Two young brothers who were so close they shared a bed were buried side by side today as their father appeared in court charged with their murders.

Relatives were last night trying to comfort Kathleen Chada, the devastated mother of Eoghan, 10, and Ruairi, 5, whose bodies were discovered just hours after gardaí issued a major alert in a bid to establish their whereabouts.

A WOMAN died yesterday of swine flu bringing to 10 the number of fatalities linked to the virus in the Republic.