Some 570 jobs at a pharmaceutical giant are being axed and scores of others are under threat at a major fashion retailer.

EXCEPTIONAL costs totalling €1.29m contributed to the Hickey pharmacy group recording a pre-tax loss of €251,230 last year, figures show.

THOMAS COOK IRELAND, featuring offshoot companies Panorama, Sunworld and Direct Holidays offer flights from Dublin, Cork, Shannon and Knock airports this summer.

FURTHER substantial losses of €1.2 million (€2.2m restated) were incurred by Grafton Recruitment in the year to end March 2010.

THE Irish arm of fashion and home furnishings retailer Laura Ashley last year went into the red with after tax losses of €1.27m.

THE Irish arm of fast food giant McDonald’s last year increased its pre-tax profits to €14.8 million in spite of an 8% drop in revenues to €85m.

OSCAR winning Irish singer Glen Hansard has told of his shock after a man died falling from a building on to the stage during a show.

A NEW mum who gave birth under Garda protection last night revealed she was looking forward to spending quality time with her family.

A 15-year-old thief, who stole €200 from a woman as she was making a withdrawal from an ATM on Dublin’s Grafton Street, received a six-month suspended sentence at the Children’s Court today.

BLONDES may have more fun, but now that Claudine Keane’s new husband has joined the Reds she obviously feels she must become more rosy.

Animal rights activists will today celebrate a decision by exclusive department store Brown Thomas, Grafton St, to stop selling fur.

More than €7.5m was raised by the Irish public during the RTE People in Need Telethon, it was announced today.

Out-of-tune buskers have been banned from the world-famous Cliffs of Moher after tourists complained about the quality of music they played.

A Romanian teenager who has brought into Ireland illegally by child traffickers and later arrested for possession of two counterfeit credit cards, has been remanded on bail pending sentence.

Fortune hunters are set to flock to Dublin’s Grafton Street today as a mystery donor gives away €10,000.

After three years of planning, millions spent on public awareness campaigns and the biggest banking operation in history, Ireland is tonight on the verge of converting its currency to the euro.