The jury in a trial arising from an investigation into a school bus crash in which five schoolgirls were killed has been told that a company knew the vehicle's ABS system was defective but failed to repair it.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court will today set a date for a trial over the Navan bus crash which claimed the lives of five schoolgirls almost three years ago.

Two companies charged over the Navan bus crash which claimed the lives of five young schoolgirls will have to wait until next year to stand trial.

A vehicle maintenance company responsible for the upkeep of a school bus that overturned killing five schoolchildren knew its anti-lock braking system was not working, a court heard today.

The jury at the trial of the Navan bus crash which claimed the lives of five young schoolgirls has been released until tomorrow morning so Judge Thomas Teehan can hear legal arguments.

Three firms will stand trial today in relation to the Navan bus crash which claimed the lives of five young schoolgirls.

AS the families and friends of the five girls killed in last May’s tragic bus crash in Navan gathered to mark the first anniversary, the Bishop of Meath said the support of the local community had been invaluable.

The local community has quietly supported the families of the Navan bus crash victims over the last year, the Bishop of Meath said tonight.

WORK is due to begin within days to fit all Bus Éireann school buses with seat belts and should be completed this summer.

FINE GAEL yesterday called for an independent road test of all public transport vehicles in the wake of the Navan school bus tragedy.

BUS ÉIREANN will face charges as a result of the fatal Navan bus crash which claimed the lives of five schoolgirls in Co Meath earlier this year.

Bus Éireann has deferred publication of an independent report it commissioned on the fatal Navan bus accident that claimed the lives of five young schoolgirls last May.

THE first report into last May’s tragic Co Meath bus crash, in which five young schoolgirls lost their lives, will not be published on the instruction of the Director of Public Prosecution.

SPECULATION mounted last night that the anti-lock braking system was switched off on a school bus when it crashed last May killing five girls.

The garda investigation into May’s bus crash near Navan, which killed five schoolgirls, is complete and has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, it emerged tonight.

Jim Morahan, Navan

BUS ÉIREANN and the gardaí have launched separate investigations into a fire that destroyed a school bus in Meath yesterday.

Leaving Certificate students in the town where the worst school bus crash in Irish history occurred last month sat a specially modified exam today.

Gardaí are waiting to gather further evidence before interviewing the bus driver at the centre of the worst school bus crash in Irish history, it emerged tonight.

MOURNERS attending the funerals of the victims of the Co Meath bus crash were told their deaths were not in vain if they prompted the country to think of the welfare of our children.

THE “saddest of all occasions” came to Meath yesterday and left a string of communities weeping for the worst kind of loss.

THE tiny two-centuries-old church where the coffin of Claire McCluskey was brought last night could hold barely a quarter of the mourners who gathered to pay their respects.

STUDENTS at the four Navan schools involved in Monday’s bus crash have been allowed to reschedule Leaving Certificate practical and oral exams which were due to be taken this week.

A father tonight praised a heroic teenager who rescued his injured daughter from the worst schoolbus crash in Irish history.

Fitting seatbelts on all school buses by September is impossible, Education Minister Mary Hanafin said today.

Neighbours were today paying their respects at the family homes of the five young girls killed in the worst school vehicle crash in Irish history.

Flags at Loreto Convent flew at halfmast today as teachers attempted to console devastated pupils streaming into the school.

Gardaí were today preparing to interview the driver of a bus which was involved in the worst school vehicle crash in Irish history.

Gardaí have named the five teenage girls who died in yesterday's school bus tragedy near Navan in Co Meath.