The findings of a UK-wide four year research project to help health care employers get the most out of work-based practice learning have been unveiled by the University of Ulster.

The Minister for Health, Mary Harney, has said there will be no pause in the recruitment process for hospital consultants, despite today’s limited industrial action.

A Catholic priest accused of helping his friend sexually abuse a girl did not realise she was being molested, Liverpool Crown Court has heard. Father Jeremiah McGrath allegedly gave money to William Adams, 38, a sex offender originally of Belfast, to buy gifts for a 12-year-old from Liverpool.

The family of a pensioner who sustained more than 30 fractures after her death say they are “entirely dissatisfied” with the explanation from the coroner.

It’s emerged just one in five people suffering from mental ill health are working. A draft report on Mental Health and Social Inclusion, published by the National Economic and Social Forum shows that without work, they are at a greater risk of exclusion.

A new report on juvenile delinquency has found that four out of five young people in detention schools have psychiatric problems.

A leading anti-poverty campaigner has accused a children’s charity of exaggerating levels of child poverty in Londonderry. Save the Children claimed nearly 11,000 children are living below the poverty line in the city.

The Health Service Executive is to review several cases as a precautionary measure after a woman was diagnosed with cancer after having been mistakenly given the all clear.

Nursing unions have called off a planned escalation of industrial action, which was to have involved two-hour work stoppages at all health facilities. The Health Service Executive, the Irish Nurses Organisation and the Minister for Health, Mary Harney, have welcomed the decision.

The High Court has awarded almost €61,000 to the parents of a six-year-old autistic boy because of delays by the Health Service Executive in treating him.