BARACK Obama’s and Queen Elizabeth’s visits are a badly-needed boost for financially ailing Ireland and should be welcomed by all.

A new 7km Dublin cycle path which the Government claims will be safer and mostly off-road has been given the green light, it emerged today.

I’VE been living on the same small patch of rural Ireland for more than 25 years and for all that time I’ve been carefully keeping tabs on the wildlife around me.

Dublin City Council is reportedly planning to extend the area off limits to trucks following the opening of the Dublin Port Tunnel.