Loss of Breton fishing vessel “La P'tite Julie” and Galician trawler “Cordero” leave 2 sailors dead and 9 others missing in two sepparate wreckages.

Ireland has the fastest growing population in the EU. Ireland's Central Statistics Office said that continuing high levels of immigration was the main factor pushing up the population by 2.5 per cent to an estimated total of 4.3 million people.

The death of the popular Irish model Katy French has sparked off a debate about drug use in Ireland. The Irish celebrity died of brain damage last 6th December and the post mortem revealed that she had taken cocaine before her collapse.

Northern Ireland First Minister Ian Paisley and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness went on a five-day trip to the United States last December to foster American investment in the Northern Irish economy.

Councillor Martin Ford has been sacked as the convenor of the infrastructure services committee after he cast the deciding vote which rejected the Donald Trump’s plans for a £1 billion golf resort in Aberdeenshire.

Phil O’Donnell, Motherwell Football Club captain, collapsed and died at Fir Park on December 29th. His death has prompted support for regular cardiovascular check-ups for footballers at all levels in Scotland.

Fianna Fáil is interested in developing an all-Ireland strategy as a 32-county party. Speaking at the annual commemoration of Wolfe Tone, party leader Bertie Ahern announced the formation of a Northern Strategy Committee to examine the possibility of organising in the six Northern Irish counties.

A series of breast cancer misdiagnosis at the Midlands Regional Hospital at Portlaoise, Co. Laois, have put once again the Irish Health Service (HSE) under scrutiny.

Glasgow has won the right to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games, obtaining 47 out of 71 votes. The net economic benefit to the city is expected to be in the region of £26m and a further £55m to the Scottish economy as a whole.

Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander is coming under increasing pressure to resign following revelations that her campaign to become party leader was partly funded by an illegal donation.