Basset Hound Larry after coming third in class at Crufts 2013, NEC, Birmingham. (Rui Vieira/PA Wire)

HERE ARE ALL the things we learned, loved and shared today.

THINGS WE LEARNED:

#JOBS: Wicklow pharmaceutical plant MSD has announced that is to cease operations by 2015 with the loss of all 280 jobs at the facility. MSD said the decision comes as the firm reviews its worldwide manufacturing capabilities “that has resulted in sites being sold, closed or consolidated in all regions of the world”.

#MEATH EAST: The Labour Party was not due to hold a convention to choose its candidate in the Meath East by-election until the end of March, meaning the party may have not have expected the ballot to be called this week, TheJournal.ie has learned. It has emerged that senior figures within the Labour ranks had not expected the election to be held for another month – and that Fine Gael may have called the vote without its coalition partner having chosen a candidate.

#NEWSPAPERS: The High Court has approved the appointment of interim examiner Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton to the company behind the Sunday Business Post newspaper. Justice Peter Kelly was told that the newspaper has 76 full-time employees, and 123 freelance contributors and has made a loss of €1.2 million in the year to 2013 having been loss-making since 2009.

#SOCIAL MEDIA: The Joint Committee on Transport and Communications heard from representatives from both Facebook and Twitter today. Both companies expressed a belief in a fundamental value to online anonymity but noted that structures were in place to protect other users of the social networking sites.

#ECB: Speaking after a meeting of ECB governors in Frankfurt today, the President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi said the ECB will not use its programme of buying bonds to make it easier for Ireland to break free from its EU-IMF bailout later this year.

Member of staff Hanae Tsuji looks at a section of papyrus belonging to the priest Nesmin from part of the exhibition ‘Cairo to Constantinople’ 8 March-21 June 2013 at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, Thursday March 7, 2013 (David Cheskin/PA Wire).

THINGS WE LOVED:

• How social media-savvy would your favourite literary characters be? Would you follow Mr Darcy on Twitter? Would Charles Bingley say things like: “Big shout out to Mr Bennet for allowing me to shoot on his land today #considerable generosity”? We very much like to think so, along with Gwen Smith at Litro.
• This scaffolding in Kerry. A-maz-ing.

THINGS WE SHARED:

• The Daily Beast has put together this very interesting history of the US Senate filibuster, featuring examples of what senators read during their speeches – including recipes, poetry and even the constitution. Be warned though; a depressingly large chunk of filibustering tactics were employed for racist causes.
• As an adult, you might feel cut off from the joy of exploring woodlands, beaches, and other natural places that were special to you during childhood. Liam Heneghan puts an ecological lens over the phenomenon using the archetypal child adventurer – Christopher Robin (and his friend Pooh, of course).
• Zachary Woolfe, writing in the New York Times, considers how music fuelled the invention of abstraction: painting music and listening to art.

Orang-utans love human babies. Proof:

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