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

• RTÉ  has apologised in the High Court today to Catholic priest Fr Kevin Reynolds, regarding false accusations made against him in a Prime Time Investigates programme, and paid him an undisclosed sum in damages. The programme alleged that Reynolds was the father of a child conceived with a teenage girl when he worked as a missionary in Africa. The head of the Association of Catholic Priests gave an impassioned and angry speech to reporters outside the High Court this afternoon in response to the ruling – lambasting the Irish media’s “unbalanced” portrayal of Catholic clergy.
• First-time admissions to Irish psychiatric units and hospitals increased between 2009 to 2010 – with young people representing the greatest increase of this group, according to figures published today in the Health Research Board annual report Activities of Irish Psychiatric Units and Hospitals 2010. The report shows that the 18–19 year age group had the highest rate of first admissions, at 291.6 per 100,000 population.
• The Vinter’s Federation of Ireland predicts that about 5,000 jobs will be lost in the pub industry next year. Publicans staged a protest outside the Dáil today, demanding that the upcoming Valuation Bill include a clause that allows an appeal on rates to be made in certain economic circumstances.
• A 58-year-old woman has died after sustaining fatal injuries in a single-car collision in Bruff, Limerick, this afternoon.
• Hundreds of Irish peacekeeping troops have arrived back in Dublin today after serving five months in Lebanon – see photos of the 104th battalion being greeted by family at Dublin Airport today.
• A speed limit of 30 km/h has been introduced to parts of Cork city centre, echoing the scheme which has already been rolled out in Dublin. The new limit applies to the city’s main thoroughfare, St Patrick’s Street, as well as Grand Parade, Oliver Plunkett Street, North Main Street, Cornmarket Street and adjacent streets.
• Staff at the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) have clocked up over €2 million in expenses since the health watchdog was set up four years ago, it has emerged. The Medical Independent reports that the state-funded agency has swelled its staff numbers by over 100 since 2007 when it was set up.
• A gunman has taken his own life inside a suburban Chicago FedEx facility today. Bedford Police Chief Daniel Godfrey says no other injuries were reported in this morning’s shooting in the suburb of Bedford Park in the US city.
• Spain became the latest eurozone country to find itself in the firing line, as its cost of borrowing soared to near 7 per cent following a difficult bond auction for its government this morning.

Commuters receive a helping hand from the Chartered Management Institute’•s (CMI) team of pink Shadowmen as they cross London Bridge. Image: Geoff Caddick/PA Wire/Press Association Images

• Have the Irish ended their love affair with the humble spud? According to Bord Bia, we are no longer buying potatoes in the same large volumes as previously seen – and the food board is taking measures to address the situation. “We need to investigate it,” says Lorcan Bourke from Bord Bia told TheJournal.ie, pointing to the Atkins Diet and the Convenience Factor as two possible reasons behind the decline in potato popularity.
• Scientists have discovered possible evidence of shallow lakes beneath the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa. The presence the liquid water, thought to be equal in volume to the North American Great Lakes, may point towards a potential habitat for life outside Earth.
• Did you know that pizza is a vegetable? No, us neither – but that was the ruling made today by US Congress. After some debate concerning dinners for schoolchildren, Congress voted that anything containing two tablespoons of  tomato sauce can be labelled a vegetable.
• Planning a cinema tip this weekend? Decide which new release is worth your hard-earned cash with TheJournal.ie‘s Three-trailer Thursday sneak peak…

Irish filmmaker Andrew Clancy created his beautiful video, A Year in New York, by constantly filming what he saw around him over 12 months – a project he described as almost “never-ending”…

Music by Irish singer-songwriter James Vincent McMorrow

Uploaded by ajcafernades via YouTube

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