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Ireland's Donncha O'Callaghan (left) and Isaac Boss (centre) after the final whistle sealed a 20-17 victory for France in yesterday's Six Nations match at Croke Park.

Photograph: Alan Betson

Not what we were led to believe would happen . . .
Hmmm . . . This was not what we were led to believe would happen, writes Tom Humphries in Croke Park

FG backs Labour's pledge to cut basic tax rate
Fine Gael has supported Labour's promise to cut the standard tax rate by 2 per cent if the parties win the general election, despite strong criticism last night from the Government.
Garda question two over shooting of 'innocent' teen
A man in his 30s and a teenage boy were in Garda custody last night on suspicion of shooting a 16-year-old in an attack that has left the victim fighting for his life.

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World

Putin broadside at US recalls Cold War era
Germany: Cold War rhetoric left a chill at this year's Munich security conference after Russia accused the US of starting a new arms race and blundering from one "unilateral, illegitimate" war to the next. p
Royal lays out plan to tackle 'seven crises'
France: Ségolène Royal presented her long-awaited presidential programme in a convention centre near Roissy airport yesterday. p
Iranian weapons killed 170 troops, officials claim
Iraq: Officials of the US-led coalition yesterday showed what they said were examples of Iranian weapons used to kill 170 of their soldiers and alleged high-level Iranian involvement in training Iraqi militants. p
Portugal set to legislate as abortion poll fails
Portugal: Portuguese prime minister José Sócrates said yesterday he would ask parliament to vote to lift a ban on abortion despite a referendum on the issue looking likely to fail due to low voter turnout. p

Ireland

Hotel plan angers nuns who sold land for park
A community of elderly nuns in south Tipperary has lodged an objection to a planned hotel development on former convent land which was allegedly sold for a fraction of its value. p
Hospital conditions criticised in report
A quarter of all medical admissions to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda are having to spend their entire hospital stay in A&E, according to a new report drawn up for the Health Service Executive (HSE). p
Law to prevent repeat of Irish Ferries jobs deal
New laws will prevent a repeat of what happened in the Irish Ferries' redundancy deal, when the company received State aid for replacing Irish staff with cheaper foreign workers, Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin said yesterday. p
Consultants to resume talks on contract deal
Talks between hospital consultants and health service employers on a new contract are expected to resume tomorrow week. p
Man arrested for fatal stabbing in Raheny
A man is expected to be charged today in connection with a fatal stabbing at Raheny in Dublin on Saturday. p
Spring calls for debate on immigration
Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin yesterday expressed concern at the number of Romanians arriving in Ireland who may not be legally entitled to work. p
Council says sorry for parking fines complaint
Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council has apologised to the Courts Service following a controversy over time allocated to process parking fines in the county. p
McCartney to stand in five constituencies
Unionists opposed to powersharing with Sinn Féin at Stormont will stand against the DUP in key seats across the North. p
Violence breaks out at encampment after Traveller (36) killed in car crash in Cork
A senior Garda officer from its west Cork division has been appointed to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a 36-year-old man whose car crashed while being followed by a number of Garda cars in Cork city after he failed to stop. p

Finance

Gormley in €780m housing venture
Property developer Frank Gormley and a US partner are planning to raise a total of €780 million to fund affordable housing projects in South Africa, the Middle East and other regions. p
Finance ministers call for vigilance over hedge funds
Finance ministers from the world's seven leading economies have called for greater vigilance on hedge funds and for the Chinese government to loosen its control over its currency, the yuan. p
Bedminster invests €40m in British waste plant
Waste-treatement venture Bedminster is joining forces with a British company to invest €40 million in a facility in Britain. p

Sport

Grand hopes slammed
RUGBY: Wonderful, unforgettable occasion. Lousy finish. A great day except for the last two minutes, as Paul O'Connell succinctly put it. That is life, and that is assuredly sport, but after Croke Park had fairly crackled and throbbed for 80 increasingly dramatic minutes yesterday, somehow c'est la vie couldn't possibly encapsulate the crushing emotions at Ireland's sporting citadel. p
Rosicky pounces as Arsenal leave it late
SOCCER/Arsenal 2 Wigan Ath 1: Arsenal are making a habit of spectacular finishes at this stadium. If Arsene Wenger and his players will not take quite the pleasure from this comeback as they did from their late win over Manchester United three weeks earlier, the celebrations off and on the field that greeted Tomas Rosicky's clinching header showed it still meant a good deal to them to defeat Wigan and move back into fourth place in the Premiership. p
Westmeath stun Derry
Westmeath 3-9 Derry 1-9: A searing opening 25-minute spell saw a razor-sharp Westmeath put Derry to the sword at Celtic Park yesterday. p