Your Friday morning news round up

A round up of the headlines today: The father of an autistic boy has been left heartbroken after the attack on his son, the latest on the Dunnes Stores strike and Rory McIlroy is being tipped to revel in the spotlight at the Masters.

Fri, 03 Apr, 2015 - 01:00

TOP STORY

Father ‘heartbroken’ over attack on autistic son

The father of a boy with autism has said his “heart is breaking” after an attack on the 14-year-old by a group of teenagers who then allegedly posted footage of the ordeal online .

IRELAND

VIDEO: ‘They thought we’d back down, but we didn’t’ - Dunnes Stores workers

Apart from a couple of workers dolefully scrubbing shelves, and a few bemused tourists wandering deserted aisles, the scene in many a Dunnes Stores yesterday was one of complete and utter emptiness.

Michael Noonan to shame banks into cuts on mortgage rates

Banks are set to be embarrassed into reducing steep variable mortgage rates and passing on reductions or cash savings to struggling homeowners.

SPORT

Rivals expect Rory McIlroy to revel in the spotlight

Three players looking to deny Rory McIlroy Grand Slam glory at Augusta National believe the World No.1 will revel in next week’s Masters media spotlight.

Colm Cooper and Paul Galvin back to bolster Kerry’s safety bid

Colm Cooper and Paul Galvin will add firepower to Kerry’s bid to avoid relegation from Division One of the Allianz League this Sunday.

WORLD

US man kills wife with chainsaw, then turns machine on himself

A Philadelphia man killed his wife with a chainsaw and then turned the machine on himself in a grisly murder-suicide, prosecutors said.

US University sued over sexually transmitted diseases experiments

More than 750 plaintiffs are suing Johns Hopkins University over its role in a series of medical experiments in Guatemala in the 1940s and 1950s during which subjects were deliberately infected with syphilis, gonorrhoea and other infections as part of study into sexually transmitted diseases (STD) without their consent.

BUSINESS

Cork dairy farmers detail cautious expansion goals

Dairy farmers in Cork are on track to deliver a 30%-50% increase in milk output by 2020, with the growth to come from greater efficiency more than from extra livestock, industry experts told an AIB event in Vienna Woods Hotel, Cork.

Quarterly budget surplus for first time since before economic crisis

The public finances have shown a quarterly surplus for the first time since before the financial crisis, cementing hopes that the Government will meet its budget deficit targets for the year.

EXAMVIRAL

VIDEO: Killarney to Valentia Island in 7 minutes

Can’t get away this weekend and feeling blue about it?

SHOWBIZ

Rosamund Pike: Meeting Thunderbirds originals was a treat

Rosamund Pike has spoken about how excited she was to get to work with some of the original Thunderbirds cast on the rebooted version, Thunderbirds Are Go!