Gardaí have launched a murder inquiry after an autopsy on the body of a woman discovered in a flat on the northside of Cork city yesterday ruled that she had been violently attacked.

Nicola Collins, 39, who lived in Togher, sustained injuries to head, neck in flat in Farranree

An eight-month jail sentence was imposed yesterday on a man who pointed a gun at a three-year-old child being brought to a creche.

Minister has her supporters but concedes she will face a battle for the fourth seat in Cork North Central, writes Catherine Shanahan