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Michaela McAreavy Trial

Its sixteen months since honeymooner Michaela McAreavey was strangled in her hotel bedroom in Mauritius. Tomorrow the trail of two men accused of her murder will begin in the island’s capital Port Louis.

Sacerdotal Privelege

It’s reported today that new legislation framed in the wake of repeated catholic church cover ups of sex abuse will fall short of expectations. The reason for this, according to some legal experts, is a 1945 judgement which exempts clerics from breaching confidences even if they occur outside the confessional.

The Daily Mail’s political editor Senan Molony has the story.

Does the Occupy Movement have a Future?

By Sarah Campbell (Working Papers in History and Policy, No. 1, 2012, www.historyhub.ie)

The last Occupy protest camp in the country was dismantled by Gardaí last week in Galway. But the Occupy movement is still very much on everyone’s lips. Last week alone, at least 100,000 people took to the streets in Spain to mark the first anniversary of the Occupy Madrid movement, Russian riot police broke up an Occupy-style protest against President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Occupy demonstrators were among those who protested against the NATO summit in Chicago at the weekend and at least 20,000 people held a major rally of the local Occupy movement in Frankfurt on Saturday, after four days of protest, to decry austerity measures affecting much of Europe and blocking access to the European Central Bank, which is located in Frankfurt’s business district. But does the Occupy movement have a future? Sarah Campbell from the School of History and Archives in UCD, looks at protest movements in the twentieth century to see what lessons the Occupy movement in Ireland can learn from history, particularly the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland, in developing its future strategy.

Mrs Robinson’s Disgrace

by Kate Summerscale (Bloomsbury)

Kate Summerscale will be known to listeners as the author of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher – a detailed historical hybrid novel that became a best-seller. Her new book is called Mrs Robinson’s Disgrace, and again, it’s a true story from the same period – the disgrace in question is a scandalous love affair between the wealthy Isabella Robinson and a dashing younger doctor, Edward Lane, and the highly public divorce that ensued.

Charity Shops

There was a time when charity shops were seen as a place of last resort for shoppers, who went there more out of need than desire. But, with the downturn, the hunt for a bargain is back in vogue and many charity shops are struggling to meet the demands of new customers. Brian O’Connell spent time in two charity shops in Cork.

Aslan

They have had their share of ups and downs, but have come out the other side and survived to tell the tale. Classic songs such as ‘This Is’ and ‘Crazy World’ are synonymous with Aslan. They celebrate 30 years in the business with a new album, Nudie Books and Frenchies and a movie Please Don’t Stop. And Aslan joined Pat from studio 8