A month after she went missing, close to 150 people, many who had never met her, walked in memory of Drogheda woman Jill Meagher yesterday afternoon.

Mourners at the memorial Mass for murdered Irish woman Jill Meagher were last night told the hopes and dreams she and her husband Tom had for their life in Australia were, “cut short by a despicable act one Friday night that has left us all numb”.

The family of murdered Irishwoman Jill Meagher have invited the public to a memorial Mass at St Peter’s Church in Drogheda.

The discovery of Jill Meagher’s body buried in a shallow grave beside a dirt road 50km from her Melbourne home finally ended the slim hope clung to by her family both here and in Australia that she might still be alive.

When CCTV footage emerged showing Jill Meagher alive in the early hours of last Saturday, it briefly raised her family’s hopes she was still alive.

The family of Jill Meagher say they are caught in a “living nightmare” as they wait for news that she has been found.

“I just wish I knew where she was, or that she’s safe.”

IRISH agriculture is set to consolidate its position in 2012, following two years of impressive growth, according to a new Teagasc study.

LIVESTOCK feeders can look forward to lower wheat prices, according to Michael McKeon, speaking at the recent Teagasc Pig Farmers’ Conferences.

PRESSURISED pig farmers can reduce input costs by up to €20 per tonne by increasing their use of cheaper feeds, culling earlier and availing of feed credit from banks, say Teagasc experts.

WITH new research showing that even low exposure to mercury can damage the brain of unborn children, Ireland should move swiftly to ban mercury-filled thermometers and other scientific devices using the highly toxic substance, an expert said yesterday.

A HEALTH impact assessment should be completed before any EPA licence is given to run a waste incinerator next to the densely populated town of Drogheda.

MEDICAL opposition to the burning of waste was consolidated at the Association of General Practitioners’ AGM held in the Royal Cork Yacht Club, Crosshaven, Co Cork, recently.

WITH the election over, incineration is now being put forward as a priority and the research promised six months ago still has not appeared.