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

Referendum round-up:

• During a radio debate today over the Fiscal Compact referendum, Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton said that a ‘no’ vote could lead Ireland to further austerity because of uncertainty about future funding, while Richard Boyd Barrett TD described the treaty itself as a “recipe for austerity”.
• The Green Party will not be taking a position on the Fiscal Treaty referendum following a vote among members at the party’s annual convention this weekend in Kilkenny. Although 62 per cent voted in support of the referendum, this wasn’t a high enough proportion for the party to take that stance.
• Meanwhile, has the Socialist Party won the contest for the biggest lamp-based campaign posters?

(Image: Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland)

Today’s other news:

• A new bill is being introduced to the Dáil which proposes to end a legal loophole which sees men face life imprisonment if convicted of incest while women face shorter sentences.
• One teenage girl was killed and several students injured in a bomb attack outside a school in southern Italy this morning.
• An 18-year-old girl has died following a shooting at a house in Bellaghy, Co Derry this morning. A second woman was seriously injured in the incident.
• The Eurozone financial crisis has been the main topic for discussion at the G8 leaders’ summit.
• The family of the late Garda Ciarán Jones, who died while assisting people during last October’s serious flooding in Co Wicklow, has been presented with a medal in his honour at this year’s Garda Memorial Day.
• The first attempt by a US company to transport cargo to the International Space Station was aborted at the last moment this morning.
• Have you seen these photos of the Great Wall of China?
• Here’s how today’s Heineken Cup Final panned out.
• Blockupy, Miss Universe, and love locks – check out the week in photos.
• In this evening’s column, Peter Faulkner describes the unexpected results of promoting his company on Facebook. Meanwhile, Business Insider has found a single graph to explain why the social network’s shares never dipped below $38 after their flotation yesterday.
• Here’s how to travel 40,000km after leaving home without a penny.
• The 12,800km relay which brings the Olympic flame to London for the opening ceremony of the 2012 Games has kicked off in England:

(Video uploaded by AssociatedPress)

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