A round-up of today's other stories in brief
More teachers for Leaving Cert orals
The State Exams Commission says it is confident this year's Leaving Cert oral exams will run smoothly after more teachers came forward as examiners, writes Seán Flynn
A fortnight ago, the commission wrote to schools requesting additional examiners in Irish and several modern languages. Last night, the examinations commission said there had been a strong response from teachers and from schools and virtually all of the 1,000 examiners needed for the orals have now been recruited.
The oral exams take place on April 7-18th next. In recent years the commission has struggled to recruit examiners. The Department of Education is anxious to overhaul the current system - which relies on teachers leaving their own school to conduct oral exams elsewhere.
Freak gust topples truck
The driver of an articulated truck escaped when his vehicle was blown off the road by a freak 100 km/h gust of wind yesterday.
The 13 metre truck crashed sideways off the road and into a field just south of Ballintra on the main Ballyshannon-Donegal town road.
The driver, a Slovakian in his 40s, was helped from the mangled cab by a passing motorist who said: "He had a miraculous escape." A HSE West spokesperson later said the driver was "stable" in Letterkenny General Hospital with "minor injuries."
Radioactive warning
Companies which deal in radioactive materials have been warned that they must be licensed or face prosecution.
The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) was commenting after a decision by a District Court judge to convict a Co Meath firm Trimproof Ltd for the unlicensed custody of an instrument containing a radioactive substance.
Trimproof, which is based in Trim, specialises in upholstery fabrics.
At Trim District Court, Judge John Brophy fined Trimproof Ltd a total of €2,538 and ordered the company to pay legal costs of €726 for failing to renew a licence it had for radioactive equipment after it expired in March last year.
The company was found guilty of having the unlicensed custody of an instrument containing a radioactive substance on the 25th of April and the 16th of November last year.
There are currently more than 1,600 licences in place to facilitate the safe use of radioactive substances and X-ray systems.
Appeal over missing men
Gardaí in Counties Laois, Kildare and Galway are seeking assistance in tracing three missing men. John Paul Sweeney (26) Celbridge, Co Kildare, was last seen on Goatstown Road in Dublin on February 21st. He is described as being 6'1" with a large frame, short brown hair and brown eyes.
Gardaí in Portarlington have requested help in finding Zbigniew Kaczor, a 48-year-old Polish national. He is described as being 5' 11" and of slight build, with red shaved hair and glasses.
Gardaí in Galway have appealed for information on Michael Hughes (20).
He is 5'10" and of slight build, with blonde/ brown hair. He was wearing jeans, grey runners, grey/green jacket and a beige baseball cap.