Two new ambassadors from Turkey and Australia were formally welcomed to Ireland by the President, Mrs McAleese, yesterday.
Mr Ahmet Berki Dibek, ambassador of Turkey, and Dr John Joseph Herron, ambassador of Australia, were accompanied by their wives and diplomatic officials as they presented their letters of credence to the President at a ceremony in Áras an Uachtaráin.
The new ambassadors inspected a guard of honour from the 12th Infantry Battalion, Sarsfield Barracks, Limerick.
Nine rats for every Dubliner
There are now nine rats for every person living in Dublin city, according to Dublin North Central T.D., Mr Finian McGrath.
Mr McGrath is calling on Dublin City Council, the Northern Area Health Board and the Minister for Health to "act soon on the rat crisis in Dublin".
Pest control experts say the rats are growing larger, and they attribute the increase in the rat population, to nine million, to the mild weather, floods, roadworks and construction.
Weil's disease, carried by 50 per cent of rodents, is another cause for concern. "This is a serious health issue in Dublin and we need to urgently review the Rats and Mice (destruction) Act 1919," said Mr McGrath.
Sausage factory ceiling collapses
Three people were treated in hospital yesterday after a ceiling collapse at a Dublin sausage factory. The incident happened at Olhausen's Ltd, in Newtown Industrial Estate, Coolock, shortly before 1 p.m.
The three were taken to Beaumont Hospital but their injuries were described as minor, and they were later released.