The first of the Irish funerals for the victims of last week’s balcony collapse in Berkeley, California, take place in Dublin today.

A 52-year-old woman who fell in a pothole and broke her ankle after drinking 10 pints in her local soccer club has settled a €38,000 damages claim in the Circuit Civil Court.

A teenager suffering from cancer has been named Ireland’s young carer of the year at an awards ceremony yesterday.

Child welfare chiefs have said they will work with investigators probing the suspected murder of a two-year-old boy.

Former building society boss Michael Fingleton has had a judgment registered against him for money owing to his solicitors.

A mother of three who was left blind in one eye after she was “egged” from a passing car has brought an action for damages in the High Court against the driver.

Murder detectives have until tomorrow to charge or release a father-of-two being questioned in connection with the killing of a childcare worker.

Detectives have arrested a businessman at his home in an affluent Dublin suburb in connection with the killing of a childcare worker.

A 41-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the murder of a woman whose skeletal remains were found in a hillside forest.

A special needs teacher has brought a High Court challenge aimed at quashing the findings of an interim HSE report into an allegation that she mistreated a student at the school.

Books of condolence will open to the public later in memory of the late Dr Garret FitzGerald.

The High Court has wound up a group of related companies following their failure to satisfy a €3.89m demand from the Revenue Commissioners over unpaid taxes.

The Health Service Executive is reportedly set to investigate a possible cluster of vCJD cases on the Dublin-Wicklow border.

THE father of one of the Irish victims of the human form of mad cow disease yesterday criticised Health Minister Mary Harney for "brushing aside" their plea for compensation for the families involved.

The father of a young man who died from vCJD warned questions must be answered after it emerged two Irish victims lived within a five-mile radius of each other.

A coroner in Dublin has reportedly called for an investigation into a possible cluster of variant CJD cases on the Dublin-Wicklow border.

DERMOTT LENNON opened Ireland’s account at the Fáilte Ireland Dublin Horse Show, racing to victory in the Speed Derby.

THE construction of 200 schools has been delayed because of a shortage of suitable sites, a lobby group claimed yesterday.

PHILIP McGIFF pitched his tent outside a travel agency on Christmas Day to be first in the queue for a free holiday.

Dan Collins

THE closure of an open prison for juvenile criminals does nothing for the well-being of young people and their future in society, a conference was told yesterday.

PARENTS and teachers last night united to castigate the Government for its failure to deliver the promised programme to build and refurbish schools.