Traders in Cork City say they hope a supports package worth at least €300,000 will help deliver the vibrant city everyone wants as the St Patrick’s Street car ban looms again.

Almost €1m has been paid out in compensation on foot of 54 public liability claims within a decade, following incidents on some of Cork City’s most pedestrian-friendly streets.

Traders in Cork should be given “a little taster” of the St Patrick’s Street afternoon car ban over the coming weeks to encourage them to embrace change.

Welcome to The Menu’s House of Love, a special loveheavy edition of this column.

A serial shoplifter, who was convicted yesterday of carrying out more than 30 thefts, declared from the dock at his sentencing hearing: “I ain’t very good at shoplifting, am I?”

Fifteen people were arrested in Cork City centre over the weekend as part of an ongoing garda operation targeting suspected organised begging activity.

Gardaí have arrested two men in connection with the shooting of a 77-year-old woman in Dublin on Thursday night.

A 77-year-old woman remains in hospital this morning after a shooting incident in Dublin on Thursday night.

A 77-year-old woman is recovering in hospital after she was shot in the leg at her home in Dublin last night.

With 2016 having one extra second on the clock there are dozens of ways to ring in the New Year around the country.

The family behind one of the country’s oldest independent book shops will celebrate 100 years in business today with an eye on the next chapter of their remarkable story.

A man who threatened gardaí in Cork City gave his name as 147 and said he was a member of An Garda Síochána.

The Lord Mayor of Cork will host a major fundraising concert next month to help the city’s homeless.

A Cork man had to call the gardaí because he was put in fear by his own son — and yesterday the culprit was jailed for three months.

Gardaí found a young woman in tears in Cork city centre after a heroin addict had approached her from behind and snatched her handbag containing her iPhone 5.

Leading Irish sports retailer Elverys has acquired the landmark Maher’s Sports business in the heart of Cork city.

A Roma woman with no income has been caught in a Catch-22 where she is now begging to pay €1,000 in fines imposed on her for begging.

The Government has been accused of “spin” with its plan to tackle the housing crisis after it emerged it had only agreed to fund the refurbishment of 71 of 113 vacant council houses Cork County Council had asked it to.

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A sentence of eight years was imposed yesterday on the man who carried out a head-butt assault on a man in Cork city centre in an unprovoked attack which the judge described as vicious, cowardly and one which probably had “some element of racism.”

Traders on one of Cork’s busiest pedestrian streets have united to improve the visitor and shopping experience in their area.

While Cork will seek to change the terms of some home-and-away arrangements while Páirc Uí Chaoimh is being rebuilt, Páirc Uí Rinn is likely to host senior inter-county championship games for the first time.

An elaborate mortgages fraud where Bank of Ireland was scammed for almost €1m saw six people get suspended jail sentences yesterday. The man who orchestrated the fraud jumped bail and is being sought by gardaí.

AGENTS Lisney bring a second Patrick Street, Cork City, retail building for sale this month as an investment, seeking offers of €750,000 for No 121, opposite the Merchant’s Quay Shopping Centre and Marks & Spencers.

A senior fire officer who has seen a rise in ‘disaster tourism’ has issued a stark warning about the dangers of swimming in flood waters.

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian’s idea of fun is mixing with other celebrities, eating very little at the finest restaurants, and shopping, shopping, shopping. Surprise, surprise! So why did she and her husband, rapper Kanye West, choose Ireland for their honeymoon?

Kimye — the most famous honeymooners in Ireland — have reportedly moved on from Cork to take up residence in the Treaty City.

Flatley reigned and then it poured — or was it the other way around?

Has anyone spelled out the alternatives to pylons and renewables, such as building a nuclear power station at Moneypoint and confining economic development to Dublin? Or just turning off all the lights and using candles?

All across Cork City, there were water pumps buzzing as exhausted traders stood at the front door throwing bucket after bucket of flood water out of their premises.

Parts of St Mary’s Park in Limerick remained under water even as the floodwater began to recede yesterday.

Mary Hogan dropped her six-year-old grandchild from an upstairs window into the arms of a waiting fireman after the Shannon burst through her home.

Mystic Menu, once again, lays out some predictions and identifies trends for the coming year in Irish food.

It’s sandbags at the ready in Cork city again after the local authority once more warned of tidal flooding today and tomorrow.

An international courier company’s tracking system uncovered a sophisticated drugs trail stretching through the Netherlands, Germany, England, and the North to a rural cottage in Co Limerick, a court heard.

“A classic case of city thuggery” was how a sentencing judge yesterday described the actions of two thieves.

A judge has criticised the high commercial rates policy of Cork City Council at a time when hundreds of businesses face prosecution in the run-up to Christmas.

A judge has criticised the high commercial rates policy of Cork City Council at a time when hundreds of businesses face prosecution in the run-up to Christmas.

How, you ask, did one of The White Stripes’ singles first become an Italian football chant — and then be omnipresent in games across the globe?

To mark the Chinese New Year on Monday, interior designer Denise Walsh of Donovan Walsh Designs, answers your Oriental design dilemmas.