Ambitious housing plans are being prepared for a former asylum building on the northside of Cork city which has been boarded up since it was gutted in a suspected arson attack just over two years ago.

Reggae royalty, Ireland’s most famous comedy actress and Cork’s first ever Proms concerts are just a few of the attractions at this year’s Cork Midsummer Festival.

GIG WISE: Some extra tickets went on sale this morning for the Spice Girls at Croke Park in May.

Tommy Barker reports on a ’70s home which has had a millennial make-over on the urban/rural divide

There’s plenty of room to swing a tennis racket or a golf club at a late sports legend’s home in Cork, writes Tommy Barker.

It needs some work but this much-loved 250-year-old home is full of character, writes Tommy Barker.

The former St Kevin’s Asylum, and over 14 acres of zoned land, has finally been placed on the market for sale by the HSE, with a €2.95 million price guide via agents Lisney, who say it has clear residential development potential.

Tommy Barker scans the late poet Seán Ó Tuama’s family home on the outskirts of Cork city, mixing country living with city convenience, views of the Lee Fields, and a unique place in Irish literary history

The HSE has been criticised for the slow pace of work addressing the future of a former listed asylum in Cork city which was gutted by fire more than a month ago.

A county councillor is seeking a safety audit on all old public buildings, amid fears recent arson attacks on publicly-owned properties in West Cork and Cork city could lead to further destruction.

Gardaí are hunting for three suspected arsonists after fire gutted a derelict listed former asylum in Cork city.

Our Lady’s Hospital on the Lee Road in Cork City was built as a mental health institution on the northern slopes overlooking the River Lee in the 1840s.

There was a sense of sad inevitability yesterday as plumes of smoke rose from the gutted remains of yet another historic listed building in Cork City devastated by fire.

Here's your lunchtime news bulletin.

Here's your morning news bulletin.

Irish Water have ruled out discounts or refunds for hundreds of business customers affected by a major outage in Cork which left 40,000 people without water.

A special application has been made to Cork County Council for permission to develop a Traveller horse grazing project on the outskirts of Cork City.

Questions have been asked about the whereabouts of a missing antique fountain which once stood at the end of Shandon Street in Cork city centre.

Gardaí called to the home of a young man 30 times to check he was on a curfew but he never answered and yesterday he claimed he was at home every night but was afraid to open the door.

The OPW has dismissed calls for an independent international review of the €140m Cork flood defence plan.

Check out the new tour of the Lifetime Lab Old Cork Waterworks.

The ISPCA and the Department of Agriculture have backed plans for Cork’s first Traveller horse grazing project.

As part of our Christmas charity initiative we asked our readers to share with us who is the most giving person in their life.

When it was over, Pat O’Leary strapped back on his left leg and walked off down the pontoon in Rio de Janeiro’s spectacular Lagoa Stadium to find his family.

Dr Patrick O’Leary lives in Galway with his wife Jude and children Sean, 10, and Joe, 8. He lectures in organic chemistry at NUIG and, in September, will be Ireland’s first para-canoeist to compete in the Paralympics. He qualified for Rio by winning the KL3 B final at last month’s World Para-Canoeing Championships in a new personal best time. He has been canoeing for 26 years but only in para-canoeing for the past three.

The family that bought Dunleer 17 years ago knew what they were doing.

A small development opportunity, at the foot of one of Ireland’s longest buildings, has come up for sale.

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A new year, but sadly, the same old story for homes and businesses threatened by flooding in parts of Cork.

Homeowners and businesses across Cork were yesterday recovering from Storm Frank’s fallout — and bracing themselves for further hardship.

Cork city's emergency flood response team is on standby after the ESB warned that discharge rates from the Inniscarra Dam may  hit their highest levels yet this winter. 

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

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Trish Dromey visits a house which retains many of its original Victorian features.

8.30am 

Audrey has been sorting out Cork people for years...