The HSE is only acting now to ensure that complex surgery no longer takes place at the Midland Regional Hospital, despite saying years ago that surgical services at the hospital should cease, it has emerged.

The chief executive of the family-run organic yoghurt maker Glenisk, Vincent Cleary yesterday announced plans by the firm to double output in the next two years.

A Cork-based heating and plumbing contractor Barry Murphy topped the list of tax defaulters over the fourth quarter of last year, owing a total €991,864 in back taxes, interest and penalties.

Hugh crowds attended the latest Charolais Christmas Cracker show/sale, hosted by the Irish Charolais Cattle Society in Carrick on Suir, Co Tipperary, last weekend.

An Irishman and a British woman accused of engaging in sexual activities in a Dubai taxi have been sentenced to three months in prison and then deportation, their lawyer said.

The mother of an 11-year-old girl who died in her home is being treated in hospital.

A soldier has died after a road crash that also claimed the life of a friend of One Direction’s Niall Horan.

A post mortem is due to be carried out on the body of a 30-year-old Polish man who died after he was stabbed in Tullamore, Co Offaly today.

A 30-year-old man has died today after being stabbed in Tullamore, Co Offaly.

WELL-KNOWN solicitor Gerald Kean is one of two lawyers who yesterday asked the High Court to strike out a former client’s action for alleged professional negligence on the grounds the claim against them are “scandalous” “vexatious” and “unnecessary”.

FRIENDS and neighbours of a 65-year-old woman who has been jailed for trying to save her beloved trees, gathered outside Mountjoy Prison in Dublin last night in an act of solidarity.

FARMING groups say the European Union’s new 2014-2020 budget proposals will threaten livelihoods by freezing direct farm payments against inflation and by seeking to redirect more money towards farmers in eastern Europe.

IRELAND can capitalise on opportunities for greater sales of quality beef product in Germany and Asia by increasing output by 40% annually, according to the group set up to drive progress towards Food Harvest 2020 targets set for the beef sector.

FARMERS need to be proactive and set the agenda for the “Greening” of the Common Agricultural Policy, according to the chairman of Macra’s agricultural affairs committee, Kieran McEvoy.

IRELAND will find it hard to produce enough high quality beef to meet growing overseas demand in the coming years, predicts Bord Bia chief executive Aidan Cotter.

IRELAND’S 100,000 beef farming families will take heart from a doubling of the projected increase in demand for beef in Europe by 2020.

STATE agencies such as Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann should take a lead in the use of Irish biofuel, says Tom Bruton, chairman of the Irish Bioenergy Association (IrBEA).

CRIMINALS were earning about €125,000 in profit a month from a massive oil laundering plant smashed by Customs officers yesterday.

A 22-year-old man is due to appear in court again charged with the murder of Derek McDonagh.

MUNSTER might not have won the Heineken Cup this year but the province can claim another title as its home ground, Thomond Park in Limerick has scooped a prestigious architecture award.

MAKING significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture will be very difficult, Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith admitted yesterday.

THE European Court of Auditors and the European Commission are putting increased emphasis on measuring what the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS) and other agri-environmental measures are delivering in terms of value for money.

AS THE Government stands firm against revisiting budget cuts in agriculture, farmers are stepping up their opposition to the plans, which they say will cost them €400 million.

THE leader of the Labour Party on Ireland’s largest local authority is to marry for the second time.

A new record has been set at the 57th Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Tullamore, Co Offaly.

IT WAS her mother’s dying wish. Peggy Kehoe, 88, fought for decades to find the remains of her war hero brother — killed when an RAF bomber ploughed into a Dutch potato field in 1941 — and have him brought home to Ireland for burial in consecrated ground, which is what their mother always wanted for her beloved son.

A DUTCH expert has predicted that in the most environmentally friendly scenario, integrated renewable sources — biomass, wind, hydro and solar — could fill up to 75% of the world’s long-term energy needs.

THE Rural Environment Protection Scheme is providing a double dividend by improving the natural environment and increasing the income of participating farmers, Teagasc director Professor Gerry Boyle said yesterday.

PREVENTING farm accidents that involve children and elderly people will be two key themes of the Health and Safety Authority at the three-day National Ploughing Championships which begin today in Tullamore, Co Offaly.

A young Garda was hospitalised with minor injuries today after he tried to stop a hijacked truck, gardaí have confirmed.

A company involved in organising concerts and sporting events has claimed new legislation will push up the price of tickets for music and sports fans.

TWO groups that lobby for vulnerable people yesterday called for major reform of the nursing home inspection system.

SENIOR nurses have called for the lifting of the cap on nursing staff imposed by the Government almost two years ago and only adjusted minimally since.

A TRIUMPHANT Irish Paralympic team received a rapturous reception at Dublin Airport yesterday when they came home with three silver medals and one bronze.

Changes in rural population, jobs, housing patterns and farm incomes are due to be discussed at a Teagasc conference in Tullamore, Co Offaly today.

The Criminal Assets Bureau has sold a house and 150 acres of land belonging to the man said to have brought foot-and-mouth disease to Ireland two years ago when he smuggled infected sheep into the country.

More than 40,000 people are expected to gather at today's National Livestock Show in Tullamore, Co Offaly, Ireland's biggest agri-show.

The former President of the GAA, John Dowling, has died at the age of 71.

A post mortem will be carried out later today on the body of a man who died in Beaumont Hospital in Dublin last night.