A round up of today's other stories in brief.
Traveller service project for Offaly
The staff of Offaly County Council are to be given training to help them give a better service to Travellers and other members of minority cultures.
The training is part of a new project that aims to "celebrate and encourage the diverse cultures of all people in Offaly".
The scheme is the brainchild of Tullamore Travellers' Movement and the council, and will be launched in Tullamore today by Minister for Finance Brian Cowen.
"The training workshop will allow staff to develop a better understanding, and understanding of different cultures, to create a greater awareness of the problems and issues created by racism, social exclusion and poverty," a spokesperson said.
Missing Clare fisherman found
A lone lobster fisherman from Co Clare, reported overdue and missing late on Wednesday night in Galway Bay, was found safe and well on an island early yesterday.
The 43-year-old man from Newquay in north Clare went fishing at 4pm on Wednesday and was due home at about 7.30pm. When there was no sign of him some hours later, his wife raised the alarm and reported him overdue at around 11pm.
A major sea and air search was launched and the Aran Islands and Galway Bay lifeboats along with volunteers from the Doolin unit of the Irish Coastguard began a search for the man and his 8m (26ft) half-decker in the area of Newquay. Shortly afterwards, the Shannon-based Irish Coastguard helicopter, which is equipped with specialist search and rescue thermal imaging equipment, joined the search.
The man was located by the helicopter crew as they carried out a low-level sweep over Deer Island in Galway Bay, about two miles north of Newquay.
White foal makes €35,000 at sales
An equine rarity, a snow white foal, fetched a surprisingly high price of €35,000 when it was sold at Tattersalls November Hunt sales at Fairyhouse yesterday afternoon.
The foal was the first to be offered for sale in Ireland when it went under the hammer, and after some frenetic bidding, it was finally bought by Glenview Stud in Co Galway.
The equine genetic oddity was foaled by the Kennedy family of Waterloo, Ballynonty, near Thurles in Co Tipperary, and attracted huge interest in equine circles both nationally and internationally.
The snow-white colt was foaled on May 21st and is by the well-known stallion, Revoque out of Stage Debut.
It formed the centerpiece attraction at the sales yesterday and out of 1,646 foals listed in the official catalogue it aroused the most curiosity among Irish and international buyers.
The foal is only the sixth white horse to be registered in the UK and Ireland by Wetherby's since records began in the 1960s and despite their rarity in Europe, the number of white foals being born in the United States has increased notably with over 60 registered since 2001.
Rise in landscape gardening
Irish people are using their new-found wealth to use landscape gardening services, the Teagasc National Nursery Stock conference heard yesterday.
Patrick Gleeson, nursery stock adviser with the agriculture and food development authority, said a lot of people who have two incomes, work long hours and commute long distances, have less time to do their gardens and they want someone to do this for them.
"That is why the landscape area is growing so fast. We are changing and a lot of that is about time. It is now a leisure industry and competing with other leisure industries and there is very, very serious competition for our leisure money now," he said.
