A worker puts the finale touch to a train made with lemons and oranges during the 80th Lemon festival in Menton, southern France, Friday, Feb. 15, 2013. The theme for the festival, which involves over 300 professionals working on the project and 145 tons of citrus fruits is “Around the World in 80 Days.” (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau)

HERE ARE THE things we learned, loved and shared today.

THINGS WE LEARNED:

#COURTS: The Director of Public Prosecutions has lodged appeal papers regarding the ‘undue leniency’ of the sentence against Patrick O’Brien, who was found guilty of raping and indecently assaulting his daughter Fiona Doyle over a 10-year period.

#GARDAÍ: The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) has said that the Minister for Justice Alan Shatter is “disconnected from the reality of people’s lives on the ground” , adding that it will not return to the Croke Park extension talks unless “rational proposals” are offered.

#FOOD SAFETY: A new chairman, Professor Michael Gibney, has been appointed to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI). The news comes as the FSAI takes part in the investigation into the discovery that equine DNA was present in meat labelled ‘beef’ in Ireland.

#DONATIONS: 239 of Ireland’s TDs, Senators and MEPs have disclosed donations with a total value of €3,800 for the calendar year 2012. The donations, published this afternoon by the Standards in Public Office Commission, see just three public representatives declare donations.

#NURSES: Just 84 applications for the graduate nursing scheme – which offers 1,000 positions at a reduced rate of pay – have been processed, the Minister for Health James Reilly has revealed. Industrial Relations Officer at the Irish Nurses and Midwives Association Edward Matthews told TheJournal.ie today that it is confident that the low numbers applying for the jobs “are a testament to the effectiveness of the boycott”.

#PISTORIUS: Oscar Pistorius’ family have issued a statement on his behalf in which they say that the “alleged murder” of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp is “disputed in the strongest terms”.

A Bahraini child place posters into razor wire that read “down with dictatorship,” after a pro-democracy march in Budaiya, Bahrain, Friday, Feb. 15, 2013. Thousands of anti-government demonstrators jammed a major highway Friday as clashes broke out for a second day between security forces and protesters marking the anniversary of their uprising in the Gulf nation. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

THINGS WE LOVED:

• Videos of the meteorite that struck the Russian Urals are swirling about the internet today – but why are so many of them filmed from car dashboards?
• Stephen Fry took to Twitter today in confusion over the pronunciation of the Irish surname Geogheghan (and, as much as we love Geogheghans great and small, we can’t blame him for being at a loss on this one). A few familiar heads kindly put him right…
• Chechnya’s president is winning at Instagram – here’s the proof.

So, this happened in Tralee today…

Uploaded cal callaghan

THINGS WE SHARED:

• Anyone who uses social media has the odd day when they want to delete everything and drop off the digital grid – but is this ‘love it or leave it’ strategy bad for you?
• This beautiful time-lapse video which captures meteor showers off north-west Wales.

Naga Sadhus or Hindu naked holy men get ready to take out a procession to reach Sangam, confluence of Hindu holy rivers of Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, for a ritual dip, on the third and last royal bath of the Maha Kumbh festival on occasion of Basant Panchami in Allahabad, India, Friday, Feb. 15, 2013.

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