Today's other news stories in brief
Woman in school grounds with toy gun
A woman was arrested yesterday afternoon after entering the grounds of a primary school in Navan, Co Meath, holding a toy gun.
She approached a child inside the grounds of St Paul's national school, Abbeylands, Navan, at about 2.35pm with a toy gun in her hand. She also approached a group of adults outside the school grounds while holding the toy.
Gardaí from Navan were called and promptly detained the woman under the Mental Health Act.
The incident caused a lot of worry, confusion and uncertainty among children, staff and parents, it is understood.
"Any upset was kept to a minimum," school principal Patricia Fahy said in a statement. "All pupils were reassured by the staff that everything was safe before their leaving school."
Man dies in Tipperary crash
Gardaí are investigating a fatal road traffic collision at Kilmastulla, Birdhill, Co Tipperary at 4.15 pm yesterday.
A male driver in his early 20s died when his car was in collision with a truck. The driver of the truck was taken to Nenagh General Hospital suffering from shock. The body of the dead man was removed to Limerick Regional Hospital for a postmortem. There were no other injuries in the crash.
The N7 remained closed for forensic examinations.
African, Irish academics meet
Africa's future lies in the brainpower of its own people, harnessed through education and applied to solving the problems it faces, President Mary McAleese has told a conference of African and Irish academics.
Mrs McAleese was opening a four-day gathering at Dublin City University of those taking part in an initiative called Irish-African Partnership Research Capacity Building.
Up to 60 representatives from nine Irish and four African universities, including presidents, vice-chancellors, vice-presidents for research and faculty heads, are attending the event.
The conference aims to develop a co-ordinated approach to research capacity building in higher education institutions in order to make an effective contribution to the reduction of poverty in those countries.
The African university representatives are from Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi.
40 years of Concern marked
The 40th anniversary of overseas aid agency Concern was marked last night by a reception at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin attended by Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern and former foreign affairs minister and taoiseach, Dr Garret FitzGerald.
Concern chief executive Tom Arnold paid tribute to successive ministers and civil servants in the Department of Foreign Affairs for their contribution in developing an aid programme that was internationally recognised as being effective in reducing global poverty.
"This has culminated in recent years in the Government's decision to achieve the 0.7 per cent aid target by 2012," Mr Arnold said. "That decision is a source of national pride and one supported by all political parties."
Dr FitzGerald was president of the EEC Council of Ministers in 1975 and was responsible for signing the first Lome Convention between the EEC and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.
Man dies in Ballinrobe fire
A man has died in a fire at the apartment where he lived in Ballinrobe, Co Mayo. Jimmy O'Malley, who was in his early 50s, was found dead by gardaí on Monday night after the alarm was raised.
The body was removed to the morgue at Mayo General Hospital, Castlebar, where a postmortem examination was to be carried out yesterday.