Gardaí strike
This morning, The Irish Independent, Irish Times, Irish Examiner and Irish Daily Mail all lead with the state's contingency plans for the four days of planned industrial action by Gardaí, now that members of the AGSI, the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, have voted to join their GRA colleagues.
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The Irish Times tells us that 300 officers from the rank of superintendent and above will lead up to 2,000 Garda reservists, recruits in the Garda College in Templemore, and probationers in the first months of their career, the vast majority of whom with no powers of arrest.
In the Examiner, we're told that tMinister for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald has said that while she is committed to giving Gardaí power to negotiate their own pay, which is one of their key demands, pay rises must be within the parameters of very real constraints on public sector pay.
In the Irish Independent, we're told that Gardaí insists they are not striking, and that their lawyers have said merely withdrawing labour, such as refusing to log on to Pulse, or to detail members for duty, is within their rights.
And in the Irish Daily Mail, we read of fears expressed by community leaders, rural groups and representatives of the elderly, that their charges may become targets of criminals particularly as the dates of the action are known.
Ice cream parlour robbery
Meanwhile, The Herald tells of the robbery of an ice cream parlour, Storm in a Teacup, on Harbour Road in Skerries, north Dublin in the course of which, the shop was "completely trashed" according to its owner, who told the paper that she had emptied the till - although the raiders took it - but the RNLI charity box was full. So they took that too.
Mosul offensive
For the Irish Times, Michael Jansen writes an analysis piece on the Mosul offensive by Iraqi forces to re-take the city of Mosul. She says that Syria and its allies are likely to mobilise forces along Syria's frontier with Iraq in order to kill or capture Isis fighters who are likely to try to flee either there or to Turkey.
She also explains the extraordinarily divisive post-battle demands of various groups inhabiting Ninevah province, with self-governing enclaves claimed by Kurds, Yazidi, Shia and Sunni, writing that even if Mosul is re-captured - with the Syrian government determined to be its sole authority - the danger is that yet new internecine conflicts will arise between competing factions.
Ben Needham
Most heartbreaking picture of the day is on page 19 of the Sun. If you've been following the story of the ceaseless search for the family of British toddler Ben Needham, who disappeared during a family holiday on the Greek island of Kos in 1991, you will know that over the past three weeks, police have been conducting a fresh search and yesterday, unearthed a toy car, Matchbox brand, that his family agree he had been had been playing with on the day he went missing. Police now believe that the child was accidentally killed by a man - himself dead - driving a digger that day - and that Ben is buried somewhere else on the island. The picture, unattributed, shows the little boy's devastated mother, with her sorrowing own mother and father, who have all just heard the news.
Girl hack day
But most striking photo today is on the back page of the Examiner. Mark O'Sullivan has snapped five girls - the illusion is ten - who took part in Coder Girl Hack Day 2016 an initiative partnered by Intel Ireland and TOG Dublin Hackspace to encourage young girls to be excited by, and to take part in science, technology, engineering and maths activities.
Life hacks
Tomatoes will lose their flavour if you store them in your fridge. You can extend the life of bananas by wrapping their stalks in clingfilm - and as for potatoes, put an apple with them; it gives off a gas that will prevent your spuds from sprouting.
Thank The Irish Daily Mail for these and two pages' worth of more dinky tips - among this reviewer's favourite is how to find a tiny object. The solution: stretch and tie on a pair of tights across the nozzle of your vacuum cleaner and safely suck it up.
