Canada's senate has passed a bill to make the country's national anthem gender neutral.
The legislation to change "O Canada" won its final approval with the senate vote. The bill changes the second line of the anthem from "true patriot love, in all thy sons command" to "in all of us command".
The bill had stalled in the senate as the opposition Conservatives fought its passage, but it won approval on a voice vote on Wednesday.
The change was proposed by late Liberal Mauril Belanger, who was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease and did not live to see it become law.
The unelected senate usually rubber-stamps legislation passed by the House of Commons.
The Taoiseach has hit out at opposition parties, saying many of their policies would create another recession.
Leo Varadkar said many proposals that he is seeing are the same ones that were proposed during the Celtic Tiger.
The Taoiseach was addressing the Seanad earlier for the first time.
He said: "We're starting to hear the same stuff again that we used to hear before the last crisis - spend more, spend more, spend more on everything...97% mortgages provided by the State proposed by the leader of one party, tax breaks for developers proposed by the spokesperson of another party.
"That terrifies me...All around me I'm hearing all the same demands for all the same policies that landed us in the crisis in the first place."
Last autumn, Fianna Fáil has suggested that VAT should be cut to 9% for three years and development levies should be reduced to encourage more building.
A number of failures have been identified following an investigation into the Child and Family Agency, Tusla.
The Ombudsman launched an examination after receiving a number of complaints about the way the agency investigates allegations of child abuse against adults.
It found that the agency took a long time to deal with some child abuse allegations and that confidential communications were sent to the wrong address.
The investigation also found some Tusla social workers lacked empathy, breached the rights of accused adults, and failed to follow its own procedures for keeping social work records.
Peter Tyndall says they have looked at how Tusla can improve the delivery of its services and made their recommendations in a report called 'Taking Stock'.
He said: "We've quite a lengthy series of recommendations to do with the way that Tusla puts procedures in place, to do with recruiting sufficient staff to be able to do the job, to training and managing those staff well.
"And also recommendations about how they deal with complaints."
Tusla have said that they have been working to improve their work for the past 12 to 18 months.
Brian Lee, Director of Quality Assurance at Tusla, said: "I welcome the acknowledgement by the Ombudsman of the difficult environment in which social workers work, and of the difficultly in dealing with disclosures of retrospective abuse.
"'Taking Stock', which was based on a small sample of individual complaints, provides valuable learnings for us and we are working proactively with the Ombudsman in relation to implementing the recommendations in the report. Many of these have already progressed significantly."
Tusla undertook the following activities to enhance the complaints function in 2016:
Guidance for members of the public and staff and a complaints leaflet for young people were developed and published on the Tusla website;
Briefing sessions on Tell Us for Tusla staff commenced;
Quarterly service experience reports produced to support learning and development of practice improvements;
The development of the National Children’s Charter advanced.
Last year, the agency launched its own complaints and feedback policy and procedure, called 'Tell Us'.
They outlined how people can make complaints or pay compliments:
Verbally, in person or by phone, to a Tusla staff member or Tusla office;
Move over Bleeding Gums Murphy, Lisa Simpson has a new beau and he’s in the form of Ed Sheeran.
Fresh from his Game of Thrones of cameo, the singer will appear once again on our television screens in October.
This time as a character on The Simpsons.
The singer/songwriter posted an image on Instagram of himself ‘simpsonized’.
His yellow character is seen with his signature ginger hair, t-shirt and hat - someone we definitely see Lisa Simpson falling for.
Similar to Game of Thrones, Ed will not be playing himself - his character’s name is Brendan who is reportedly a new love interest for Lisa Simpson and arch enemy of Milhouse.
He will be introduced specially for a musical-themed special.
"This year continues to be equally surreal and amazing. Watch out for this one, me and Lisa have a whole thing going on,” he wrote alongside the picture.
Unfortunately his recent role in the new series of Game Of Thrones divided opinion among the show's fans.
Sheeran is such a fan of the long-running show he has a tattoo of Blinky, Springfield's famous three-eyed fish.
Singer Lily Allen has described X Factor contestant Honey G as “offensive” and “so wrong on so many levels”.
Speaking to BBC Radio 1′s Annie Mac, she spoke of the rapper in a discussion about cultural appropriation in the music industry.
Asked about Honey G, who caused controversy after recently stating that she planned to become a multi platinum artist, the mother-of-two said: “As far as I can tell she is a white lady that dresses up in Ali G, Goldie Lookin Chain kind of attire.
“She has done really well on X Factor and ITV is pouring money into her. I’m not black but I find it offensive.
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Lily spoke at a rally on the 42nd birthday of murdered MP Jo Cox (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA)
“So wrong on so many levels, I can’t even start to talk about it.”
