UP to two years ago when cystic fibrosis began to overwhelm her, Siobhán Ryan was regarded as one of the best Irish dancers in the east Limerick parish of Pallas.

BRAZEN bullocks, woolly sheep and haughty heifers are being given bit parts in the election campaign in rural Ireland as party leaders sweep into marts, visit shows and walk the land seeking the support of the country’s 130,000 farm families.

An Irish man died at a popular beach resort in Thailand after a fall which followed a two week illness, it emerged today.