The popular broadcaster passed away last Monday at the age of 85.

Over half a million children — 544,696 — are expected in primary schools over the coming days.

We take a trip down memory lane and check out what happened on this day in years gone by by looking back at some Irish Examiner front pages and highlighting other events which went down in history across the world.

The family of former garda commissioner Larry Wren has denied that he would have allowed the Archbishop of Dublin to dictate garda policy.

The Mother and Baby Home Commission of Investigation may be seeking evidence for the allegation that unmarried motherhood was considered akin to a criminal act.

We cannot, it seems, escape our sordid, ultra-judgemental past.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris is to deliver a personal apology to Majella Moynihan, who was threatened with dismissal from An Garda Síochana for having pre-marital sex with another garda recruit and for giving birth to a baby out of wedlock.

A woman who says she was forced to give up her child for adoption after becoming pregnant out of wedlock in the 1980s has spoken out about her experience for the first time.

It is difficult to think of a democratically-elected leader whose indifference to truth, whose contempt for the idea much less the practice of integrity is as obvious as President Donald Trump’s is.

Father Fintan Gavin, 53, will become the fourth bishop to be appointed by the Vatican to join the Diocese of Cork and Ross, since it was formed in 1958.

Pope Francis appeared to be unaware of the details of abuse suffered by many Irish victims at the hands of Catholic clerics, according to one of the survivors who met him in Dublin on Saturday.

International group BishopAccountability.org has published a list of more than 70 clergy from across Ireland who have been convicted of abuse, or who were named in the Ferns, Ryan, Murphy and Cloyne reports as having faced abuse allegations.

It is understood thieves who stole an 800 year old relic from Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin returned it because they thought it was cursed.

An 800-year-old relic, stolen from Christ Church Cathedral, has been recovered by Gardaí.

Early governments acted as if Irish independence amounted to Rome Rule. It took the revelation of the clerical sex abuse scandal to end such deference, writes Ryle Dwyer

A leading Catholic cleric has said his office was not consulted over a decision to deny former president of Ireland Mary McAleese access to a conference in the Vatican.

A High Court dispute between a Church of Ireland Minister and Archbishop Michael Jackson has been settled.

Church leaders have called for the Government to take "brave" decisions to tackle the homelessness and housing crisis.

New guidelines approved by the country’s Catholic bishops for priests with children could be adopted by the Vatican, it has emerged.

What happened to Gino Kenny’s bill on medicinal cannabis was another example of extremely poor parliamentary work, writes Fergus Finlay

The Irish teenager who drowned in Crete has been named as Laura Dempsey, writes Joyce Fegan.

The Health Minister Simon Harris says he hopes that talks on the ownership of the new National Maternity Hospital can be substantially completed by the end of the month.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue has today backed recent comments made by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin pointing to a “justified resentment among priests and … committed Catholics”.

In spite of Ireland passing the marriage equality referendum, the Church has insisted the next World Meeting of Families, which the Pope is set to attend in Dublin in 2018, will be “married life between a man and a woman”.

Pope Francis will "do everything he can" to come to Ireland next year, a senior Vatican official has said.

The Government is on a collision course with the Vatican over the funding of redress payments to sex abuse victims, saying it wants to seize lands owned by the Church.

In recent decades, popes have reinforced centralised control of the Catholic Church by influencing who gets promoted in each country, writes TP O’Mahony

CARDINAL Desmond Connell, who died earlier this week aged 90, was buried yesterday. 

Cardinal Desmond Connell, former Archbishop of Dublin, has died aged 90, it has been announced.

Education Minister Richard Bruton is due to announce plans this morning to legislate on the controversial school admissions system.

Gardaí have arrested a young male in relation to the fatal stabbing of a teenager in Dublin on Thursday afternoon.

Update 1.45pm: Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald is calling on the Taoiseach to evaluate the Government's approach to dealing with organised crime in Dublin.

Gardaí investigating an alleged sexual assault on a young boy at an exclusive boarding school are trying to piece together what occurred and who might have been involved.

A prominent US canon lawyer has said he suspects “there is a great deal more” to the story of what is happening in the Maynooth seminary.

A spokesperson for the Association of Catholic Priests says he is not overly concerned about the future of St Patrick's College in Maynooth.

The Archbishop of Dublin has said it is “too early to know” if the Pope will attend the World Meeting of Families which has been confirmed for Dublin from August 22 to 26, 2018.

It has emerged that the Pope may visit Ireland in 2018 to attend the Catholic Church’s World Meeting of Families which is due to be held in Dublin.

A senior priest, who later admitted to abusing 100 children, was allowed unfettered access to minors for two years in the 2000s despite allegations against him.

The last words of Padraig Pearse should be a challenge to every generation, according to one of the country’s most senior clergymen.

Labour has put pressure on Fine Gael to have the process of a referendum on the Eighth Amendment “well under way” by the summer.