A Naval Service crew was forced to ‘abandon ship’ when further problems were detected on the new €70m LÉ James Joyce.

It may be twinned with Waterford, but the Maltese military’s ‘snub’ of an offer to take the naval vessel LÉ Aoife free of charge has angered Cork county councillors.

Talk about gratitude. The Government gifted a navy ship worth €400,000 to the Maltese but its military, instead of being grateful, torpedoed the idea.

The Government is to gift one of its Naval Service ships to the Maltese to help them cope with the ongoing refugee crisis in the Mediterranean and is planning to deploy Irish ships on an EU anti-piracy missions off Somalia.

I had resolved never to visit Malta.

Europe correspondent, Ann Cahill, delivers her weekly briefing on Euro affairs from the European Parliament.

Malta’s prime minister said 27 people are confirmed dead after the capsizing of a migrant ship off the Sicilian island of Lampedusa.

A boat carrying an estimated 200 migrants has capsized off the Italian island of Lampedusa where a shipwreck last week left more than 300 dead.

FINANCE Minister Michael Noonan has stressed that the Government will proceed with its plans to nationalise Irish Life & Permanent (IL&P), in order for it to meet its recapitalisation needs, by the end of this month, despite the group’s shareholders voting against the plan.

Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi destroyed an oil pipeline and storage plant today as they pounded rebels with artillery and gunfire in at least two major cities.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has promised to fight any attempt to impose a no-fly zone on the country.

AN emergency team of Irish consular staff is expected to arrive in Tripoli this morning to help evacuate all remaining Irish nationals wishing to leave Libya amid widespread violence and bloodshed in the North African country.

IT’S a shame Transport Minister Noel Dempsey spent so long sunning himself in the Med as his abilities to keep digging whilst in a hole would surely have been an inspiration to those struggling to clear treacherous roads and footpaths back home.

ITALIAN coastguards rescued more than 400 migrants off the southern island of Lampedusa yesterday, including a group of about 300 men, women and children crammed into a wooden boat, officials said.

Ronnie O’Sullivan returns to action today at the Malta Cup looking to break a long-standing hoodoo at the first overseas event of the season.

Italy’s coast guard recovered the bodies of three illegal immigrants who drowned this morning after their boat capsized off Malta’s coast, officials said, and the Maltese army called off the search for eight others, who were presumed drowned, raising the death toll to 11.

Bertie Ahern and other EU leaders today called for lower mobile phone charges for travellers who want to ring home from abroad.

Some 27 migrants travelling in a dinghy were reported missing, feared dead, off Malta, Maltese authorities said today.

A German aid ship with 36 Sudanese and another rescued African that has been sailing southern Mediterranean waters for three weeks in search of a haven has been turned away from a Sicilian port today.

A tiny moon rock believed to be worth about £3m (€4.5m) has been stolen from a Maltese museum, 30 years after US President Richard Nixon donated it to the Mediterranean island nation.

Ten years ago, when big-time pro-snooker first arrived on Maltese shores, Tony Drago ended the tournament in a flood of tears.

IT is clear from the answer which he gave to the Fine Gael Leader, Mr Enda Kenny, TD in the Dáil last wednesday that the Taoiseach is badly advised in relation to the status of the Irish language in the EU.

IRELAND’S modest minimum wage represents a fortune in the majority of the 10 accession countries due to join the European Union in May this year, a recent study shows.

Looking over the shores where the Apostle Paul preached, the pope ended his odysseys through biblical lands today with an appeal to end the cycle of Middle East violence in the places he once prayed.

Siamese twin Jodie could be discharged from hospital in as little as two weeks' time.

Conjoined twin Mary - who died during an operation to save her sister Jodie in Manchester - has been buried on the Maltese island of Gozo.

The funeral of conjoined twin Mary who died during an operation to separate her from her sister Jodie is taking place near the family's home on a Maltese island.