Mourners began gathering today for the funeral of Evel Knievel, the motorcycle daredevil whose death-defying stunts and near fatal crashes made him an international icon and helped put his mining hometown on the map.

President Mary McAleese is to make an eight-day visit to the US next week, it was confirmed tonight.

TWO rural communities on opposite sides of the Atlantic with historic mining links were united last night at the launch of a new broadband system in West Cork.