More news in brief.
TV channel to provide entertainment
Ireland's latest TV channel, Channel 6, was launched last night in Dublin. The new channel will reach 580,000 homes initially, using the Chorus and NTL networks. It aims to deliver "pure entertainment" to its viewers.
It will broadcast 12 hours of programming daily from 3pm and feature movies, drama series, music and comedy, all aimed at the under-35s.
Up to 16 hours a week of programming will be locally produced, with the remainder being made up of US, central European and Australian shows.
Last night programming opened with Take Six, a home-produced movie review show. It was followed by the US version of British comedy hit The Office, and then by House, a medical comedy starring Hugh Laurie. Also featured last night was film Get Shorty and music programme Night Shift.
Channel 6 is organised around a series of themed nights such as "a boys and girls night in", a drama night and a crime night. Irish- produced programming will include a fashion magazine, movie and music news and reviews.
Founder and director Michael Murphy said Channel 6 would open up the market in a way not experienced to date.
Offer to discuss funeral directive
The Department of Agriculture has offered to meet funeral directors to discuss an EU directive that would ban chemicals used to embalm bodies.
The Irish Association of Funeral Directors had earlier condemned the biocides directive, which "jeopardised the Irish funeral tradition as we know it".
A spokesman for the European Commission said yesterday the ball was "in the hands of the IAFD and the Irish authorities.
"If traditional Irish funerals are indeed at risk and if they are considered as essential by the Irish authorities, the Irish authorities could seek a derogation," he said.
The Department of Agriculture said yesterday it would be happy to meet the association.
The chemicals used to preserve bodies are also used as a pesticide in various industries.
Joe McNamara, a funeral director and member of the funeral directors association, said he did not believe a ban could be imposed. "This has been brewing now for a little while. I don't think it's really a runner, as it's proposed. Politically, I don't think they [the European Commission] will say 'this is your custom, now your custom is outlawed'."
Vote on Samuel Beckett Bridge
Dublin City Council is to vote on whether or not to name a new bridge after writer Samuel Beckett. It will consider naming the new bridge at Macken Street after the Nobel Prize winner to coincide with the 100th anniversary of his death.
Labour councillor Seán Kenny, a former lord mayor, will formally propose the bridge be named the Samuel Beckett Bridge at next Monday's council meeting. "It is a fitting tribute to a famous Dubliner that his native city should name a Liffey bridge in his honour," he said.
A new pedestrian bridge, opened last year, was named after Seán O'Casey and the Liffey also has a bridge named after James Joyce.
Girl (14) missing in north Dublin
Gardaí in Balbriggan, Co Dublin, are seeking assistance in tracing Stephanie Domingos (14), who is missing from her accommodation in Garristown.
She is described as 1.52m (5 ft), of medium build with brown eyes and shoulder- length brown hair. She was last seen on March 17th at about noon in the Ashbourne area, wearing a lime green jacket with a sleeveless dark green top over the jacket, blue jeans and black boots. She may be in the Ballybough area of Dublin.