FIFTY seven Canada geese at Coolmain Strand and 47 Canarian ravens touring the sky above the blunted peak of the long- extinct volcano of La Gomera, in the Canary Islands — Garajonay, the volcano is called, for a pair of doomed lovers, Gara and Jonay, she the Gomera Guanche princess, who fell in love with the peasant boy, Jonay, from the island of Tenerife, 50km across the water, which he swam to reach her.

Here’s a new year wish: May our politicians remain clothed while there are cameras around.

Touched by the last rays of the sun, the grey mud of the estuary is dimpled with silver pools. Above them, rooks fly in their thousands, rooks uncountable, on different levels of the air.

Do you know that we have more than half a million immigrants already? Is it any wonder we’re feeling overrun, any wonder we’re terrified and worried about all these foreigners?

The setting’s the star at this Lislevane, West Cork headland home on acres, says Tommy Barker.

Former Fastnet lighthouse keeper Gerald Butler is due to represent fellow Irish light keepers at a memorial service for 1979 Fastnet Yacht Race on the Isle of Wight this evening.

People living in or visiting a popular village in West Cork will have to put up with unsightly and smelly seaweed in its normally picturesque lagoon because trying to remove it could make the problem worse.

A community will shortly unveil a huge scale model of the liner Lusitania, which was torpedoed 12 miles off its coast in 1915 with the loss of more than 1,100 lives.

A poll-topping councillor in West Cork has been elected the Mayor of the County of Cork.

The division of West Cork into two electoral areas, Skibbereen and Bantry, would strongly appear to favour the two main political parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.

A variety of local and succulent seafood is on the menu for the second annual Courtmacsherry Seafeast in West Cork on Sunday afternoon.

The famed wedding planner is reluctantly parting with this charming West Cork home, says Tommy Barker.

Five men have been convicted for offences spread over three incidents on one weekend, and all in the context of what a court was told was a “long-standing feud” between two related families.

Because it is in almost daily use and in the most critical circumstances the word “sustainability” has lost some of its punch.

Global and national challenges are set to be explored at the local level at an inaugural autumn school in West Cork.

FESTIVALS and cultural events can help extend the tourism season as Fáilte Ireland seeks to help Irish hospitality providers continue the sector’s run of positive figures.

There’s gallops on the strand, music in the air and heavenly gardens on display. And that’s just among some of the activities in West Cork this weekend.

Fears have been raised that recommendations by the Local Electoral Boundary Commission for redrawing municipal district council areas in Co Cork will split communities and remove some from their natural political hinterlands.

A €10m scheme aimed at bringing an end to the discharge of untreated wastewater into a prominent bay in West Cork is under way.

Rapidly growing satellite town Carrigaline could be divided into two local election areas.

The beauty of west Cork under snow is a rare and lovely sight, writes Damien Enright

Tests carried out by two students which showed significant contamination of seawater at two popular West Cork beaches will go on display at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition from today.

Here, on the side of Courtmacsherry bay, where there’s so much unimpeded space in front of one’s nose, the world is lit with an overwhelming brightness after storms or rain, amazing not simply because of the contrast with the non-view of the last time one looked, but because it can be brighter than summer.

ON THESE bright winter mornings, when the tide is out, the sand of Courtmacsherry Bay is carved by cobalt rivers, flowing toward the surf line in the distance. 

‘Traffic bottlenecks’ are developing on the Wild Atlantic Way tourist route in peak season. Fáilte Ireland has said long delays and capacity issues are “negatively affecting the visitor experience”, according to an internal brief.

Fishermen dealing in crab, lobster, and shrimp have appealed for financial assistance. They claim their autumn and winter catch prospects have been devastated by Hurricane Ophelia.

The Lifeboat Inn, Courtmacsherry, Co Cork; tel:023-8864656, www.lifeboatinn.ie

A chance meeting during the Lusitania centenary commemoration earlier this year in Courtmacsherry spawned the idea to mark the 25th anniversary of the Courtmacsherry Model Lifeboat that proved a major attraction for more than a decade in the scenic village.

Fáilte Ireland to consider west Cork spot for Wild Atlantic Way.

A body has been recovered after a car went over a cliff in Cork yesterday evening.

Tommy Barker looks at a two-storey terraced home in Courtmacsherry