A boarding school in Kerry was forced to send all its students home yesterday after a major outbreak of swine flu.
Some 60 of the 140 girls attending Coláiste Íde in Dingle developed symptoms of the H1N1 virus last week prompting the school to call in a local GP.
The doctor swabbed 13 of the students at random and 11 were found to have the virus.
Following consultation with public health authorities, the school decided to send all the students home.
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It is the first time a school has been closed following an outbreak of swine flu.
It will remain closed for the rest of this week and is likely to re-open next Monday.