Inevitably some wit is going to suggest that the EU Birds and Habitats Directives signed into law yesterday by Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Jimmy Deenihan is for the birds.

THE notion of total immersion in the Irish language is being taken to new lengths by a Gaelscoil which will move to a former swimming pool next year.

HERITAGE body An Taisce has welcomed the decision by Transport Minister Leo Varadkar to put a stop to what it described as “the Metro West folly”.

A WEST Clare businessman has emerged victorious in a planning battle with two other businessman over the provision of a new retail space in Miltown Malbay.

THE recent refusal of planning permission for a toxic and municipal incinerator by An Bord Pleanala means the Cork people can now value their harbour, the biggest natural harbour in Europe and the most fortified harbour in the world. The tourist potential for our forts and Spike Island is vast.

VISITORS to Croke Park may soon enjoy the thrill of jumping off the stadium’s roof onto Hill 16 under plans being proposed by the GAA.

LIMERICK’S regeneration agencies have welcomed a decision by An Bord Pleanála to grant permission for a new link road to Moyross.

A LACK of investors has put paid to plans for a multi- million euro incinerator on the outskirts of Limerick city, it has emerged.

A €100 million, 400ft-high wind farm planned for west Clare is to bypass the planning process.

THE green jobs initiative spearheaded by the GAA is developing momentum after a successful launch in Clonakilty six weeks ago.

UP TO 80 landowners in west Clare are to receive a regular income from a proposed new €200 million wind farm.

NEW facilities for one of Cork city’s oldest schools have moved a step closer with the granting of planning permission for a major refurbishment and extension.

A NEW national children’s hospital to be built on the site of the existing Mater Hospital in Dublin will provide “a world-class medical facility”, a public inquiry heard yesterday.

THE development of the new National Children’s Hospital, due to open in 2016, will not be contingent on charitable donations, Health Minister Dr James Reilly said yesterday.

Land giveaways are rare in Ireland. Oliver Moore reports on the thinking behind octogenarian David Rowe’s decision to donate his entire five-acre holding in Co Carlow to a land trust.

THE HSE South has been refused planning permission to remove a large Christian statue from above the main entrance of the Killarney Community Hospital, which it took down and then replaced at ground level.

THE final cost of the controversial Corrib Gas project is now expected to near €3 billion, as one of the partners admitted that it may not be until late 2014 when gas is finally flowing.

ANTI-PYLON protesters have expressed hope that an international commission, which is to examine the controversial North-South electricity commentator, will recommend that power lines for the project be placed underground.

THE board tasked with developing the new national children’s hospital has slashed by almost 50% the amount it is hoping to raise in charitable donations towards the estimated €650 million cost of the project.

A NUMBER of GPs in Killarney, along with a development company, have been forced to seek planning retention for the use of a building they moved into as a new medical centre last year.