Empty grandstands at the end of another day at the Punchestown festival

Image: Image: Andres Poveda

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

• Police in the North say that an explosive device which was discovered in an abandoned vehicle outside Newry on Thursday evening had the potential to be devastating. The bomb contained 600lbs of explosives – twice the size of the Omagh bomb – and was found in a van and made safe.
• Fr. Brian D’Arcy, who revealed this week that he was censured by the Vatican over a year ago, has said that he would have to leave the priesthood if he was not allowed to write about subjects he feels strongly about. The Sunday World journalist and BBC Broadcaster said in an emotional interview that he has had a ‘dreadful year’.
• Fine Gael and Labour have today called on the electorate to vote Yes in the forthcoming referendum on the Stability Treaty, saying it is about adopting a policy of “good housekeeping which this country badly needs at this moment”.
• President Michael D Higgins, Bono and The Edge were among the mourners at the funeral of celebrated Irish artist Louis le Brocquy, who died this week at the age of 95. The service took place at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin.

Bono and his wife Ali Hewson arrive at St Patrick’s Cathedral. Photo: Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland

• Secret Service agents are facing a new raft of rules after embarrassing revelations about a prostitution scandal. Chaperones are to be assigned to agents on certain trips in order to curb excessive drinking, entertaining people in their hotel rooms, and coverting in disreputable establishments.
• Take a look at TheJournal.ie‘s comprehensive run down of the facts about abortion in Ireland: the current laws, constitutional rights, past legal challenges and the situation in other jurisdictions.
• There was good news for Peats World of Electronics today as it reopened its Parnell Street store today. All eleven branches of Peats closed earlier this month amid plans to go into liquidation. The Rathmines branch is also due to reopen shortly.
• Microsoft is challenging businesses to take part in a ‘work from home’ day on 23 May. Tell us, do you think you could work, full time, from home?
• Vivian Santiago was diagnosed with cancer when she was just 26. She told TheJournal.ie the story of losing her breast to the disease, but saving her life.
• The thirty-two Vita Cortex workers who have been occupying the Kinsale Road company in Cork for 135 days have said that the protest is far from over. They have expressed disgust at the company’s rejection of resolution guidelines, in the row over redundancy payments. They also received a boost today in the form of a tweet from Twitter maestro @Glinner, aka Father Ted writer Graham Linehan.
• Our Pic of the Day today was a tribute to the Taoiseach Who Went up a Hill and Came Down a Mountain, and while you’re at it, why not catch up on the Week in Photos?
• Finally, scared of flying? You might want to look away now!

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