A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Jet returns to Shannon after fire in cabin
A transatlantic jet with 172 passengers on board was forced to return to Shannon airport yesterday after a small electrical fire broke out in the cabin.
Continental Airlines flight 25 to Newark, New Jersey, had left Shannon shortly after 9am yesterday and had not reached the halfway point in its seven-hour journey when it sought permission to return.
Crash crews and medical staff were on standby as the Boeing 757 landed safely at 1.30pm.
It is understood that an electrical fault in the passenger cabin caused a small fire, resulting in smoke filling part of the area. Power to that section was switched off as cabin crew dealt with the small fire which was swiftly brought under control.
Some passengers were moved from their seats while staff dealt with the incident, but no one was injured or affected by the smoke.
Reducing quarry workers deaths
New safety regulations aimed at reducing the high rate of fatalities among quarry workers are to be implemented shortly, writes Chris Dooley.
The regulations follow a series of recent initiatives by the Health and Safety Authority designed to combat the sector's worsening safety record.
Five men were killed while working in quarries last year, and a further fatality took place at a quarry in Co Kilkenny last week.
Jim Diamond, who was in his 50s and from Inistioge, died after he fell into a silo at a quarry operated by Bennettsbridge Limestone Quarries.
The planned new regulations were outlined by Minister of State for Labour Affairs Tony Killeen.
Keep Ireland Open criticised
A farm leader has criticised the Keep Ireland Open organisation for "begrudgery" in opposing farmers receiving payment in exchange for granting access to their lands to walkers, writes Seán MacConnell.
The president of the Irish Cattle and Sheepfarmers Association, Malcolm Thompson, said he was outraged at comments made recently by the KIO organisation on access.
"They want access, and now they want to lay down the terms," he said in Donegal at the weekend. "No one gives away their birthright for nothing and if walkers want access, then farmers have to be paid.
"No one has asked hill walkers for money and it is beyond my comprehension why they should even be concerned if farmers are paid from another source."
Computer use in schools low
The percentage of children here who frequently use computers at school is the second lowest of all industrialised states, according to a new report.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that in 2003 - the last year for which data was available - only 24 per cent of 15-year- olds in Ireland frequently used computers at school.
This is just over half the OECD average of 43 per cent, and contrasts with considerably higher use in Turkey (46 per cent), Mexico (54 per cent) and Hungary (80 per cent).
Only the figure for Germany, at 23 per cent, was lower. Use of computers is much more common at home than at school.
Free newspaper closes in Dublin
A free newspaper distributed to 20,000 homes in north Dublin for the past eight years has closed down due to lack of advertising.
The Ballymun Concrete News closed last Friday.
The one-man operation was run from a flat in the Joseph Plunkett Tower in the Ballymun complex by its proprietor and editor Séamus Kelly and specialised in positive news about the area.