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Reforms will make it easier to study medicine
Leaving Cert students hoping to study medicine will no longer have to achieve the "perfect" Leaving Cert under plans detailed by the Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin, yesterday. p
School water charges likely to stay, hints Gormley
Minister for the Environment John Gormley yesterday played down
any expectation of an exemption for schools who are forced to pay
water charges. p
Cowen concerned over HSE's budgetary problems
Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Brian Cowen has said he is seriously concerned that the Health Service Executive needs to improve its financial management after it recorded a deficit of €255 million this year. p
'Magic' in the air as the Boss returns
Some people were willing to sacrifice anything to catch Bruce
Springsteen and the E-Street Band's return to Ireland on Saturday
night. p
Other Stories
Call for powers to crack down on drivers using drugs
A former drugs officer has called for powers to crack down on drug-driving. pAssurance given over driving test
Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has said he has received an "absolute assurance" from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) that all 122,000 provisional drivers who applied for a driving test before last October will have been offered a test by March. pRoad deaths this year reach 321
A motorcyclist killed when his bike was involved in a collision with a car in Galway yesterday brings the total number of people killed on the roads this year to 321, 30 fewer deaths than in the same period last year. pLawyers back Bill to reform Irish language requirements
Lawyers have welcomed the proposal to abolish compulsory Irish
language requirements and replace them with a two-tier level of
qualification in the language. The Legal Practitioners (Irish
Language) Bill received its second reading last week. pMurder inquiry launched into Dublin stabbing
A murder investigation has been launched into the death of a man whose body was found at an apartment complex in Dublin early on Saturday morning. pMan slashed with samurai sword
A 21-year-old man is recovering in hospital in Cork from slash wounds after he was attacked by a man with a samurai sword early yesterday. pGardaírule out foul play in death
Gardaí investigating the death of a young man in Waterford city have ruled out foul play but are awaiting the results of pathological tests before confirming how he died. p106 mothers under 17 in Rotunda's busiest year
A 13-year-old pupil was among the more than 7,000 women who gave birth at Dublin's Rotunda hospital last year, its latest annual report shows. pSearch for Laois backpacker narrows
The search for an Irish backpacker missing in South America
since November has been narrowed down to an area of a park on the
border between Argentina and Chile. pRendition claims must be tested in Oireachtas - FG
Fine Gael's spokesman on foreign affairs wants the Irish Human Rights Commission and the Minister for Foreign Affairs to appear before the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee to explain their contradictory claims over whether Ireland has been used for extraordinary rendition. pElderly left in acute beds, says Fine Gael
Elderly patients are still needlessly spending months in acute hospital beds because the Health Service Executive has run out of money to place them in nursing homes, it was claimed yesterday. pRow over schooling of boy (4) may go to court
The family of an American student who faces deportation unless she removes her four-year-old son from a national school in Galway may soon initiate legal proceedings against the State. pLack of facility for radioactive waste raised
The lack of a centralised waste disposal point for radioactive material from hospitals, dental clinics and other facilities could lead to the use of radioactive substances for "malevolent purposes", the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) has warned. pOne year on, no Asbos sought
Gardaí have not sought any Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (Asbos) against individuals almost a year after the measure was introduced by the Government as a new way of way of tackling nuisance behaviour, new figures show. pMan is charged over €3.2m heroin seizure
A man has been remanded in custody after being charged over the seizure last Friday of heroin valued at about €3.2 million. pCouple who forged marriage licence let off
A couple who used a forged marriage licence to win immigration status have been given a "break" by a judge at a sitting of Monaghan District Court. pConcern over animals abandoned after Christmas
The Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, has appealed to parents and others to be aware of the number of animals abandoned after Christmas when the novelty of having a pet has worn off. pInfections caught from animals rise
There has been a steady rise in the number of people in Ireland becoming ill from campylobacteriosis, an infection spread from animals. pDay of tributes as Cavan salutes Cardinal
Cavan paid tribute to one of its own yesterday when Cardinal Seán Brady was accorded a civic welcome by the local county council. pTehran show for de Burgh after Iran eases ban on western music
Chris de Burgh will perform in Tehran next summer in what will be the first concert by a Western artist in Iran since the 1979 revolution. pNew gay rights group voices concerns
A new group calling for gay civil marriages has vowed to "make a lot of noise" about the issue and held true to their word on Saturday, when they enlisted gay choir Glória to help make their point. pStatue honours patriot Lalor
Hundreds gathered in Portlaoise on Saturday to see Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Brian Cowen unveil a commemorative sculpture of writer, rebel and patriot, James Fintan Lalor. pSculpture and Bono's painting raise €200,000 for charities
A charity auction featuring a painting by U2 singer Bono and a bronze sculpture from Alabama artist Nall Hollis has raised more than €200,000 for Amnesty and Goal. pCampaign targets tennis club 'eyesore'
A "burst the bubble campaign" has been set up in Sutton in north Co Dublin to protest against local tennis club plans to erect an "airhall" on the club land close to Sutton Cross. pProtesters told profit the motive of plan to close St Luke's Hospital
A protest rally at the weekend in support of St Luke's Hospital was told that the closure of the Dublin facility was motivated by profit. pIn Short
A roundup of today's other news stories in brief p
Spate of attacks on Orange halls
The Orange Order in the Portadown area of Co Armagh is being
subject to an orchestrated campaign of intimidation and arson
attacks, the order has claimed after another attack on a local
Orange hall. pProject to tackle bonfires' carbon emissions
A project in Co Antrim has been launched in an attempt to offset the impact of loyalist "11th Night" and Halloween bonfires on global warming. p
M&S opt for Killarney after planning setback
Marks & Spencer is to open a store in Killarney after An Bord Pleanála turned down its appeal for a store at a retail park in Tralee. pTwo arrested as shooting linked to local feud
Gardaí yesterday arrested two men in their 20s after a shot was fired at a house on the northside of Cork city in what is believed to be related to a feud between two families in the area. pProtest over Oranmore flooding
Residents affected by flooding in Oranmore, Co Galway staged a
protest at the weekend to highlight lack of official action. pMan charged after €50,000 drug seizure in Cork
A 55-year-old father of seven has been remanded in custody after he was charged in connection with a €50,000 drug seizure by gardaí in a field on the outskirts of Cork city on Friday night. p€235m to promote animal welfare
The Irish taxpayer will pay out €235 million over the next five years to Irish beef farmers to promote animal welfare in their herds and improve the quality of their animals. pFermoy Garda HQ 'too small'
Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan will be asked today to meet members of the Garda Representative Association to hear concerns about overcrowding at Cork North Garda Divisional Headquarters in Fermoy. pNativity play lifts spirits in Moyross
Limerick's Moyross housing estate was transformed into a scene from Bethlehem at the weekend, when about 300 people gathered to celebrate the "true meaning of Christmas". p
The habitual residence of the children was the habitual residence of the mother which was in Ireland
T (appellant/respondent) v O (respondent/appellant) and the Attorney General (notice party). p
Big catch for schools
Angling Notes/Derek Evans: It was a real pleasure to attend the presentation of prizes to the winners of the nationwide schools' Something Fishy competition at the Central Fisheries Board (CFB) headquarters in Swords last Friday week. p
