Famous faces from the world of football were joined by ordinary fans to say farewell to Celtic legend Tommy Burns at his funeral today.

AN INDEPENDENT watchdog set up to rule on public complaints about the print media has officially opened for business.

An independent watchdog set up to rule on public complaints about the print media today officially opened for business.

THE announcement yesterday that the media academic Professor John Horgan is to become Ireland’s first press ombudsman was a watershed moment for the Irish press, for freedom of expression and — most importantly — for the maturing of relationships between newspapers and their reading public.

THE appointment of a national press ombudsman has been welcomed by the newspaper industry.

YESTERDAY’S announcement, naming the members of the first Irish Press Council, is a welcome and long-awaited milestone in the evolution of how Irish society and Ireland’s print media interact.

New arrangements for a Press Council and Ombudsman are warmly welcomed as a positive means of providing an easy, legitimate and inexpensive redress for people wronged by newspapers, while at the same time protecting the press freedom of responsible members of the industry.

The Tánaiste, Mary Harney, has said funding for scientific research will be increased in next week's Book of Estimates.

Professor John Hegarty has been elected provost of Trinity College in Dublin.