Great Britain’s Andrew Willis in action in his Men’s 200m Breaststroke Heat at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park, London. His tattoo is a quote from Virgil and reads ‘Possunt quia posse videntur ‘ which translates as ‘They can because they think they can’. Image: Julien Behal/PA Wire/Press Association Images.

THINGS WE LEARNED:

#MANSLAUGHTER: A 34-year-old man has been jailed for 11 years for the manslaughter of his former partner’s infant son in April 2005, according to RTÉ. Philip Doyle of Tinakilly, Aughrim, Co Wicklow, was found guilty of the manslaughter of Ross Murphy last week.

#QUINN: The administration of Quinn Insurance Ltd may cost as much as €1.6 billion – hundreds of millions of euro more than the original estimate - according to evidence given to the High Court today. This could lead to the 2 per cent insurance levy currently imposed on policies being extended for a considerable number of years, Justice Nicholas Kearns was told.

#ESM: The Irish government will tomorrow complete the process of joining the yet-to-be-established European Stability Mechanism, after the Supreme Court refused to grant an injunction to an independent TD seeking to stop the process. arlier today the Court denied a request by independent TD Thomas Pringle to temporarily block the ratification of the treaty, dismissing arguments that the ESM and the treaty establishing it were contrary to the Irish Constitution.

#TEACHING: The Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) has warned that increasing casualisation of the profession “is making it more and more difficult for teachers to secure full hours and permanency”. Today the union said that TUI said that more than a quarter of its members at second level earn a salary based on less than full hours.

#BUSINESS: Five Irish companies went out of business every day last month – and half of those stress-tested showed signs they were on the brink of failure – according to the latest figures from credit and risk analyst Vision-net. The figures show that between 1 – 25 July, 131 companies were declared insolvent and, of those, 97 were liquidated, 33 entered receivership, and one had an examiner appointed.

THINGS WE LOVED:

• This brilliant TED Talk by long-time Chinese blogger Michael Anti explaining internet censorship in his country – and how bloggers are dealing with it.
• As if Michelle Obama isn’t enough of a national/global sweetheart, she may have won even more hearts tonight by hugging every member of the US Men’s Basketball team a hug after their victory over France in London.
• Touching tributes poured out today for one of Ireland’s best-loved journalists and authors, Maeve Binchy, who was described today by the Taoiseach as a “national treasure”. Binchy, who sold over 40 million books worldwide, passed away last night at the age of 72 after a short illness.

Actor Eamon Morrissey reads one of Binchy’s books in Finnegans of Dalkey, next door to the house which she shared with her husband Gordon Snell. Photo: Mark Stedman/Photocall Ireland.

THINGS WE SHARED:

• IKEA customers in China make sure they test out products thoroughly before purchase. Very thoroughly indeed.
• Actress Lindsay Lohan was a little hesitant about disrobing for a love scene in her latest film, The Canyons… so she asked the crew to fulfil a very unusual request: strip down to your underwear.
• ‘The more you watch, the more you see’ is TG4′s tagline for its documentaries… but just how many sinister things can you spot lurking in the background of this ad? Watch the full-time and slow-motion versions to see how perceptive you are.
• Here’s lookin’ at you, kid…

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