1. Noonan plays down UK plan for corporation tax cuts

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has played down the significance of chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne's announcement that UK corporation tax could be cut to less than 15 per cent. Mr Noonan said the announcement was not as "dramatic at it might appear" as Britain had previously signalled a cut to 17 per cent by 2020, which he said was "not a million miles away" for the new rate. He was speaking as the latest exchequer returns showed tax receipts were now running €742 million or 3.4 per cent ahead of projections, with corporation tax and excise receipts again performing strongly.

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2. Michael Gove a ‘fanatic’ who would damage peace process

Michael Gove is a "fanatic" who would be "dangerous" for the Northern Irish peace process and North-South relations if he won the Conservative Party leadership election, senior figures involved in the design and implementation of the Belfast Agreement have warned. Mr Gove, a former journalist, wrote a pamphlet in 2000 called Northern Ireland: the Price of Peace in which he compared the agreement to the appeasement of the Nazis in the 1930s and the condoning of the desires of paedophiles. The Scottish-born Brexit campaigner said the agreement was a "rigged referendum", a "mortal stain" and "a humiliation of our army, police and parliament". Mr Gove's views are "a fanatical unionist protest against the agreement", said Brendan O'Leary, professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania and an adviser to the UK Labour Party and the Irish government in the years running up to the signing of the agreement in 1998.

For more indepth news and analysis on Tory leadership race,  click here

3. Wales the big winners in Euro Millions prize fund

Having clearly spent their money well in their country's good times, the Icelandic FA will now get another chance to invest in the future of football on the island after its team earned €14 million in prize money at Euro 2016. The money is more than the English or either Irish association took away from the tournament and is a huge windfall by the standards of an organisation whose total annual investment in new capital projects over the last few years has ranged from roughly €130,000 to €500,000. The association has been widely credited with laying the foundations for the current success more than a decade ago when a string of indoor football centres were built and an ambitious programme of coach education embarked upon.

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4. Buskers in Dublin to be banned from using backing tracks

Buskers in Dublin will no longer be allowed to use backing tracks when they play on the capital's streets, following a vote by councillors last night. Singers and musicians will be required also to have a repertoire that lasts for at least 30 minutes without repetition. At a meeting of Dublin City Council in City Hall, councillors voted to accept, from August 1st, a ban on backing tracks, described by council management as "repetitive" and of "questionable quality"

5. Are your ears ringing?

You know that ringing in your ear you get after a particularly loud rock concert? All those screaming guitar solos, high-pitched synths and amp feedback buzzing around in your head hours after the concert is over. And that's just for the band. It's even louder for the audience, who get the full brunt of the PA system (well, they'd better get the full brunt or you're not doing your rock star job). The ringing will eventually die down and then it's back to normal hearing. But what if the sound doesn't go away, but just keeps on ringing endlessly in your ear, as though Jimi Hendrix was inside your head trying to break the world record for the longest sustained guitar note in rock history? And what if it's still there the next day, and the next, and the next, and the rest of the year, often getting louder, sometimes getting softer, but never, ever completely disappearing?

Misc

Abortion:  Full-blown Cabinet split over abortion damages Kenny

Console: 'Significant amount' of papers retrieved from lock-up

Visual Art: When the gallery becomes a disconcerting garden

Reading: How to encourage children to read...in a fun way

Medical Matters: Bed rest a sexist treatment that killed more than it cured