Commenting on the social and political history of rap music, French singer Christine and the Queens added: “The worst thing to do is to steal the culture and not be a part of it and an ally to the fights that can happen.”
Lily, 31, described how she was accused of racism and cultural appropriation when she released her 2013 single Hard Out Here, saying that it “felt horrible” but encouraged her to “do more research and strive to keep putting out music”.
Known for her outspoken social media presence and hard-hitting lyrics, Lily caused a media storm last week after tweeting that a taxi driver had told her to “find an immigrant” to pick up her and her daughters.
Gardaí have arrested a man in connection with a four-year investigation into human trafficking.
The man, aged 38, will appear at Dublin District Court this evening charged in connection with the investigation into human trafficking of Polish nationals into Ireland for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
He was arrested in Dublin earlier this afternoon.
This is the second person to face charges in the investigation, a man in his 30s was charged at Athlone District Court under Human Trafficking legislation on Wednesday, October 26.
During the course of the investigation into the organised crime gangs, which started in February 2012, a number of female victims were identified and interviewed by Gardaí.
They are continuing to get support from Ruhama and the HSE.
Five people were arrested and detained under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2007.
They were released without charge and a comprehensive investigation file was forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The jury is continuing its deliberations in the trial of a man accused of raping his friend at an apartment in Dublin.
The man, who can't be named to protect her identity, claims he suffers from sexsomnia and was asleep when he had sex with her.
The jury has been left to decide whether the man raped his friend in a bed they shared at an apartment in Dublin following a night out in Sept 2009.
She said she was fully dressed when she went to sleep and woke up to find the now 29-year-old having sex with her.
He told Gardaí he had a history of sleepwalking and had no memory of what she was alleging.
He said his girlfriend would often wake up to find him grinding up against her in his sleep.
The conflicting views of various medical experts were presented to the jurors towards the end of the trial.
In his closing address earlier his week, defence barrister Hugh Hartnett said he sympathised with the woman but he said all the indicators of his client suffering from sexsomnia, a condition that can result in a person carrying out a sexual act in his or her sleep, were present.
The jury spent half an hour considering a verdict yesterday and resumed their deliberations this morning.
32 Irish pubs across fifteen counties have retained their listings in the 2017 Michelin 'Eating Out In Pubs' Guide.
25 are in the Republic of Ireland and seven are in Northern Ireland.
County Down leads the way with six listings followed by Cork on five, Clare with four and Kildare with three.
Antrim: Billy Andy’s at Mounthill, near Larn.
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Clare: Morrissey’s (Doonbeg), Vaughan’s Anchor Inn (Liscannor), Wild Honey Inn (Lisdoonvarna) and Linnane’s Lobster Bar (New Quay)
Cork: Mary Ann’s (Castletownshend), Poacher’s Inn (Bandon), Deasy’s (Clonakilty), Cronin’s (Crosshaven) and Toddies at The Bulman (Kinsale)
Down: Pheasant (Annahilt), Poacher’s Pocket (Comber), Parson’s Nose and Plough Inn (both in Hillsborough) Pier 36 (Donaghadee) and Balloo House (Killinchy).
Dublin: Old Spot and Chop House (both in Ballsbridge)
Galway: Moran’s Oyster Cottage (Kilcolgan) and O’Dowd’s (Roundstone)
Kerry: O’Neill’s Seafood Bar (Caherciveen)
Kildare: Harte’s (Kildare),Ballymore Inn (Ballymore Eustace) and Fallon’s (Kilcullen)
Leitrim: Oarsman (Carrick-on-Shannon)
Louth: Fitzpatricks (Jenkinstown)
Mayo: The Tavern (Murrisk) and Sheebeen (Westport)
Department of Justice and Garda Representative Association have agreed to use Labour Court and Workplace Relations Commission in a bid to avert next Friday's strike.
The Workplace Relations Commission has been asked to intervene in an attempt to avert next Friday's garda strike.
The Department of Justice and Garda Representative Association agreed to the move this afternoon.
The Gardai have long called for access to the states industrial relations mechanisms in order to resolve disputes.
But despite commitments from the current and former justice ministers the representative associations have not been given this access.
But with the first of four days of strikes by rank and file and middle ranking Gardai just a week away, a breakthrough came about this afternoon.
The GRA and the department of justice agreed to utilise the state's industrial relations machinery on an ad hoc basis to try and avert the dispute.
The Workplace Relations Commission will now be asked to hold talks to try and broker a deal.
A mobile ice cream van, which sold ice-lollies and cones to children around parks and sports venues, was being used as a cover for a major drugs distribution business, Limerick circuit criminal court heard today, writes David Raleigh.
The owner of the van, Paul Collopy, aged 41, started out in life transporting coal on a horse and cart, but after venturing into the ice cream business, he discovered it was the perfect way to hide and sell drugs.
