A judge has praised AIB for taking a hit on €18,000 worth of cheques stolen from an elderly couple by a mother-of-12 who used the money to buy Christmas presents for her children.

GARDAÍ and Cork City Council issued a warning last night about bogus pipe repair callers preying on the elderly.

IN her excellent article on Fota (Weekend Examiner, January 21), Mary Leland suggests that the Office of Public Works (OPW) should take over Fota House.