Intensive talks on extending the Croke Park Agreement are to get underway today. Management negotiators will meet this morning - and the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions will meet in the afternoon to be updated. The talks are expected to continue over the weekend at the Labour Relations Commission.
The Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter has described a vote of no confidence in him by the Garda Representative Association as something that occurs from time to time. The Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan has said that he will meet the GRA to listen to their concerns over the impact of pay cuts and a perceived lack of resources in the force. Both the Minister and the Commissioner are presiding at the Graduation of one hundred and twenty six Garda Reservists in Templemore today.
Greencore has confirmed it supplied a beef bolognese sauce to Asda that has been withdrawn from sale by the British supermarket chain after an initial test suggested it contained horse DNA. Greencore said it was awaiting test results to quantify how much DNA was in the sauce. It said the meat used was supplied by ABP Foods in County Tipperary. In a statement ABP has confirmed it is a supplier to Greencore but said it never knowingly bought or processed horse meat.
The South African Olympic and Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius is due in court in Pretoria today, charged with the murder of his 30-year-old girlfriend. Reeva Steenkamp, a model, died from gunshot wounds at the home of the 26-year-old athlete, known as "Blade Runner".
Associated Newspapers is considering an appeal after a High Court jury last night found that businessman Denis O'Brien was defamed in an article which appeared in the Irish Daily Mail three years ago. Mr O'Brien was awarded 150,000 euro in damages.
The weather forecast. Cool at first with any frost and fog clearing to give some bright spells, especially in the east of the country. It will be cloudier in the west, with some patchy rain and drizzle affecting western parts of Connacht and Munster during the morning. The rain and cloud will slowly spread eastwards during the day. Highest temperatures 7 to 10 degrees.