- NEWS
Martin wades into abortion debateAs the Dáil committee hearings continue on the abortion bill, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has waded into the debate saying it is important that Christian believers "be, and seen to be, on the side of life, especially when life is most vulnerable".
Payment cuts see families pay rent shortfallLimits on rent supplement payments set by the Government are forcing thousands of families to make undeclared top-up payments to landlords to secure places to live.
- WORLD
Anger as North Korea launches another missileNorth Korea fired a short-range missile from its east coast, a day after launching three more of these missiles, a South Korean news agency said.
How Star Trek predicted the futureWHEN Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry first dreamed up the concept of a television show based in the unexplored universe of Outer Space in 1964, the world was a very different place.
- BUSINESS
Warnings over future of eurozoneThe eurozone is heading towards a break up unless there are moves towards much closer political and fiscal union, according to chief economist with State Street Global Advisers, Chris Probyn.
Bruton defends corporate tax rateIreland will be able to maintain its current corporation tax code in the face of international pressure to prevent multinational corporations avoid paying their fare share of tax, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton said yesterday.
- SPORT
Mayo’s statement of intentGalway 0-11 Mayo 4-16 Five minutes to go in Salthill yesterday and James Horan was still cajoling his men to sew it into Galway.
Wilkinson inspires Toulon to gloryASM Clermont Auvergne 15 Toulon 16 Not for the first time this season, a matchday performance and the result have made a mockery of the statistics.
- LIFESTYLE
What Lenny Abrahamson did nextLENNY Abrahamson has directed three feature films: Adam & Paul, Garage and What Richard Did.
Why do women love to dress up?Trying on clothes, said Ewart, produced "sensations which bring deep peace and perfect contentment" to the female mind.
15-18C
Breaking stories
‘Into The Grey’ proves pure gold
By Evelyn Ring
A supernatural thriller that brings past and present together to explain the complexity of brotherly love has become the first work to win the Children’s Book of the Year award and Children’s Choice accolade.
Into the Grey by Celine Kiernan is set in the 1970s and tells the story of identical twins who are forced to move when fire destroys their family home.“This imaginative and empathetic supernatural thriller coalesces past and present to explore the complexities of fraternal love and pain of loss,” the judges commented.
Celine, originally from Dublin and now living in Virginia, Co Cavan, wrote her first novel at the age of 11 and, though it was, in her words, “excruciatingly bad”, she has not stopped writing or drawing since.
“I am just delighted it’s been recognised by the judges as a work of literature and I know that children enjoy reading it because they wouldn’t say it if they hadn’t,” said Ms Kiernan, who received a trophy and cheque for €5,000 and who has another book, Resonance, a science-fiction tale set in 1890s Ireland, tentatively scheduled for publication in May 2013.
The winner of the Eilis Dillon award for a first children’s book, valued at €1,000, was Paula Leyden for The Butterfly Heart, which reflects much of her experience growing up in Zambia.
The judges said Paula had told her story from the perspective of an adult and a child.
“This work of magical/realism sensitively incorporates folk tales and legends from Zambia in its treatment of dark and difficult issues from Africa’s past and present,” the judges stated.
The Honour Award for Fiction went to Maitrióisce by Siobhán Parkinson, described as “admirably simple in terms of plot” by the judges.
The Judges’ Special Award went to Mark O’Sullivan for his book — My Dad is 10 Years Old And it’s Pure Weird, described as “moving and poignant” by the judges.
The Honour Award for Illustration went to Oliver Jeffers for his book Stuck which the adjudicators said “encourages readers to journey imaginatively into the absurd”.