Dublin by night. (Image: Daniel Dudek/Flickr)

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

THINGS WE LEARNED

#LIFE: Convicted murderer and IRA member Rose Lynch has been sentenced to life in prison, RTÉ News reports. The 50-year-old shot dead David Darcy, described as an innocent man, because she mistakenly believed he was involved in the killing of a Continuity IRA leader.

#SAVITA: In Galway, the inquest into the death of Savita Halappanavar continued with the coroner’s court hearing from midwife Ann Maria Burke who confirmed she told the patient that a termination could not be carried out in Ireland, describing the reason as a “Catholic thing”.

#TIME: The Troika has recommended that Ireland be given seven more years to repay its bailout loans.

#ARREST: PSNI officers have arrested a 65-year-old man in relation to the attempted murder of a prison officer in 1977.

#HORSEMEAT: An Irish firm is among hundreds of meat suppliers implicated in a new horsemeat scandal in the Netherlands. The Department of Agriculture is to investigate an Irish meat supplier which received horsemeat from a Dutch company that may have distributed as much as 50,000 tonnes of contaminated produced across the region.

#TEST TUBE BABIES: The British scientist who pioneered IVF treatment has died. Robert Edwards, who was awarded a Nobel prize for his work, was 87.

THINGS WE LOVED

(Sakchai Lalit/AP/Press Association Images)

• This elephant preparing for the Thai New Year celebration at Dusit Zoo in Bangkok. The three-day festival begins on Saturday.
• Picturing a team of real-life ghostbusters exploring Loop Head Lighthouse for the ghost of Enda Kenny’s grandfather.
• This touching letter and donation from an unemployed racing fan to injured jockey JT McNamara.

THINGS WE SHARED

• An angry letter from a 73-year-old man to the Revenue Commissioners about the new property tax has been shared by tens of thousands of people today. In it, the pensioner outlines why he will not be paying the “unjust tax”.
• Remember that time you said something really clever and witty on Twitter and loads of people retweeted it? That was cool, yeah? What if other people started making money from your quip? How would you take it? Writer Simon Taylor was a bit miffed by it all. Here’s his story.
• Comedic actor Russell Brand’s Guardian column about the death of Margaret Thatcher has gained much traction online today. The Essex native recalls a chance meeting, feeling sorry for her children and describes how “her demeanour and every discernible action seemed to be to the detriment of our national spirit and identity”.

Her refusal to stand against apartheid, her civil war against the unions, her aggression towards our neighbours in Ireland and a taxation system that was devised in the dark ages, the bombing of a retreating ship – it’s just not British.

• There is some excellent stuff in this New York Times post-scandal interview with former US representative Anthony Weiner (yes, the guy of naked Twitter photos fame).  He calls himself a dope, his brother in law calls him a douchebag and other people mistake him for Eliot Spitzer (the other dude with the call girls).
• Finally, check out the latte art created by barista Mike Breach in New York City.

(YouTube: MustWatchThisHD)