A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Rain fails to stop play on longest day
In spite of the rain and overcast skies in most places the sun did break through at about dawn at the Hill of Tara. The longest day of the year was celebrated with some traditional events and mid-summer festivals will continue over the weekend.
The Lough Gur Summer Solstice festival was launched last night in Co Limerick. The weekend festival got under with a free picnic at the prehistoric Grange Stone Circle with music, dance and Limerick Youth Drama's production of The Colleen Bawn.
In Co Meath, TaraWatch is holding a Summer Solstice Celebration on the Hill of Tara until Sunday. The opportunity is being seized to celebrate the decision of the World Monuments Fund to place the archaeological complex on the list of the World's 100 Most Endangered Sites.
UCD writing role for McGuinness
Playwright Frank McGuinness has been named Professor of Creative Writing at University College Dublin.
The appointment recognises the Donegal writer's achievements in drama and literature. Prof McGuinness will carry the title for as long as he remains writer in residence at UCD.
"I am so honoured. It took about 15 minutes for it to sink in. This is one of the very few times in my life when I find myself short for words," he said. "It is a great honour to work in the UCD school of English and Drama among such revered Irish writers such as my good friend and colleague Prof Declan Kiberd."
Power still out in much of Kerry
Hundreds of homes in the north of Co Kerry were still without electricity for much of yesterday after an electrical storm hit on Wednesday, leaving most of the county without power.
Restaurants, businesses and supermarkets were forced to shut at 5.40pm after lightning struck the main network supply from Tarbert on the Shannon.
An ESB spokesman said it expected all houses would be restored by yesterday afternoon. The outage had nothing to do with the age of the oil-fired plant, which is to close by 2010. It was the main distribution network outside the plant that was struck, the spokesman said.