Your Friday evening catch-up

Here’s a briefing on some of the stories and issues highlighted on irishexaminer.com today.

TOP STORIES

It was a sombre day in Wexford today as the funerals of the Carrickmines victims took place at the Church of The Assumption on Bride Street. Hundreds of mourners turned up to pay their respects to the family of Thomas and Syliva Connors who were laid to rest today along with their three children Jim, aged five, Christy, aged two and Mary, aged just five months.

Trade union chiefs have threatened a repeat today’s train drivers’ strike as the row over pay became increasingly bitter. Both Siptu and the National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) warned commuters to expect a second three-hour stoppage on the morning of November 6 after negotiations broke down lastnight, sparking travel chaos.

US investment fund Cerberus is to buy the massive Project Arrow portfolio from the National Assets Management Agency (Nama). While the price has not been revealed, although Nama stated weeks ago that it had a reserve value in the region of €1bn - one fifth of what was originally borrowed by developers, investors and speculators.

Two men who took part in an attempted “predatory gang rape” of a woman in a van with a mattress in the back have had their jail terms cut on appeal.  The two men aged 22 and 24, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, along with a third man (aged 22) ultimately found not guilty on all counts, had denied the rape, attempted rape, oral rape and sexual assault of the woman at an unknown location in Cork on September 13 2009.

WORLD

At least 42 people, mostly elderly tourists starting off on a day trip, have been killed after a bus and truck collided on a rural road in wine country in south-west France.

Thousands of South African university students have converged at the country’s main government complex to protest over tuition fee rises. The students gathered on a large lawn at the foot of the Union Buildings in South Africa’s administrative capital, Pretoria.