s BHP Insurances Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown.

A TEENAGER who developed software that tracks the movement of a tennis player has won the top prize in the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.

LEOPARDSTOWN and Limerick racecourses both stand to lose six-figure sums following the cancellation of racing on St Stephen’s Day due to the arctic weather conditions.

LEOPARDSTOWN yesterday bowed to the inevitable and their St Stephen’s Day card has been postponed to Thursday, December 30.

LEOPARDSTOWN chiefs will make a call in the next24 hours on whether they will have racing on St Stephen’s Day.

THE Leopardstown executive are praying the thaw will arrive in time to allow their four-day Christmas Festival get underway on Sunday.

PROSPECTS of turf racing before Christmas look bleak as the second big freeze of the winter continues to bite.

SOME of the top National Hunt stars in Ireland and Britain will be coming to Leopardstown next month for the 2010 renewal of the course’s Christmas Festival.

LEOPARDSTOWN Racecourse yesterday announced a new five-year deal which will see the 100% Irish owned BHP Insurances Ltd company sponsor the Irish Champion Hurdle until 2015.

A mother of four who bludgeoned her husband to death and whose children appealed for her not to be jailed for the crime, has been given a five-year suspended sentence at the Central Criminal Court.

Leopardstown’s two-day meeting this weekend is likely to take place on heavy ground, although the meeting is in no danger.

Sunday’s meeting at Leopardstown, featuring the MCR Hurdle, has been cancelled as conditions are still unraceable.

THE Irish horse and greyhound racing industries look set to suffer heavy financial blows due to postponements brought on by the wintry weather.

LEOPARDSTOWN’S meeting on Sunday, featuring the MCR Hurdle, is under threat due to adverse weather.

Leopardstown’s meeting on Sunday, featuring the MCR Hurdle, is under threat due to adverse weather.