A 17-year-old girl whose leg was amputated after a rollercoaster crash at Alton Towers initially needed a machine to keep her alive in intensive care, her brother said.

The family of a 17-year-old girl injured in a rollercoaster crash at Alton Towers have thanked medics for saving her life after she had one of her legs amputated.

Alton Towers will reopen to the public in England today after shutting its gates following a rollercoaster crash which saw four people seriously injured.

IN YOUR FACE, INSENSITIVE DOUCHEBAGS!

UK comedian Sarah Millican has hit back against online criticism she received over her choice of dress at the 2013 Bafta awards.

A Dublin-born paedophile priest who abused seven children, including altar boys, over a 34-year period has been jailed for 15 years.

A paedophile priest from Dublin who abused seven children, including altar boys, over a 34-year period has been jailed for 15 years.

A former priest who spent more than two decades on the run in Spain will today be sentenced for sexually assaulting seven children.

A pristine, 200-year-old Georgian in an enclave on Cork’s Sunday’s Well has been lovingly restored by the vendors, says Tommy Barker

Hurricane Irene opened its assault on the Eastern Seaboard today by lashing the North Carolina coast with wind as strong as 115 mph and pounding shoreline homes with waves.

A FOLLOW-UP investigation at a nursing home revealed some unacceptable practices — despite earlier warnings of residents being at risk from elder abuse.

A FOLLOW-UP investigation at a nursing home revealed some unacceptable practices — despite earlier warnings of residents being at risk from elder abuse.

A WEAKENED Hurricane Earl delivered only a glancing blow to North Carolina’s Outer Banks yesterday on its way up the East Coast, flooding roads on the narrow holiday islands and knocking out power but staying farther offshore than feared. There were no immediate reports of any injuries.

The last ferry left for the mainland and residents took shelter as Hurricane Earl closed in on North Carolina’s dangerously exposed Outer Banks today with 105mph winds.

Two young children have died in a “suspicious” house fire, British police said today.

Harry Dunlop is dreaming of the Oaks after the deserved victory of Three Moons at Folkestone today.

LONG before the phrase ‘doing a Derby’ became the voguish term to describe abject failure in the Premier League, Stoke City had cornered the market in top-flight under-achievement.

WITH all due respect to your columnist Steven King’s sceptical demythologising of the Northern Executive’s head honchos (January 16), the two old political cons (Paisley and McGuinness) have surprised more than themselves on their road to Damascus.

Gunmen stormed into a coastal village in Guyana early today and shot dead 11 people, President Bharrat Jagdeo said. It was the worst mass killing in the small South American nation in more than 30 years.

Blue Line provided a proud, if nerve-wracking, moment of glory for trainer Michael Madgwick and owner-breeder Nell Coller at Lingfield.

AN ailing patient at Leas Cross waited three days to see a doctor because a staff member claimed difficulty in contacting one, a damning report on the disgraced nursing home reveals.

A potentially damning report into the Leas Cross nursing home will be published in the next couple of weeks, the Tánaiste told the Dáil today.

An unpublished report into Leas Cross nursing home details a catalogue of systematic institutional abuse, the Dáil heard tonight.

Teen sensation Cian McNamara produced two stunning extra time comebacks to win the Shell Ireland sponsored South of Ireland title at Lahinch.

AN 11-year-old boy is to spend Christmas day in foster care after his family allegedly decided to leave him home alone while they took a holiday in the Canaries.

Tony Blair today faced an impassioned grilling from a student angry about tuition fees.