The Curragh Racecourse has been guaranteed a new drinks licence for its dining and drinks areas that will be a major feature of its €72m redevelopment of the home of flat racing in Ireland.

THE country’s largest marching band walked away with the top prize at yesterday’s International Band Parade and Competition which attracted more than 30,000 people onto the streets of Limerick.

A Kildare man has been jailed for eight years by Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court for raping a then teenage woman, his sister’s best friend, in a GAA grounds two years ago.