A 172-year-old college at the centre of controversy over the sale of secret letters penned by Jacqueline Kennedy is to shut down.

THE number of compensation claims from survivors of institutional child abuse will top 12,000 when the deadline for applications expires next month.

The Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, tonight sharply rebuked a Government backbencher’s calls to end the special relationship between the state and the Catholic Church in the wake of the damning Ferns Report.