A zebra stands in the shade at the Dusit Zoo Friday, March. 1, 2013, in Bangkok, Thailand. Visitors can meet with more than 1,600 animals of various types of domestic and international wildlife at the zoo. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

HERE’S ALL THE things we learned, loved and shared today.

THINGS WE LEARNED

#CROKE PARK The Garda Representative Association has lashed out at SIPTU’s comments on the Croke Park II extension proposals. The GRA condemned assertions from SIPTU’s vice president that Garda bodies could have secured sector-specific agreements parallel to the proposals, if they had not withdrawn from the talks. The GRA outlined that Garda unions – which are not permitted to join the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, with whom the talks are held – were not allowed to partake in the negotiations.

#HORSEMEAT The UK’s Food Safety Authority has said that 99 per cent of the products it has tested recently did not contain horse DNA, but it did find four new products with at least 1 per cent horsemeat. It will continue to test products for horse DNA in beef and will publish the results at quarterly intervals.

#CATHERINE NEVIN Catherine Nevin has lost a court attempt to have her criminal conviction for murdering her husband Tom Nevin discounted from a civil case about Tom’s inheritance. The couple owned Jack White’s Pub in Brittas Bay, where Tom was killed in 1996 without leaving a will.

#MICHAELA MCAREAVEY The PSNI has sent three detectives to Mauritius to help with the ongoing investigation into the death of Michaela McAreavey. It is anticipated their work will take a week to complete. Michaela was murdered while on honeymoon in the country in January 2011.

#DISCRIMINATION Fianna Fáil Senator Averil Power has said that some teachers and doctors are afraid for their jobs due to a delay in bringing in legislation that would end discrimination against lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender staff. Minister for Justice and Equality Alan Shatter said that the drafting of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Bill 2013 is at an advanced stage.

Japanese Rika Hongo performs during the Junior Figure Skating World Championships, in Milan, Italy, Friday, March 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

THINGS WE LOVED

• Gay Community News celebrates 25 years in publishing. Here is its story:

(GayCommunityNewsTV/YouTube)

• David Bowie’s new album isn’t out until next week – but you can stream the entire album, The Next Day, on iTunes right now. He’s a musical legend. Hop to it!
• This story about the sudden death of writer Cristina Nehring’s father is sad, touching and poignant. We may not have known who Wolfgang Nehring was, but this Slate essay really makes the reader feel like they knew him.

THINKS WE SHARED

• How do you survive 47 hours on a train journey across part of the United States? The New York Times takes a look.
• We love animals here at TheJournal.ie – so definitely found that a few of these applied to us… 32 childhood signs that you would always be obsessed with animals (Buzzfeed).
• Speaking of animals, the owner of this computer told Reddit he left it unguarded for 10 minutes, and came back to this…

Pic: Reddit

• Do you miss the days of letter writing? Then you might enjoy this new Tumblr, the Letters Page, where people are invited to write letters for a new literary journal.

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