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The new web site that makes property tax “easy to pay but hard to evade”, according to the Revenue Commissioners, is up and running. Home owners can select their county, type of house and age of the property and check online what property tax they should pay.

However it has already come in for criticism as being too vague and lacking in detail, for example does not specify the size of the house or the number of bedrooms. The property web site Daft.ie suggests half of the houses are in the correct band which means that means 50% are incorrectly estimated.

Joining Pat was Economist Dr. Keith Walsh of the Revenue Commissioners

The cardinals have gathered, the Sistine Chapel is ready to sealed and the chimney is in place for the white smoke.

Pat was joined from Rome by Fr Michael Collins, author of “The Vatican: Secrets and Treasures of the Holy City,” and by our reporter Fergal Keane.

Last week the Department of Education published a report on Fee Charging Schools in Ireland which suggested these schools cost the taxpayer over €80 million euro a year. Private schools were in the headlines last month as well when Kilkenny College one of the oldest private schools in the State announced that it was to enter the” free” education system from this September. The school blamed government cutbacks and the reduced income of parents. So where to now for fee paying schools in Ireland?

Joining Pat was Johnston Reid, Principal of the Collegiate College in Monaghan who has concerns about government cutbacks for private Protestant schools like his own; Ferdia Kelly who is General Secretary of the Joint Material Body which covers both fee paying and non fee paying schools; David Quinn Columnist Irish Independent and Kieran Allen from the Dept of Sociology in UCD.

The man accused of murdering Irish student Nicola Furlong has been giving evidence in court in Tokyo today.

19 year old Richard Hinds described in graphic detail how he “pressed her neck” and hearing Ms.Furlong “breath abnormally”.

The Furlong family were visibly distraught during the testimony and at one stage, after a request by Ms Furlong’s parents, Mr Hinds was asked to stop referring to Ms Furlong as Nicki.

Pat was joined from Tokyo by Paul Murphy who gave us the latest.

The annual Irish pilgrimage to Cheltenham is well and truly underway, with the first of the races, the supreme novice hurdle, starting at 1.30 tomorrow (Tuesday). Whether you are a small time trainer or a Middle Eastern billionaire, for many the ultimate dream is to have a winner at this famous racing festival. Few achieve that, but last year one family in County Cork, the Sweeneys, had an incredible debut at the festival with their horse Salsify winning the Foxhunter Chase Challenge Cup. The story of how the horse and the Sweeney family came to win is fairy tale stuff, and Brian O’Connell visited the Sweeney family at the weekend.

On the 11th March 2011, exactly 2 years ago today, a massive earthquake caused catastrophic damage to Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. To make a disastrous situation even worse, 60 minutes alter the plant was hit by fifty foot tsunami and as a result, three or perhaps four of its reactors exploded, releasing a plume of radioactivity into the surrounding environment and releasing contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean.

However, the quest for clean sustainable energy continues and for many, despite Fukushima, nuclear power fits the bill. As we speak 30 countries worldwide have nuclear power and many more are considering the option. At home we are forbidden by our own legislation to use nuclear power but there are calls for rescinding that legislation as fossil fuels dwindle and oil prices soar.

Pat was joined by Sean McDonagh, Columban priest and author of Fukushima: The Death Knell For Nuclear Energy? I’m also joined by Philip Walton, emeritus professor of applied physics at NUI Galway and son of Nobel Laureate, Prof Ernest Walton, the first person in history to split the atom.