AIB All-Ireland Club JHC final

Good afternoon. Here’s all the news you need to know this lunchtime.

Ireland north and south has two different education systems. Patrick Walsh looks at how providing free school books in the Republic could be one step in bringing them together.

Abtran lends a hand as their employees head into schools for a Literacy Support Programme in Sunday’s Well, writes Niall Murray, Education Correspondent

A memorial consisting of three standing stones will honour West Cork men who lost their lives in service during the First World War.

The Paul Kiely-trained Inchiquin High is developing into a competent point-to-point performer and the seven-year-old supplemented last month’s Killeagh success by landing a cracking mares’ winners of two at yesterday’s well-attended Knockanard fixture, run under the auspices of the Avondhu Foxhounds.

Irish entrepreneurs will have access to a global network of partners that should allow them scale at a faster rate after Dogpatch Labs became the first Irish member of Google’s Entrepreneurs Tech Hub Network.

A financial advisor for Canada Life who defrauded the company out of €230,000, by creating fictitious insurance policies, has been jailed for two and a half years.

A financial advisor for Canada Life committed fraud to the tune of €215,000 by creating fictitious insurance policies for clients that did not exist, a court has heard.

A man jailed for life 10 years ago has had a bid to have his conviction declared a miscarriage of justice, based on a recent Supreme Court decision, dismissed by the Court of Appeal.

A former Canada Life agent from Limerick is to stand trial accused of theft of approximately €270,000 from the company.

Seven people were arrested yesterday on different charges related to an alleged mortgages fraud amounting to a total of almost €1m against Bank of Ireland.

The British crew of Hugh Hunter/Andy Marchbank (Subaru WRC) roared to victory in the Trim-based ALMC Rally, round four of the REIS MSA Asphalt Rally Championship.

THE Performance Corporation is renowned for staging its theatre productions in adventurous places — in medieval dungeons, amongst sand dunes, even on a small rowboat. For its latest, most adventurous trick, it’s staging a three-day festival in Ireland’s only palace — Castletown House on the outskirts of Celbridge, Co Kildare.

Taking the lead on the fourth stage, British duo Paul Bird/Aled Davies (Ford Focus WRC) won the Dunboyne- based Triton Showers ALMC Rally.

PARK STREET Cemetery in central Calcutta, or Kolkata as it is now known, is a good place to encounter the Irish who once served in the British army in India, including many who were employed as petty officials in the centuries before Indian independence.

DAVID Corkery’s Too Strong can get punters off on the right foot with an overdue victory in the opening race.

St Brigid’s 1-12 Fulham Irish 0-7

ON a weekend when all the qualification and relegation issues in the Waterford SHC were determined, pride of place goes to Mount Sion who brought Ballygunner’s hitherto unbeaten group stage run to a shuddering halt at a fiery Walsh Park encounter on Saturday evening.

MAYO captain Alan Dillon racked up 1-11 for Ballintubber as the reigning Mayo senior club football champions got the defence of their title off to a flying start.

IN a remarkable coincidence, the County Dublin village of Swords netted the young Driver of the Year awards for rallying and racing as Motorsport Ireland honoured its top achievers yesterday.

THE Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has received two separate requests to investigate a Cork-based charity for survivors of institutional abuse.

DOUBLE British Rally Champion Keith Cronin has shelved his progress to the next level of the sport due to a lack of opportunities.

INTERCONTINENTAL Rally champions, Kris Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle, bid farewell to the Peugeot UK team at this weekend’s Rally of Scotland.

IT was a historic day for Irish rallying yesterday as the Welsh crew ofMel Evans/Patrick Walsh (Subaru) became the first overseas crew to win the Dunlop National Rally Championship.

BATTLING through wet and difficult conditions, reigning British Rally Champion, Keith Cronin, took an important and memorable victory in Rally Isle of Man, the fourth round of the Dulux Trade British Rally Championship.

ALL IRELAND Primate and Archbishop of Armagh, Cardinal Seán Brady has told a clerical abuse survivors group that the Church is committed to finding a “just solution” to the victims of the Magdalene Laundries.

NO one has done more in the past decade or so to give meaning and definition to our continued quest for peace and reconciliation on the island of Ireland than President Mary McAleese in her two terms of office, whether in greeting the English rugby team at Croke Park or Lansdowne Road or in sharing communion with communicants of the Church of Ireland in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin.

I’M surprised you allowed Dr Patrick Walsh’s article (March 23) on the Gallipoli campaign to be printed considering the falsehoods it disseminated.

THE High Court ordered members of a cab drivers’ organisation to stop occupying the offices of the taxi regulator.

DCU and Carlow IT meet in this afternoon’s Ulster Bank Ryan Cup final at Pearse Stadium, Galway (12.45) after beating NUI Maynooth and IT Tralee, respectively, in yesterday’s semi-finals.

CONCERNS have been raised over how a High Court action – brought against his own members by the head of a group for survivors of institutional abuse – is being funded.

THE head of the Irish Survivors of Child Abuse (SOCA) group has written to Taoiseach Brian Cowen calling for an inquiry into the financing of all survivor groups over the past 10 years.

SURVIVORS of institutional abuse have met with a representative of the Bishop of Cork and Ross in relation to donations made to Right of Place.

THE row that broke out between the founder of Right of Place, Noel Barry, and some of its member finally came to a head last month.

THE Pope’s failure to accept accountability for the role of the Catholic Church in recklessly endangering children makes him just as guilty as the Irish bishops who covered up child abuse, victims’ groups say.

AN independent person acting as an impartial arbiter is set to be appointed to help negotiations between survivors of institutional abuse and the bishops.

THE hierarchy who were quick to condemn ordinary mortals as sinners have finally been forced to admit grievous wrong doing by many of their clergy, Irish Survivors of Child Abuse (SOCA) said yesterday.