Cuban dancers perform Contraconcerto during the closing of the 23rd International Ballet Festival at the Garcia Lorca Theater in Havana, Cuba. (AP Photo/Franklin Reyes)

HERE ARE THE things you need to know as we round off the day in three easy steps.

THINGS WE LEARNED:

#CHILDREN’S REFERENDUM: Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald has defended the Government over information presented on a website and booklet regarding the Children’s Rights Referendum, saying that her Department had received legal advice from the Office of the Attorney General on the content.  The Supreme Court ruled this morning that the content was not impartial and therefore not an appropriate use of public money.

#AOIFE PHELAN: The family of Aoife Phelan has formally identified her body following the completion of a post mortem examination earlier today. A man in his 20s continues to be held as part of their investigation into the 30-year-old au pair’s murder.

#ALLOWANCES: The total cost of allowances paid to staff in the health sector last year exceeded €166 million, according to figures put before the Public Accounts Committee this afternoon. Director General of the HSE Tony O’Brien told the Committee this amounted to 2.61 per cent of the total HSE pay bill.

#GOAL: Former junior minister Barry Andrews has been appointed to succeed John O’Shea as the CEO of the charity Goal. It is understood that Andrews, who currently Fianna Fáil’s director of elections for the Children’s Rights referendum, will take up his position shortly.

#BANKERS: Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said today that it is unacceptable for former executives of banks that have been “bailed out with Irish taxpayers’ money” to receive pensions of over €500,000 a year, as newly-released figures show that six current executives at the former Anglo Irish Bank earn over half a million euro a year.

A 2,400-year old golden hoard has been found in an ancient Thracian tomb in northern Bulgarian village of Sveshtari, some 400 kilometres northeast of Sofia: the artefacts date back to the end of the 4th or the beginning of the 3rd century BC, and include gold jewellery, applications for horse trappings, and a tiara with reliefs of lions and fantasy animals. (AP Photo/ImpactPressGroup)

THINGS WE LOVED:

• Today’s Google doodle honours Irish writer Bram Stoker on what would have been his 165th birthday. Check out this blog post on the Manuscripts at Trinity site, which includes a photo of the man himself at the college.
• Bringing together two of modern society’s obsessions - namely food and 50 Shades of Grey – is this: Fifty Shades of Chicken. Enjoy.
• You, or somebody close to you, has probably had this terrible experience. Yes, we are of course talking about the mishearing of lyrics. View the entire, sorry history here…

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THINGS WE SHARED:

• You might be glad to see all the drama of the US election behind you – but if you’d like a peek at which candidates are likely to be travelling across the country in search of votes in four year’s time, check out Time’s list of the Political leaders to Watch.
• If you’re looking for inspiration this evening, you could do worse than reading The Atlantic’s 2012 guide to brave thinkers to learn about the people risking reputation, fortune – and even life – in pursuit of big ideas.
• Voting in the Children’s Referendum is underway on the islands off Donegal after the Air Corps dropped off ballot boxes and staff this morning…

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