A crack cocaine addict who robbed a taxi driver after threatening him with a pointed weapon while an accomplice wrapped a rope around the victim's neck has been sentenced to seven and half years.

School is back, holidays are over but don’t despair, wine is here to

A major fire broke out at a Spar in Santry in Dublin this morning.

It was his grandmother and father who instilled the value of money in Dublin entrepreneur Brian Lee — he insists those life lessons serve him well to this day as his Freshly Chopped health food brand expands throughout the country.

A family from Co. Tipperary have collected their winnings from Saturday's Lotto Plus 2 draw.

A Dublin family has collected a cheque for €191,461 from the National Lottery Headquarters today after their EuroMillions win in April.

This week I want to re-visit an old favourite — a wine producer that I suspect is familiar to every wine drinker in the country.

A bride-to-be has won €120,000 on the National Lottery.

The lucky winners of last week’s Lotto jackpot of over €2.5m revealed they have no intention of calling time on their syndicate, and have already their ticket bought for tonight’s draw.

The dominance of New World wines in the Irish market has led many consumers to focus on particular grape varieties so this week I’m encouraging you to look at blends.

An Eddie Rocket’s diner in Arklow and the delicatessen area of a Cork supermarket were among nine premises served with a closure order last month for food safety legislation breaches.

A father-of-one who robbed a shop with two others because he was desperate for money “for the kid for Christmas” has avoided a jail term.

The key to successful present buying I believe is to find something that the recipient wants, but which it did not occur to them to buy for themselves.

A public servant from South inner City Dublin won the top prize of €500,000 in last night's EuroMillions Plus draw.

A community is rallying around a family of seven left homeless for Christmas following a devastating fire.

A suspected gas explosion that rocked Killarney, Co Kerry, at 6.20am on Saturday claimed the life of a popular local businessman, further loss of life being avoided due to the early hour of the blast.

I’M trudging.

A talented young author has produced a best-seller at the first attempt — and all to help fund his new school.

A shop worker is seriously ill in hospital after he was threatened with a syringe and collapsed during a robbery.

AS we cycled the small roads and tracks of the Aran Islands on the weekend before last, we enjoyed the best weather of the year.

Recent arrivals in Ireland will by now associate any words starting with “euro-” with high emotions, a mad media frenzy, and the vista of otherwise level-headed folk roaring at the telly.

The winner of last Wednesday's €4.4m Lotto jackpot has yet to come forward.

Arrabawn is predicting a milk price of 28cpl this year, a projection likely to see other co-ops rapidly follow its 1.95c March price cut to 32.5c per litre.

A Tipperary farmer looking for diversification ideas has cornered 2% of the Irish market and built up an estimated €1.5m in sales just two years after embarking on a hand-made crisp enterprise using his own potatoes, writes Trish Dromey

A DUBLIN Lotto player was just one number away from scooping Tuesday’s €127 million EuroMillions jackpot.

The Central Criminal Court has heard that detectives travelled to Austria and Switzerland with a can of Red Bull discovered at the scene of a fatal shooting, in an effort to establish if it had been bought at a Dublin Spar shop.

Teenager Charlotte Purdue underlined her incredible potential with a runaway victory over vastly more experienced opponents in the SPAR Great Ireland run today.

A Lucan man who handed himself into a garda station two days after robbing a shop because the offence had “bothered” him so much will be sentenced later at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

A post office manager who stole €22,000 from his employer in order to fund his gambling addiction was jailed for four years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court with the final two years suspended.

A post office manager stole €22,000 from his employer in order to fund his gambling addiction, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has heard.

A Lucan man who held up three shops within an hour and a half, during which he put a gun to one shop assistant's head, has been given a five-year sentence.

Ireland internationals Luke Fitzgerald, Jamie Heaslip, Shane Jennings and Rob Kearney return to a 24-man Leinster squad to play Castres Olympique in Saturday's Heineken Cup Pool 2 clash at The RDS (1.35pm).

Malcolm O'Kelly returns to challenge the progressive Devin Toner for game time in Leinster's Heineken Cup Pool 2 clash against London Wasps in The RDS on Saturday (5.30pm).

An autistic Galway man who said he was bullied by his "serious criminal uncle" into stealing €17,000 cash from employers has been given a suspended sentence by Judge Martin Nolan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Coach Michael Cheika admits Leinster "need five points" from their final home Magners League game of the season against The Borders at Donnybrook on Saturday.

Coach Michael Cheika has been able to select Ireland A players Rob Kearney, Kieran Lewis, Ronan McCormack, Trevor Hogan, Jonathan Sexton and Bank of Scotland (Ireland) Player of the Month Bernard Jackman in his side to play Edinburgh in the Magners League in Donnybrook on Friday, kick-off at 7.30pm.

The brother of the Mulhall sisters, who killed their mother’s African boyfriend in March 2005, has been sentenced to two years in prison for robberies he committed while wielding a knife.

Brian O'Meara returns to the extended Leinster Squad as there is a doubt over the participoation of Guy Easterby for the visit of Glasgow Warriors in Pool 5 of the Heineken Cup Pool at The RDS on Saturday.

A town in Donegal was dubbed one of Ireland’s luckiest tonight after two winning Lotto jackpot tickets were sold there on the same day.

BAD blood allegedly existed between murder suspect Ian Bailey and a former friend who gave evidence in a libel trial against the English-born freelance journalist nearly two years ago, a district court heard yesterday.

A family syndicate who won €1.35m in the lottery today said they would reinvest some of their winnings in Friday’s Euromillions Jackpot of €80m.

The Leinster Branch will not be selling any more tickets for Munster's Heineken Cup semi final against Wasps on April 25.

The newspapers who are fighting a libel action taken by English journalist Ian Bailey on coverage of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier claimed today that the plaintiff confessed to killing the Frenchwoman with the words, "I did it, I did it, I went too far."