A 22-YEAR-OLD man who punched and kicked a former Cork intercounty star in the face, breaking his jaw, has avoided a jail term at Cork District Court.

A SCATHING report on Ireland’s hospital emergency departments by the State’s spending watchdog shows that waiting times rose last year despite assurances by Health Minister Mary Harney that services are improving.

A LINK with the long campaign that succeeded in having Mallow Hospital upgraded to double consultant status has been severed with the death of a woman who was centrally involved.