Moving an adult with an intellectual disability out of congregated settings “works for the vast majority of people” says minister of state with responsibility for disability, Finian McGrath, who added he is very much committed to the policy.

An extra 1,722 nurses must be recruited to fill existing vacancies within the health system, according to figures from the largest nursing organisation.

The country’s largest nursing and midwifery organisation yesterday criticised the government-formation deal agreed between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, claiming the document is “light” on proposals for the future of healthcare.

Teachers have called for a national audit of all schools to ensure they are fire safe and meet all health and safety standards.

The largest garda representative organisation is facing a vital ballot on rosters, and the election of new leaders, which will determine if it is to become more militant.

Niall MacMonagle taught English enthusiastically for over 30 years but his determination to share the beauty of poetry is undimmed. He spoke to Sue Leonard about his anthology marking the 1916 Rising centenary.

The man pioneering the development of seafood bars in Ireland has unveiled plans to create 120 jobs through a major expansion of his family-owned chain.

Trish Dromey reports on how the efforts by a Dublin woman, on a Kerry sabbatical, transformed an old cottage into a spectacular dwelling.

Trish Dromey hears there is phenomenal interest in this Killarney elevated property at Ardagh, needing completion.

With a saddlebag full of chocolate and a straw bonnet on the bould Neidín, The Menu is taking to the highways and byways once more.

An academic researcher who contributed significantly to the growth of the Men’s Shed movement in Australia — where it all began — has admitted to being highly impressed by the growth of the organisation in Ireland.

The recipient of the 2014 Hugh O’Flaherty International Humanitarian award is to be the surgeon, Dr John Beavis, the founder of an organisation dedicated to the relief of suffering and poverty in conflict zones.

Plans to make Ireland a global centre for activity and outdoors holidays will be boosted by a conference to be attended by 650 international delegates next month.

The menu was novel and certainly varied — and they just gobbled it up.

The Garda Representative Association says up to 1,000 officers are being assaulted every year.

The President of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors has blamed a lack of recognition from senior figures in the force is undermining garda confidence.

Grub’s up — literally. A company which normally eradicates pests is going to treat people’s palates to the unusual taste of salted weaver ants; barbecued mole crickets; and chocolate-dipped worms.

A multinational corporation is “re-evaluating’’ its dependency on its 670-job Irish operation following a Labour Court recommendation that it pay back money to Siptu workers.

A politician whose friends got text messages on foot of false reports posted about him on an internet swinger site has vowed to track down the perpetrators.

A colourful personality who had been an integral part of a major Irish cultural festival for almost 40 years was remembered yesterday.

The financial woes of Bill Cullen, once the country’s best known car dealer, continue.

Martin Gallagher's cascade chest of drawers in maple is currently on show at the GMIT Letterfrack.

Men in their 50s feel most comfortable in their sheds, with 2,000 “shedders” taking regular solace in their back gardens.

Every week Esther N McCarthy scouts around for interesting pieces for your interiors.

Senators will wine and dine in private with the papal nuncio in Leinster House tomorrow — a year after blistering criticism of the Vatican in the Dáil.

The late Fine Gael leader and taoiseach Garret FitzGerald used a close ancestral connection with US president Ronald Reagan to help sway Margaret Thatcher towards the Anglo-Irish agreement.

It used to be the pub, a snooker room, a betting office, or even the street corner but a growing number of Irish men with time on their hands are finding a new place to meet for a chat.

Credit unions want the Government to ease restrictions hampering it from lending out a larger proportion of the €13bn in assets currently on its books.

Financially stretched medical card holders who call GPs out of hours should be forced to pay a €5 penalty instead of receiving the support for free, a doctor has claimed.

IRELAND’S wind energy sector is in “a very precarious position” and could lose billions of euro of investment, due to ongoing delays in the approval of subsidies.

CHRISTMAS markets, all the rage throughout Europe for decades, have taken off in a huge way here at home.

The Irish Prison Officers Association said today that it is immensely concerned by escalating violence and gang culture in Irish jails.

SELF-STYLED mobile clinics offering a range of on-the-spot health checks come without sterilising equipment and pose a health hazard to the unsuspecting public, doctors have warned.

COMMUNITIES devastated by some of the worst floods in living memory were last night bracing themselves for a further deluge.

HEALTH workers have been instructed to refuse additional responsibilities, resist redeployment and withdraw co-operation from new services in a directive endorsed by eight unions.

Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy has insisted that the force is making progress in tackling gangland criminals in Limerick.

FAMILY doctors have called on Health Minister Mary Harney to halt centralisation of acute hospital services until safe and accessible alternatives are in place.

A COLLEGE student fell to his death after climbing onto the roof of his rented house after a night of heavy drinking.

ENTRY to Europe’s biggest poker event may have been €500 a head but that didn’t stop 800 players turning up — and a further 50 queuing for reserve tickets outside the door.

Scottish farmers are blaming sea eagles for the deaths of hundreds of lambs, it was reported today.

HOSPITAL consultants insisted yesterday a new contract could be agreed before the summer after Health Minister Mary Harney said she could not wait any longer and was pressing ahead with the recruitment of new consultant posts.

A man in his 20s has been arrested following the discovery of a makeshift cannabis factory in a rented house in Co Leitrim.

DOCTORS at a Tipperary hospital depend on a weekday-only taxi service to transport MRSA swabs for analysis to Limerick.

HEALTH Minister Mary Harney has insisted the Government’s plan to co-locate eight private hospitals on the grounds of public hospitals is proceeding as planned.