More news in brief
Cork city fire brigade says two families are lucky to be alive after two incidents in the city over Christmas.
Gardaí have launched an investigation into a house fire on the Lough Road near Togher, which broke out just after midnight on Tuesday.
It is believed that the fire may have been started when a firecracker was thrown through a downstairs window. Gardaí do not know if it was malicious or a prank.
The occupants of the house were woken just after midnight by the smell of smoke and the sound of breaking glass. When they went downstairs to investigate, they found the kitchen completely ablaze.
Firefighters using breathing apparatus entered the house and brought the fire under control.
No one was injured in the fire but gardaí believe that the family were lucky to escape with their lives.
In another incident, a stolen car smashed into the front garden of a house on the Pearse Road area of Ballyphehane on Tuesday morning.
A black 2006-registered Ford Focus had been stolen in the Blarney area earlier.
Its driver smashed into the front wall of a couple's garden at about 6am, flipped over and narrowly avoided the house.
The shocked couple contacted gardaí, however the male driver escaped.
Jesuit priest (96) buried in Florence
The funeral of Fr Henry Nolan took place in Florence, Italy, yesterday.
Fr Nolan, a former director of Vatican Radio and a former rector of Belvedere College, Dublin, died on Christmas Eve at the age of 96.
His funeral, held at the Jesuit church of Our Lady of Good Counsel, was attended by several hundred people, including some family from Ireland.
Fr Nolan served in Rome in the 1940s where he worked on the English- speaking section of Vatican radio. He also taught English to Pope Pius XII.
The priest returned to Ireland in 1961 following an illness, but moved to Florence permanently in 1969 to serve that city's English-speaking community.
Fr Nolan was given the freedom of the city of Florence in November 2002.
Death of mother of Gerry Ryan
The funeral of Maureen Ryan, mother of RTÉ 2FM broadcaster Gerry Ryan, will take place today.
Mrs Ryan died at her home in Clontarf, Dublin on Christmas Day.
Her family, the Bourkes, ran a well-known theatrical costume business in Dublin.
She will be buried at Dardistown Cemetery in north Dublin this morning.
She is survived by her sons Gerry, Vincent (Mano) and Michael, her brothers and sister, her daughters-in- law and her grandchildren.
The removal to St John the Baptist church, Clontarf Road, took place last night.