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Student Joyce Tobin at the Cork Institute of Technology, during a campaign to illustrate the extent of the carnage on Ireland's roads. The 368 students, each representing a road fatality in 2006, lay end to end on the campus. A 21-year-old student was killed on the Macroom to Cork road yesterday morning.

Photograph: Daragh Mac Sweeney/Provision

Giant barriers proposed to protect Dublin from sea
Dublin City Council is to examine the possibility of building three giant barriers in Dublin Bay to protect the city from flooding due to global warming.

500,000 workers will need to improve skills, warns report
Half a million Irish workers will need to improve their educational qualifications by 2020 if the Republic is to compete internationally, a major Government report to be published today is expected to reveal.
Full criminal inquiry into road death
The death of a Dublin man who was hit by a car driven by an off-duty garda will be the focus of a full criminal investigation resulting in a file being sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

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Ireland

Ahern warns NI parties on cost of failure
The Taoiseach has warned the political parties in Northern Ireland that the Irish and British governments have agreed a blueprint for running the North if there is no agreement on a powersharing executive by the end of this month. p
Children's rights poll likely to be held in autumn
The Government is hoping to get Opposition parties to sign up to a commitment over the coming weeks to hold a referendum on children's rights in the autumn. p
Original sentence overly lenient, court rules
The Court of Criminal Appeal has jailed a former spiritual director of Gormanston College, Co Meath, who sexually abused four pupils there some 30 years ago "with almost catastrophic consequences", to 2½ years in prison. p
Move to target bogus self-employed
The Government said yesterday it will introduce new measures to target bogus self-employment later this year with the establishment of joint investigative units to examine suspected non-compliance with labour laws. p
Howlin has 'no regrets' over bringing Garda corruption details to minister
The Labour spokesman on justice Brendan Howlin has told the Morris tribunal that he has "no regrets" about bringing anonymous information to the then minister for justice alleging that a Garda inquiry into corruption in Co Donegal was "compromised". p
Roche to meet tribunal judge over fees
Minister for the Environment Dick Roche is to meet the chairman of the Mahon tribunal today to discuss reducing tribunal lawyers' fees following the recent row over spiralling costs. p
Hospital cancelled 15% of operations
At least 15 per cent of the operations scheduled to take place at Cavan General Hospital since the beginning of the year have had to be cancelled, it was confirmed yesterday. p
Mother says Derek a model son who never came to attention of gardaí
Derek O'Toole was "a model son" who was never in trouble in his life, his mother said yesterday. p
Woman found dead in laneway may have been killed elsewhere
Gardaí are exploring the possibility that a woman found dead in a laneway in Longford may have been killed elsewhere and her remains dumped where they were discovered on Sunday morning. p

Finance

Iseq falls by 3% as European markets slump
European stocks slumped to three-month lows early yesterday before recovering some ground late in the day as the US markets staged a modest rally. p
Change to Aer Lingus working practices urged
The Labour Court has recommended a number of changes to work practices at Aer Lingus but said the airline should compensate workers for agreeing to reduce holiday leave or if a loss of earnings occurred. p
Kingspan eyes expansion as profits jump 37%
Strong performances across all its divisions boosted 2006 profits at building materials and systems specialist, Kingspan, by 37 per cent to €185 million. p
Late February drop puts pension funds into red
Two days of turmoil at the end of February were enough to plunge Irish pension funds into the red for the month. The average Irish managed pension fund lost half a percentage point during the month, despite strong gains by equity markets over the first three weeks of February. p

World

Suicide car bomber kills 28 in Baghdad
IRAQ: A suicide car bomber shattered a relative lull in Baghdad's violence yesterday, killing at least 28 people in a blast that touched off raging fires and a blizzard of bloodstained paper from a popular book market. p
Sutherland joins EU body on climate change
EU: Peter Sutherland, the former EU commissioner and current chairman of British Petroleum, has been appointed to a new expert group advising the European Commission on how to tackle climate change. p

Sport

Gillick can be up there with best
ATLETICS: While David Gillick was the centre of the latest Irish medal homecoming at Dublin airport yesterday the man who helped reinvigorate his career in recent months was quietly plotting the next stage of his development as a world-class 400-metre runner. p
Boss is ruled out of Scottish game
RUGBY: Isaac Boss has been taken out of Eddie O'Sullivan's plans for Ireland's Triple Crown-deciding game against Scotland on Saturday in Murrayfield. The Ulster scrum-half, who scored Ireland's last try against England after an intercept at Croke Park, was ruled out of contention following a scan on his injured shoulder yesterday morning. p
Old rivals back for another title bout
GAA: When Armagh champions Crossmaglen Rangers take on Dr Crokes of Killarney in this year's AIB All-Ireland club football final the weekend after next it will mark a couple of significant anniversaries in five-year increments. p