Up to 14,000 people could be in danger of being cut off if gale force winds and flooding were to damage the only bridge leading into a town in Co Cork.

Homes and business owners are beginning to count the cost as the latest 120km/h winds batter the west and south coasts.

A voluntary organisation is set to unveil plans to convert a former convent into sheltered housing which will help fill a void in providing accommodation for older couples and single people.

International Atlantic Challenge teams tossed their crewmen into the water yesterday as part of one of the most popular tests of the event.

Bantry bathed in exquisite sunshine on Saturday as it marked the opening of a maritime festival built around a longboat that came within 450m of altering the course of our country’s history.

JENNIFER Evans, 62, has worked in M Evans sweet shop on Wolfe Tone Square in Bantry since she was a girl.

AFTER the riotous celebrations on the national stage in Croke Park on Sunday, last night saw the Cork squad return to the heartland of football in the county.

HOST Keith Duffy’s magnetic charm and rugged good looks aren’t enough to save TV3’s reality show The Box, which is attracting just 160,000 viewers a night.

A NEW, independent report into long-standing legal and community problems with the weekly street markets in Bantry could pave the way for an amicable agreement between casual traders and local town traders.

Traders selling shamrock on the streets during St Patrick’s Day celebrations had an unexpected rival this year – in the form of a French market.