'Tis Bertie's summer of love

BERTIE Ahern is becoming increasingly like one of those merry widows you hear about. Having got over the shock of losing his main raison d'etre he is now surprising himself by finding that in fact there is more to life than being Taoiseach. And he seems to be having a ball. And like any merry widow, he has his detractors, those who feel it is inappropriate of him to be seen out so soon after his bereavement. And boy, if Cowen and co wanted him to go away before, after last week they must be considering putting a hit out on him.

Sean Dunne locks Chawke out of D4 bar

A MAJOR row between two of Ireland's leading businessmen exploded this weekend as multi-millionaire developer Sean Dunne changed the locks of a bar in the former Jury's Hotel, Ballsbridge, in Dublin effectively evicting publican Charlie Chawke.

That's gas -- bills up 15% after Corrib field opens

ONCE gas production comes on stream from the Corrib Gas fields off Belmullet, Co Mayo, next year the price of gas to Irish users is set to shoot up by 15 per cent.

New pedestrian bridge collapses on to M50

A new pedestrian bridge collapsed on the southbound lane of the M50 orbital route after it was hit by a lorry yesterday afternoon.