A glance at the week that was
Star-crossed lovers
Stefan Petzner has lost his position as leader of the far-right Alliance For The Future of Austria political party, after all but revealing that he had a homosexual relationship with his predecessor, Jörg Haider. During an emotional radio interview, Petzner said he had enjoyed a "special relationship" with Haider, who was the "man of his life". Haider died on October 11th after crashing his car while driving at twice the speed limit. He had reportedly spent the evening in a gay bar and his blood-alcohol level was four times the Austrian limit.
Star-struck teens
Forget Bond or Sex and the City: the current must-have cinema ticket in Ireland is for High School Musical 3. Advance ticket sales have been "phenomenal", according to the Irish distributors, with cinemas across the country holding up to 70 screenings across the midterm bank-holiday weekend. Overexcited children have been singing in their seats and dancing in the aisles along with the film - much like their mothers did with Mamma Mia!
"We have nothing down in south Kerry only bogs and rushes"
Jackie Healy Rae explains why the poverty-striken denizens of Co Kerry won't be affected by the medical card entitlement cuts
We now know
Iran is apparently backing Barack Obama for US president, along with Colin Powell. Stick that in your conspiracy pipe.
Dublin City Council is considering banning all traffic from the city centre because of construction projects and congestion.
Gardaí are to get pepper spray to help them keep the country's more unsavoury citizens in check
The numbers
15,000 estimated number of older people (left) who descended in protest on Leinster House
10,000 estimated number of students who descended in protest on Leinster House
80 number of gardaí assigned to keep the Dáil's main gate safe from them. They are not thought to have been armed with pepper spray