Paul Collopy pleaded guilty at Limerick circuit court to one count of possessing cocaine for sale or supply at his home, Glenbrook, Bloodmill Road, Ballysimon, on November 25, 2014.
Detective Garda David McGrath, Limerick Drugs Squad, told the court that when gardaí searched the van they discovered more than €6,000 worth of cocaine.
One batch was found in a lunchbox concealed under the bonnet near the engine, while the other was discovered in "a money bag" near a window in the van where ice cream would be served to unsuspecting members of the public.
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Paul Collopy. Pic: Brendan Gleeson
The bag also contained two "tick lists" in which the names of people, "who owed money for drugs", appeared. The drugs invoice showed €45,000 worth of cocaine had been sold.
When gardaí approached Collopy, who had been standing under the bonnet of the van, he slammed it shut and was seen dropping a spoon and a digital weighing scales.
Gardaí also found €5,000 in cash in Collopy's house at Glenbrook, Bloodmill Road, Ballysimon.
Collopy, whose family have no criminal connections, had amassed 70 convictions prior to his arrest, the court heard.
Collopy was convicted in December 2007 of selling €17,000 worth of cocaine, and sentenced to five years in jail. He was released in 2011, however in October 2014, he was caught in Ennis with heroin worth €28,000 for sale or supply and was sentenced to six years with the final two years suspended last November.
Det. Garda McGrath said Collopy was a "chronic cocaine and crack cocaine addict".
"My own opinion and the opinion of the divisional drugs squad would be that he is a drugs wholesaler rather than a street dealer. He would be giving the drugs to others to break down for street dealing," he added.
The court heard Collopy, a father of three, was "selling drugs to break even".
"He had a €200 a day drug habit," Det Gda McGrath added.
Judge Tom O'Donnell remanded Collopy in custody for sentencing on December 16.
State prosecutor John O'Sullivan said Collopy comes from "a good family with no criminal connections".
"He started sniffing glue aged 10. He started using other drugs in his teens. He was working from the age of 12 drawing coal on a horse and cart and later in his own pick-up truck."
Detective Garda McGrath said Collopy was selling ice cream from a fleet of vans in public parks and sports venues around the city.
"He was effectively caught red-handed," the detective said.
Mr O'Sullivan said Collopy was attending "music and cooking classes" while in prison on remand.
Apple had been promising the launch of their new AirPods by the end of October, but that's not going to happen.
The company announced today that the release of the product has been delayed, and they weren't really very big on explanations. Here's the statement sent to Techcrunch:
“The early response to AirPods has been incredible. We don’t believe in shipping a product before it’s ready, and we need a little more time before AirPods are ready for our customers"
This is pretty unfortunate news for the many people who pre-ordered the headphones, especially coming so long after the launch of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus handsets. We're just going to have to take the information at face value - Apple needs to ensure the product is up to scratch. It's a safe bet that we'll see AirPods arrive before the Christmas selling season.
The union representing secondary school teachers has described talks with the Education Department so far as childish.
Both sides are set to resume talks this week following an invitation from Minister Richard Bruton.
The ASTI plans to strike on seven dates over the next three months - which will see hundreds of schools closing.
Teachers will also withdraw from supervision and substitution duties from the 7th of November.
Minister Bruton says school closures on these days are also inevitable: "Those children will have to be supervised by someone else.
"What we thought is that the principal would be given a derogation so that they can cooperate with the recruitment of people to do that supervision so that the school could stay open and classes could be taught, but unfortunately they haven’t allowed the principal to cooperate with that so it now will be extremely difficult to keep the schools open."
Gardaí and teachers have been warned they will not get better pay deals than other workers in the public sector.
Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe says no increases can be considered until the Lansdowne Road deal runs out - in 2018.
He has set up the Public Service Pay Commission – which will discuss future pay with public servants.
However, Minister Donohoe says there cannot be special deals for the ASTI teachers or gardaí – or all public servants would want them.
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"Those unions are being very, very clear with me that they want to ensure that their members' interests are dealt with, and if they see any change in relation to how we handle the Lansdowne Road Agreement, they will expect that change to be delivered for all the participants of the Lansdowne Road Agreement.
"And that is not affordable to the country, either now or in the long run."
His predecessor in the Ministry, Brendan Howlin, wants the Lansdowne Road agreement to be replaced altogether.
He said that it is not fair that some unions would accept a deal, while others would get better terms afterwards.
"I've said this publically, that those with the sharpest elbows are accommodated and other not," he said.
"Whether you're a teacher or a nurse, a garda or a social worker, you've all made a significant contribution.
"That has to be appreciated by ensuring that everybody at the same rate at the same pace, is accommodated on the path to recovery."
