• Derek Lehane, aged 19, was taken by ambulance to hospital from Midleton Garda station, Cork in January 1997. He was pronounced dead in hospital the same day. An inquest gave a verdict of accidental death arising from the ingestion of a controlled drug.

Pat Rabbitte gave evidence at the Planning Tribunal on Friday 24 February. Questions arise about his evidence, including the following: * Why did he receive a £2,000 donation (which he subsequently returned) if he believed receipt of such a donation was improper? * Why did he fail to volunteer information about the donation to a Garda inquiry into planning corruption and fail to volunteer information about this to the Planning Tribunal? * Why did he deny ever receiving "any such payments" when asked by the Planning Tribunal about donations in connection with another development at Quarryvale?

(An edited version of the speech delivered n the Dail by Garret FitzGerald, then leader of the Opposition, on 9 December 1979, on the nomination of Charles Haughey as Taoiseach).

A timeline of the events surrounding the murder of Robert Holohan.

As George Bush becomes more of a global pariah, so Noam Chomsky is becoming a veritable international superstar, despite being almost ignored in his native US. What might be less well-known is that he attacks mainstream US politics more harshly than he does right-wing Republicans – and that he's an anarchist. By Harry Browne.

Blundering magicians, naughty bloopers and Gaybo escaping retirement. Dermot Bolger looks at some dubious New Year telly highlights

Dermot Bolger travels from Cork to Thailand and back to 'the city of eternal education' in his Christmas viewing

Chocolate yule log is usually made with a chocolate sponge Swiss roll but I prefer this sinfully rich version. There's no need for any icing, it's rich enough as it is! Serves 10 approx

Two years ago, it was on a Friday. We had re-scheduled our classes in late morning to take the subway downtown. Rush-hour was long past. There were only two other foreigners among the crowd. We exchanged greetings, then short, conspiratorial introductions: outsiders on the same mission. Did it matter if no one else seemed to know or care? One, an "old China hand," signaled us when to get off, how to find the entrance into the baroque façade of the South Cathedral, home to Beijing's tiny community of Christians.

If you still happen to be so young that you have children looking forward to Santa, then you won't want to tell them about Stefán Magnússon. Any child discovering Stefán's occupation will want you to call the police immediately.

Stefán is a hardworking farmer. He farms Rudolfs. He has 3,000 of them on his reindeer farm in Greenland. Some of them are used to make reindeer sausages or salami; the better quality cuts end up as Christmas joints.