Today's other news stories in brief
School bus involved in collision
A bus carrying 22 schoolchildren was involved in a head-on collision with a car yesterday morning. All the children were wearing seatbelts, and none of them was injured.
The crash happened near the townland of Bun Brosna, just off the main Longford-Mullingar road during the morning run with pupils on their way to Sonnagh national school just outside Mullingar, Co Westmeath. It is understood parents were called to the scene and took their children home.
The driver of the car suffered only minor injuries, while the bus driver was badly shaken
70-year-old killed
A 70-year-old pedestrian was killed last night after he was struck by a car. The man was struck shortly after 7pm on the N7 at Carrigatogher, Nenagh, Co Tipperary. Gardaí at Killaloe are investigating.
Memorial for Farrell halted
A Sinn Féin memorial event at Stormont's Long Gallery to mark the death of IRA member Maireád Farrell, shot dead by the SAS in Gibraltar 25 years ago, has been halted by the committee of Assembly members, writes Dan Keenan.
The Assembly Commission, which runs Parliament Buildings, last night voted down the proposal which was to coincide with International Women's Day. It also laid down interim requirements which would prevent future moves to secure Parliament Buildings for contested events.
The Long Gallery will not be made available for functions or events unless there is cross-community support. Sinn Féin's event to mark the life of Ms Farrell is now expected to be held in the party's private offices, but the commission has also prevented cameras being taken into the event.
Words agreed for memorial
Omagh council has accepted the recommendations of the Independent Facilitation Team for the wording on a memorial to those murdered in the 1998 bombing, writes Dan Keenan.
The group, led by former Presbyterian moderator the Rev Dr John Dunlop, had been appointed to consider the wording or narrative for the Omagh Bomb Memorial and "Garden of Light". Its proposals were unanimously accepted last night following controversy over the handling of the issue.
Relatives had voiced concerns that an existing memorial had been removed and may not have been replaced. The council will now move to have a lengthy narrative incorporated into the memorial design.
Council chairman Bert Wilson conveyed the appreciation of the council to the independent facilitators who had presented a "sensitive, balanced and factual, yet inspirational, narrative".
They recognised "the immense trauma and suffering within communities and families in Omagh, Buncrana and Madrid as a result of the bomb, and the widespread views which exist on narrative"