EVERY DAY, TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of all the day’s main news as well as the bits and pieces that you may have missed.

Race for the Áras…

• The National Library has said it will not be releasing boxes and boxes of letters it received from independent candidate David Norris without his permission. It’s not known if the documents contain the letters of clemency he wrote on behalf of his former partner Ezra Nawi.
• Meanwhile, Mary Davis has been issuing documents of her own in the form of her tax filings for the last three years in a bid to ward off criticism over her positions on State boards. Seán Gallagher has also done so but will the other candidates be following suit?
• Gallagher also emailed his fellow presidential candidates to see if they would join him in issuing one election leaflet in order to save money but it appears none of them hit the reply button. But, as we’ve been finding out, none of the candidates are obliged to use State funding for election literature.
• The war of words between Fine Gael and Sinn Féin’s candidate Martin McGuinness shows no sign of abating with McGuinness today attacking the governing party for its “dirty tricks” and “black propaganda”.
• Meanwhile, the government chief whip and Fine Gael TD Paul Kehoe has confirmed his very own Twitter attack on McGuinness came from his account and that it wasn’t hacked.
• Here’s an interesting tool courtesy of O’Leary Analytics looking at the level of social media and news comments on the seven presidential candidates.
• You can do some election monitoring of your own by clicking ‘Like’ on our new Facebook page TheJournal.ie Politics which brings you all the latest on what’s going in the Race for the Áras and at Leinster House.
• Finally in our #Áras11 round-up,  here’s a nice little cartoon video urging you to get out and vote. Courtesy of the Mary Davis campaign and featuring a cartoon version of the candidate in her red dress:

In the day’s other news…

• The fire at a house in Roscommon which led to the death of a five-year-old girl is now being treated as suspicious by gardaí investigating the blaze.
• The High Court has ordered that Gerry Adams’s brother Liam be extradited to Northern Ireland in order to stand trial over allegations that he sexually abused his daughter.
• An appeal has been issued for missing Natalie Chitioui Lawlor, 15, who was last seen in Rathangan in Co Kildare over a week ago.
• In other election news, the Dublin West by-election has a new contender tonight with Apprentice star Barry C Hunt confirming that he is to stand for election in the seat formerly held by the now deceased former finance minister Brian Lenihan. “It’s time to make that seat count,” Hunt said.
• The Minister for Justice Alan Shatter is considering the implications of introducing a ban on the purchase of sex in Ireland.
• NAMA has said it will go after the pensions of major developers in a bid to recover the cash that is owed to it.
• Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito will learn shortly whether their appeal in an Italian court against their conviction for the murder of Meredith Kercher in 2007 is successful. A decision is due at 8.30pm tonight (Irish time). Watch it live here.
• Muammar Gaddafi wanted to be like the Queen of England according to one government minister in the UK, it has been revealed by The Guardian today.
• Norwegian media have been allowed on the island of Utoya for the first time since the brutal massacre there in July. Some haunting pictures have emerged.
• The American fugitive George Wright never told his wife he had been convicted of murder or was part of a dramatic airplane hijacking in the early 1970s, it has been revealed.
• The iPhone 5 is expected to be unveiled tomorrow. Could this be what it looks like?
• Finally, the hit American TV show Arrested Development is to return with plans for new episodes and a movie in the works.

Making a difference

A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

For the price of one cup of coffee each week you can make sure we can keep reliable, meaningful news open to everyone regardless of their ability to pay.

Support us Learn More