Pigeons in the Cabra area of Dublin, Tuesday February 19, 2013. (Niall Carson/PA Wire)

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

THINGS WE LEARNED:

#MAGDALENES: Enda Kenny broke into tears as he concluded a historic State apology to the victims of the Magdalene Laundries in the Dáil this evening. The apology came two weeks after an inter-departmental committee formally outlined a significant State involvement in the committal of over 10,000 women to the Laundries between the 1920s and 1990s.

#MURDER: A man has been charged with the murder of Olivia Dunlea, 36, who died in “violent circumstances” before a fire at her home in Passage West, Cork, on Sunday. Darren Murphy, 36, appeared before Cork City Court today.

#IRISH LIFE: The Government has reached a deal to sell Irish Life to the Canadian company Great-West Lifeco for €1.3 billion. The Irish Life name will be retained as part of the deal and the life and pensions operations of Great-West Lifeco’s Irish subsidiary, Canada Life, will be combined with those of Irish Life.

#IBRC: The Taoiseach has said it is not yet clear whether credit unions will lose “millions” of euros in the liquidation of IBRC, in response to a rumour circulating that claims credit unions could lose up to €17 million worth of investments with the former State-owned bank. Enda Kenny said the liquidator will have to analyse the situation.

#OSCAR PISTORIUS: Athlete Oscar Pistorius has today told a South African court that he did not intend to kill his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, who died from gunshot wounds sustained at his house several days ago. Pistorius testified that he had inadvertently shot Steenkamp after mistaking her for an intruder.

#SEPTIC TANKS: The national inspection plan for septic tanks has been published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in a move  welcomed by Environment Minister. Phil Hogan the plan it will “underpin the risk-based inspection of septic tanks and other on-site treatment systems” and thanked all of the householders who have registered their domestic waste water treatment systems – describing those who supported the legislation as the “silent majority”

Awww… two-year-old Eva Bray looks at a blooming Magnolia campbellii flower in the Trebah Gardens in Cornwall, as spring arrives in the south-west peninsula before the rest of the country. (Simon Burt/PA Wire)

THINGS WE LOVED:

• Today, we mostly loved making anagrams of our names using nifty website Anyagrams (via @nadineoregan). Someone in Journal HQ will now forever be known by the – frankly excellent -appellation Vanilla Grey.
• Last week, US TV host Jimmy Kimmel asked his male viewers to give their wives and girlfriends the most unromantic present they could think of…. and they didn’t disappoint.

(But don’t let that kill your faith in the less-than-fair sex… check out what one man did for his girlfriend after her 10-year-old beagle passed away.)

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THINGS WE SHARED:

• Twenty-five writers talk about the importance of libraries - and why they aren’t the “sentimental” institutions they are currently being painted as in some quarters.
• You might think you can rely on your memory but false eyewitness reports are a leading cause of wrongful convictions… The Atlantic looks at the problem with police line-ups.
• Facebook says there is not place on the network for hate speech, violent images or other inappropriate content – so why does content that seems to glorify rape and domestic abuse keep appearing, asks Laura Bates on the Guardian.

An Indian labourer sun dries red chillies at Shertha village, outskirts of Ahmadabad, India, Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013. Millions of Indians earn their livelihood from agriculture.(AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)