Building a smaller national children’s hospital on the Mater site in Dublin is a “distinct possibility”, Health Minister James Reilly has said.

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.

PLANNING is expected to be granted today for three bridges over the River Lee to help kick-start one of the state’s most ambitious regeneration projects.

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen has predicted Tipperary is set for a “major jobs boost” after an 11,000 square metre shopping centre was opened in the county, potentially creating 500 new positions.

SAVINGS of up to an hour on car journeys between Dublin and other cities within five years and a dedicated route from Letterkenny to Waterford are among the main roads projects of the Transport 21 plan.

RESTRICTIONS on one-off housing in rural areas are set to become the biggest issue in next year’s local elections unless the Government follows through on its plans to reform planning legislation, the Irish Rural Dwellers Association (IRDA) has warned.

HOMEOWNERS in some of the country’s most expensive neighbourhoods are contributing to a surge in planning appeals by attempting to build lucrative developments in their back gardens.

MORE than 50 people who held a protest outside the County Hall yesterday heard that Cork County Council is to take a mobile phone company to court to force it to remove a controversial mast.

“Unfounded” appeals caused delays to the Apple data centre in Athenry, Co Galway, which has thrown the €850m venture into jeopardy, according to Independent Alliance whip Seán Canney.

A consortium has been appointed to transform the former Haulbowline steelworks dump into a multimillion-euro park and tourist attraction.

Dublin City Council has given the go-ahead for a €40m plan to convert Loreto Hall, a former women’s hostel on St Stephen’s Green, into a luxury hotel.

Retail giant Lidl wants to build apartments as part of a new scheme on a site in a Cork suburb where its previous shop-only plan was shot down.

THERE is something fundamentally wrong that the communities in Ringaskiddy and those in the surrounding Cork harbour area should be subjected to a Bord Pleanála oral hearing in relation to the proposed Indaver Ireland hazardous waste incinerator.

The High Court has said it will hear opposing arguments from the State and An Bord Pleanala before deciding whether to grant leave to An Taisce and two Co Mayo residents to bring judicial review actions aimed at quashing permission for the gas pipeline linked to the Corrib gas field.

RETAIL giant Lidl sparked a bitter row yesterday by accusing three councillors of interfering in the planning process for political reasons.

HARBOUR residents met with legal advisers last night to plan a High Court challenge to the location of a national toxic waste incinerator in their area.

I WAS flabbergasted at Environment Minister Dick Roche’s assertion that Indaver’s incinerators are passing through “one of the most open and rigorous physical planning and environmental licensing regimes in the world” (January 5).

Midleton GAA club has to put its plans to move to new grounds in the town on hold following an objection to the development of new facilities by a local resident.