Vo Nguyen Giap, the brilliant and ruthless self-taught general who drove the French out of Vietnam to free it from colonial rule and later forced the Americans to abandon their effort to save the country from communism, has died.

In extracts from his new book, Bill O’Herlihy recalls his childhood in Cork, an Evening Echo secret, and why he has an eternal soft spot for both Dunphy and Giles

Vietnam celebrated the communist victory over a US-backed government today, parading troops on the same boulevard used by tanks on their way to smashing the Presidential Palace of South Vietnam 30 years ago.

LAST year people were taking it for granted that George W Bush would be re-elected this November, but the lessons of history would suggest that it may not be so easy. Indeed public opinion polls indicate that he has an uphill battle.