An Iraqi man dives into a public swimming pool in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, May 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

HERE ARE THE things we learned, loved and shared today as we round off the day in three easy steps.

THINGS WE LEARNED

#STRIKE: Bus services throughout Ireland were virtually absent today, as almost half of Bus Éireann’s entire workforce began strike action. With other staff refusing to pass picket lines, only a handful of services actually operated – leaving Busaras looking pretty empty. The disruption is likely to continue tomorrow, and will even affect some school routes.

#ABORTION: The association representing Irish GPs has called on the government’s abortion plans to be extended to include cases of fatal foetal abnormality. A motion on the subject was passed by a narrow margin at the ICGP’s annual general meeting in Galway.

#FRAUD: A member of staff from the Local Property Tax helpline has been suspended, over allegations of credit card fraud. The member of staff is alleged to have taken the credit card details of some callers and to have used them without the cardholders’ knowledge.

#PUBLIC PAY: It’s been a busy day as the Labour Relations Commission continues its talks with unions on whether there is a basis to agree an alternative deal to the ‘Croke Park 2′ proposals. Joan Burton has said it’s in everybody’s interests for a deal to be reached – while SIPTU president Jack O’Connor has said he’s more upbeat than before about the possibility of a deal being reached.

#INQUIRY: The chairman of the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee has warned that some civil servants and bankers will try to frustrate any public inquiry into the financial crisis. John McGuinness said there are some people, whose evidence could be vital to any inquiry, “that would like to have no inquiry at all – whether they be bankers or, indeed,in the civil service.”

#SEANAD: If the public doesn’t approve plans to scrap the Seanad in a referendum later this year, the next elections to fill it could be radically different. That’s if proposals launched by two members today are adopted when they’re voted upon this week. Feargal Quinn and Katherine Zappone want votes for all citizens – including emigrants – and to create a legal requirement where members of the public can force items onto the Seanad agenda by petition.

THINGS WE LOVED

• Richard Branson’s acknowledgement that if you lose a bet, you have to pay your forfeit. He bet Air Asia CEO Tony Fernandes (previously of the Caterham F1 team) that his Virgin Racing team would outperform Caterham in their first Formula 1 season in 2010. The loser had to dress up as an air stewardess.
• The cheek of Vin Diesel.
• You might have seen a video doing the rounds in the last few weeks of UCD’s Choral Scholars singing The Parting Glass, a song made famous more recently by Ed Sheerin. Here’s their follow-up: a sprightly arrangement of Shaun Davey’s ‘Free and Easy’.

(YouTube: UCDPerformingGroups)

THINGS WE SHARED

• Commander Chris Hadfield is about to come home from space. Here’s an interactive collection of all of his snaps from around the world.
• Here’s a pretty decent photo collection: famous people from history, and the people who played them in biopics.
• Football! Football! Football! But as Old Trafford says goodbye to departing Man Utd boss Alex Ferguson, it’s actually Watford’s Vicarage Road where the day’s best action took place. Such was the drama, that even the Sky Sports News man was flabbergasted.
• Finally, the not-quite-collapsed building we mentioned… this silo in Australia couldn’t be toppled by explosives, and needed manual intervention to get knocked:

(YouTube/ExtraWorldNews)