An Ulster jail has been rocked by a lethal drug alert, forcing prison chiefs to introduce an immediate drugs amnesty, the Belfast Telegraph can reveal today.

An independent chairman has been appointed to investigate how a convicted sex offender kept his job as a childcare lecturer.

Recent suicide tragedies in Ireland raise many questions about issues related to suicide prevention and the promotion of positive mental health, according to the Irish Association of Suicidology.

RTÉ News has learned that Dr Niall McElwee had been working alongside the gardaí in recent months to advise parents of the dangers for children at risk from drug abuse. This is despite a report about his arrest in the Netherlands sent to garda management by a midlands-based sergeant three years ago.

The Department of Health was criticised today after figures revealed that cash spent on outside consultants, including public relations experts, has trebled in the past five years – to an estimated £3.1m in a year.

A third VHI swiftcare minor casualty clinic is to open in Swords, Co. Dublin in September.

Construction of a new €80million cardiac renal unit at the Cork University Hospital (CUH) has begun.

A new product claimed to revolutionise testing procedures for a number of illnesses has been launched by a County Antrim company. The product, from Randox Laboratories, involves the use of biochips.

For the first time, as part of the Daily Mirror`s Pride of Britain Awards, UTV will highlight and reward the work of the nation`s caring community, honouring those unsung heroes whose work often goes unnoticed.

Almost half of homeless parents in Northern Ireland have been forced to go without food at some point in order to feed their children. And almost two-thirds of the homeless population are eating less than three good meals a day.