The field, the plaster face of the Virgin Mary, the labouring, dying 15-year-old, the dead baby…

European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has said there may yet be more revelations in the tragic story of Ann Lovett, following a dramatic interview with Ann’s boyfriend which sheds new light on the case.

‘Who knows where the thread is going to unravel?’ asks O’Reilly

The tragic death 30 years ago of Irish schoolgirl Ann Lovett is the subject of a play to be staged in London next month.

SHE was a darling daughter, her death notice said, and a happy, intelligent, interested girl, according to her school.

SEVERAL days after 15-year-old Ann Lovett died in hospital, just hours after giving birth to a 6½lb baby boy found dead beside a Co Longford grotto, an anonymous caller phoned the Sunday Tribune newspaper to explain what had happened on that cold and dark winter afternoon on Jan 31, 1984 outside Granard.

Some strands of history are inescapable, they live with us forever — and so they should. Just as we can’t choose our family we cannot choose our past, it is our undeniable, irreversible path to our present.

WHAT thoughts went through Ann Lovett’s mind as she awaited the birth of her secret baby 30 years ago will never be known, but a major research project over the next three years will try to better understand what drives expectant mothers to conceal their pregnancies.

The Department of Education says it is prepared for the anticipated surge in pupil numbers which could require thousands of teachers, classrooms and new schools over the next decade.

Ireland’s population could surpass pre-Famine levels by 2046.

Ireland’s rapidly ageing population is leading to a financial time bomb, with warnings that no plan is in place to cope with the dramatic rise in those aged over 65.