Michael Flatley with a young fan at the start of the Mayor of London’s St Patrick’s Day parade in central London [Laura Lean/PA Wire]

IRELAND

• Gardaí issued an appeal over a Lucan gang-related murder
• A man was charged over yesterday’s shotgun killing in Tallaght
• Investigations into the killing of Eamonn Ferguson continued
• Elaine O’Hara was laid to rest at a private funeral
• A man was arrested after a missing UK teen was found
• A 60-year-old man was assaulted during a burglary
• It emerged there was a mistake in last year’s Junior Cert
• A Harlem-style gas explosion ‘could happen here’ it was warned
• There were more memories of the soon to be scrapped ‘Phantom FM‘
• And a triumphant BOD & co returned home

[Vadim Ghirda/AP/Press Association Images]

WORLD

#CRIMEA The people of the Crimea region voted on whether to leave Ukraine and join Russia [above]. Unsurprisingly, exit polls show they’re pretty pro-Moscow.

#NIGERIA Over 100 people were killed in three villages in Nigeria. Some victims were hacked to death with machetes, officials said.

#PLANE The homes of both pilots have been searched and the captain’s home flight simulator examined in the Flight MH370 investigation.

INNOVATION

• ‘I hope it works out for him’: Bill Gates sounds a little sceptical about the Facebook-WhatsApp deal [Huffington Post]
• And — ever longed for a fully-functional LEGO keyboard? No? Well, one exists anyway.

PARTING SHOT

It happened pretty early, so you may not be aware — the country’s most famous beard since the heyday of Noel Purcell is no more…

[Cian Healy via Twitter]