Heron’s Wood, Carrigaline, €220,000

Two women were viciously assaulted by three young Cork men who chanted at them, “fucking gypsies, fucking Muslims, fucking terrorists” and then ran away laughing, leaving one with a broken eye socket.

The right of gardaí to enter onto the driveway of a private house in pursuance of an investigation was challenged in a court case in Cork yesterday.

An estate agent will tell you Carrigaline is seven miles and 10 minutes from Cork city — but like many such mushrooming satellite towns around the country, the reality is radically different, writes Caroline O’Doherty.