Three men have been found guilty of planning to murder former loyalist leader Johnny ”Mad Dog” Adair; Former Fine Gael strategist Frank Flannery has said that gender quotas have made it "difficult" for young, ambitious men; Jobs Minister Richard Bruton has said that says the proposed 50c per hour increase in the minimum wage is a balanced compromise.  Here’s this evening’s irishexaminer.com round-up.

Irish exploration firm Petroceltic is set to raise $175m (€157m) in debt financing next month.

Newport Gwent Dragons 26, Ulster 22: Ulster suffered a blow in their charge for the Guinness Pro12 play-offs after strugglers Newport Gwent Dragons claimed a 26-22 victory at Rodney Parade yesterday.

Methodist College 27 Sullivan Upper 12

Two children’s homes run by the Catholic Church will be investigated first as part of a major inquiry into institutional abuse in the North, it has been revealed.

Irish exploration company Petroceltic is set to take control of British oil exploration and production company Melrose Resources in a £165m (€210m) deal which will basically double the size of the Dublin-based firm.

As its directors held further talks yesterday to try to save Galway Airport, a group of workers started a sit-in in the terminal out of fear they will not receive their redundancy entitlements.

Tributes have been paid to a young father who died after being found badly injured lying behind a shopping centre.

HOUSE prices in the North continue to tumble, with the average value of a house dropping below £150,000 (€175,616) for the first time in five years.

A Northern Bank employee could identify her handwriting on almost 300 sterling notes recovered by Cork gardaí during searches in the county in early 2005, the Special Criminal Court heard today.

A major drugs haul seized in the North and England is now estimated to be worth more than £2m (€2.3m), police said today.

A Nevada judge is releasing warrant documents similar to those previously disclosed in the Michael Jackson death investigation.

A criminal who violently resisted arrest by gardaí after they caught him taking part in an alleged drug transaction has been given a suspended sentence by Judge Katherine Delahunt.

The depth of the recession in the North was reflected today in a substantial drop in cargo passing through the Port of Belfast.

A Carlow man at the centre of a major internet-based prostitution ring was among 10 people arrested today as police smashed an international human trafficking gang.

Loyalist killer Michael Stone has claimed at a Belfast court that his incursion at Stormont two years ago saved the peace process.

THE founder of the Irish credit union movement Nora Herlihy has been honoured in her birthplace on the Cork-Kerry border.

Loyalist killer Michael Stone planned to slit the throats of Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness inside the Northern Assembly Chamber when he stormed it in November 2006, a court was told today.

A FLOODED Australian town was warned to be alert for marauding crocodiles swimming its streets yesterday.

A flooded Australian town was warned to be alert for marauding crocodiles swimming its streets today.

Loyalist paramilitaries pipe bombed a home in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim as part of an intensifying attempt to rout a rival faction, it was claimed today.

Credit unions launched an offensive today against rogue loan sharks preying on the vulnerable over the months in the run-up to Christmas.

Rescue crews clinging to a Utah mountainside struggled to drill two narrow holes in a painfully slow effort to get air and food to six miners trapped in a cave-in.

Top Belfast loyalist William “Mo” Courtney was jailed for eight years today over the killing of one of deposed terror boss Johnny Adair’s closest associates.

Loyalists in the North should decommission their weapons and disband their terror machines, one of their most notorious former leaders said tonight.

Michael Stone is suffering from crippling arthritis and was on medication when he launched his attack at Stormont, friends claimed today.

A nightclub doorman stabbed in a frenzied attack fears he will be killed if he returns to the North to testify against a Belfast loyalist accused of trying to murder him, a court heard today.

Former paramilitary boss Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair has moved to a quiet Scottish seaside town, it emerged today.

Former Ulster Defence Association (UDA) paramilitary Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair today walked free from court after he admitted assaulting his wife.

A former associate of ousted UDA chief Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair was assassinated at a spot where he had been taken by his killer two days earlier, a court heard today.

A leading loyalist went on trial today charged with murdering a lieutenant of Johnny Adair during a bitter feud within the Ulster Defence Association.

FORMER paramilitary boss Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair was heavily investigated over the assassination of loyalist informer William Stobie, detectives said yesterday.

Former paramilitary boss Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair was heavily investigated over the assassination of loyalist informer William Stobie, detectives said today.

Jim Gray was living on borrowed time ever since the Ulster Defence Association ruthlessly kicked him out to fend for himself.

Former Ulster Defence Association paramilitary Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair today admitted assaulting his wife only hours after he was released from prison.

Former UDA leader, Johnny Adair, who was arrested by British police yesterday evening, is being held for questioning over a suspected assault on his wife, Gina.

Former UDA 'brigadier' Johnny Adair is due to go on trial in Britain today accused of harassment.

Former Ulster Defence Association Brigadier Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair appeared in court today charged with harassment.

FORMER Ulster Defence Association Brigadier Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair appeared in court in England yesterday charged with harassment.

It is still unclear whether Northern Ireland’s largest loyalist terror group can end its involvement in organised crime and paramilitary activity, the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) said today.

LOYALIST paramilitary chief John Gregg feared he was going to be assassinated, a Belfast inquest heard yesterday.

Alan Erwin and Deric Henderson

Dan McGinn

Freed loyalist terrorist Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair will quit Britain in a bid to stay alive, it was claimed tonight.