Five hundred candles will flicker into life at a memorial service in Dublin today — one lit for each of the country’s homicide victims.

A 27-year-old man has been given a life sentence at the Central Criminal Court after pleading guilty to murdering his girlfriend in Galway two years ago.

A 25-year-old Galway man is due in court today in connection with the death of a young woman at an apartment in the city yesterday morning.

THE EI Company, a Shannon-based manufacturer of smoke alarms and home security and safety products, saw profits more than double in 2004.