St James Hospital is to become the first health care facility in Ireland to provide virtual reality headsets for patients.

A new super-smart buoy is to be launched in Cork harbour in the next few weeks which will provide scientists with a wealth of information and facilitate a number of hi-tech research projects.

Collaboration between the navy and research boffins has resulted in the first Taoiseach’s public service excellence Award for a maritime project which could create 52,000 jobs from wave energy.

BUILDING work on a €16 million national maritime and energy research centre is to begin in Cork within months.

MILITARY police are awaiting the all-clear from engineers before examining a historic building that was gutted by fire at the naval service headquarters in Co Cork.