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Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary with his wife Anita with Hear The Echo after it lifted the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse yesterday.
Photograph: Alan Betson.
Forum to study how primary schools are managed
A NATIONAL forum to examine the management of primary schools is to be announced by Minister for Education Mary Hanafin at the INTO conference this morning, in a move that could reduce the dominant influence of the Catholic Church in the management of schools. SEÁN FLYNN , Education Editor, in Kilkenny reportsOmbudsman will oversee complaints against lawyers
A LEGAL Services Ombudsman who will be appointed by the Government for up to six years will have oversight of the disciplining of solicitors and barristers, and of their recruitment and training. CAROL COULTER , Legal Affairs Editor reportsEaster should have a fixed date in April, says business group
A GROUP of business people has called for a break with a 1,683-year-old tradition and for Easter Sunday to be on a fixed date each year, ideally the second Sunday in April. PATSY McGARRY , Religious Affairs Correspondent reports
In Focus
Motors
Every Wednesday
Refugee protection ruling
High Court asylum seeker protection ruling
Education
Full education coverage
Ireland
Green councillor questions party stance on Ahern
THE GREEN Party's refusal to comment on Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's
personal finances until the Mahon tribunal report is published will
be queried at its national conference next month. pRTÉ to give free and half-price radios to needy after station changes wavebands
RTÉ IS to give away free radios to the most needy and
half-price radios to those who request them following the closure
of its medium wave service. pChildren waiting months for psychiatric assessment
THOUSANDS OF children with mental health problems are waiting months or years for vital psychiatric assessments as a result of severe staff and bed shortages, according to an internal Health Service Executive (HSE) report. pFailure to tackle poverty condemned
Planning for Progress and Fairness: ALMOST 750,000 people are living on incomes which are below the poverty line and 30 per cent of all households at risk of poverty are headed by a person with a job - those termed the "working poor" - according to Fr Seán Healy, the director of Cori Justice. PATSY McGARRY , Religious Affairs Correspondent reports pPoker winner takes €800,000 but there's no bluffing overworked ATM
THE WORLD of poker is governed by one thing and one thing only -
money. pPedestrian among three killed on roads
A 22-year-old pedestrian was killed in Athlone on Sunday night after being struck by a car driven by an 18-year-old man. pTeenager due to have chin reconstruction operation
TEENAGER ALAN Doherty is set to undergo a further 10-hour operation today in the United States which is one more step in the surgical construction of a new chin. pLoyalist marching season gets off to peaceful start
THE OPENING of the North's marching season passed off quietly
yesterday, raising hopes that the summer parades will prove
peaceful. pÚdarás plans Pearse visitor facility
ÚDARÁS NA Gaeltachta is planning to develop a cultural and visitor facility adjacent to the Pearse Cottage at Ros Muc, Co Galway. p
World
Pakistan's new PM orders release of chief justice
PAKISTAN: PAKISTAN'S NEW prime minister ordered the release from house arrest of the country's former chief justice within minutes of coming to power yesterday, driving home how rapidly president Pervez Musharraf's authority is ebbing. pActivists say army killing civilians to 'gain points'
COLOMBIA: Rights groups allege intense pressure for
results in US-funded counter-insurgency war is sparking illegal
killings, writes
Chris Kraul in Colombia pDeath of 4,000th US soldier in Iraq a 'sober moment'
UNITED STATES: PRESIDENT GEORGE Bush, poised to
roll out the final battle plan of the war that will be his legacy,
yesterday confronted the growing human cost to America of its
engagement in Iraq as the US death toll rose to 4,000. pPoll puts Obama back in the lead after race speech
UNITED STATES: SENATOR BARACK Obama gained a boost yesterday when the first poll taken since his make-or-break speech last week on race put him back ahead of Hillary Clinton. p
Finance
Bid for Bear Stearns raised to $10 a share
JP MORGAN Chase increased its original bid for Bear Stearns five-fold to $10 a share yesterday after its initial offer for the beleaguered Wall Street bank was undone by legal snags and furious opposition from Bear shareholders who viewed it as far too low. pEx-'Dragon' leaves lair to reveal secrets of his success
IT IS sunny in Monaco, where Richard Farleigh, millionaire
investor, business angel and former "Dragon" on the BBC's
Dragon's Den , lives with his family. pFood manufacturers facing 'two-way squeeze'
FOOD MANUFACTURERS are facing "a two-way squeeze" from tougher contracts imposed by retail multiples and higher raw material costs, according to consultants Mazars. p
Sport
Monaghan claiming official hit Freeman
NEWS ROUND-UP : THE MONAGHAN football management have submitted a complaint to the GAA's Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) claiming forward Tommy Freeman was struck by a Dublin official in the closing stages of Sunday's draw at Parnell Park. pEverton fear Cahill injury is serious
EVERTON FEAR their influential midfielder Tim Cahill could miss the rest of the season with a recurrence of a metatarsal injury after the Australian international limped out of Saturday's draw against West Ham United. p
Education
WIT is the only contender
The application by Cork IT for university status is mischievous
and groundless. Only the south-east region has a legitimate claim
for a new university, writes
Ed Walsh. p
Health
Waiting list figures up by 10 per cent
Official targets for waiting times were missed in a significant
number of cases, writes
MARTIN WALL Industry Correspondent p
