A round-up of other home news in brief...
Two Irish towns receive awards
Two Irish towns received awards at the European Entente Florale Competition held in Cardiff, Wales, last night.
Clonakilty, Co Cork, received a gold medal award for the second time while Dundalk, Co Louth, took silver in its first time in the competition.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley congratulated both towns, saying they should be very proud of their achievement.
Garda stations might not close - Ahern
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said yesterday he believed 350 local Garda stations could be saved if the department could make the savings elsewhere.
Speaking at the opening of the newly refurbished Granard Garda station in Co Longford, Mr Ahern said no decision had been made on the issue, but his personal feeling was that savings could be made elsewhere. The closure of 350 stations was recommended in the McCarthy report.
Swine flu vaccines pass evaluation
The licensing of swine flu vaccines took a step closer yesterday when the European Medicines Agency said it was recommending that two vaccines be granted a marketing authorisation.
The vaccines include one manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, which is due to supply some vaccines to Ireland.