ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

Owen Bennett Jones introduces personal stories, insight and wit from ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ correspondents abroad. In this edition, Alastair Leithead is on the trail of a new illegal trade in Colombia: the rogue gold-mining industry, while Trish Flanagan samples the regional and international delicacies on offer in Cork's English Market.

A new golden age for Colombia?

President Juan Manuel Santos has a record many other world leaders might envy: he's been in power for 15 months and still has an approval rating of over 80%. He has not only introduced social reforms, but also recently overseen the killing of the leader of the FARC militant group.

Alastair Leithead has just been to Colombia, and saw that while drug production remains a big issue, there is now another growth industry – illegal gold mining.

Drisheen, corned bodices and buttered eggs

Despite its name, the English Market is in fact in the Irish city of Cork, where it's been trading since 1788. Once a place where the city's poor went to haggle over cheap food, it’s now a destination for gourmets, seeking high-quality produce from all over the world as well as traditional Irish specialities.

Trish Flanagan has been filling her shopping bag.