Robinson putting Mayo house on sale
Former President Mary Robinson is putting her stately country home in Co Mayo on the market.
Massbrook House, near Crossmolina has been owned by Mrs Robinson and her husband, Nick, since the 1990s. It stands on 100 acres on the edge of Lough Conn.
Dublin-based auctioneering firm Sherry Fitzgerald are charged with the sale of the property. It will be advertised in a national daily newspaper tomorrow.
Massbrook House was built in the 19th century.
Boil water notice remain in east Cork until August
A boil water notice remains in place for over 10,000 people in east Cork with the company saying it will be August at the earliest before it is lifted.
The notice was first issued in January, upon the advise of the HSE, to people living in the Whitegate & Castlemartyr areas.
Prolonged heavy rain at the beginning of the year led to an increase in the cloudiness or turbidity of the spring source which feeds the local Kilvagh Water Treatment Plant.
A new filtration system is to be put in place shortly, to prevent further extreme weather conditions affecting the water supply.
French PM vows to stand firm on labour plans
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has vowed to stand firm on a disputed set of labour reforms, despite mass protests against them that spiralled into violence yesterday.
President Francois Hollande's Socialist government is trying to push through a set of reforms to the labour market in a bid to force down France's stubbornly high unemployment rates.
Critics see the reforms as skewed towards business interests, and strikes and clashes have flared.
Mr Valls criticised those involved in yesterday's clashes, saying they wanted to "kill" the police officers patrolling the demonstration and accused the hardline CGT union, which organised the marches, of an "ambiguous attitude" towards those attacking the authorities.
Children released from hospital after lightning strike
The two young children injured in a lightning strike in Co Antrim last week have been released from hospital.
A five-year-old boy was critically injured in the incident at Killowen Primary School last Tuesday afternoon.
His seven-year old-sister was also hurt.
Their father, 37-year-old George Allen, who was also injured remains in a critical condition in hospital.
Govt has Brexit contingency plan - Donohoe
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe has said the Government has a contingency plan if the UK votes to leave the European Union.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Sean O'Rourke, Minister Donohoe said a leave vote would pose a risk to Ireland's economy.
He said: "The United Kingdom is our largest trading partner and just the mere uncertainty regarding basic and fundamental elements like their participation in the single market will have an effect here at home."
Mr Donohoe also said the prospect of the UK leaving is a real threat to Ireland's continued economic recovery, but said the effect this would have on future budgets is something the Government would have to assess.
Cork library staff to ballot on industrial action
Trade union IMPACT is balloting 150 of its members on industrial action over a plan to amalgamate library services in Cork city and county, with the result due next month.
The union says the proposed merger would lead to a reduction in the quality of library services available to the public there, while either the city or the county would be left without a head librarian.
IMPACT says library services in both local authority areas would be threatened in the medium term, and claims no cost-benefit analysis of the merger proposal has been undertaken.
The union complains that staff have not been properly consulted on the proposal, and fears its members could be ordered to work at locations far from their homes and existing workplaces.
