GARDAI in Co Monaghan are investigating an assault last night after a man in his 20s died. The incident took place shortly after 6.10pm at Tullyvanus, Oram, Castleblayney in south Monaghan.

When Gardai arrived on the scene they discovered a man with serious injuries beside roadside farm outhouses. He was brought to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda and was pronounced dead on arrival.

The deceased is believed to be Irish but is not from the locality. The scene, about a mile from the south Armagh border, was last night sealed off for technial examination. A post-mortem is to to take place later today..

Ex-FG boss recovering after heart op

Former Fine Gael leader Michael Noonan suffered a health scare last week when he was rushed to hospital to undergo emergency heart surgery.

The politician has since been recovering in hospital, where he is surrounded by his five children, three sons and two daughters, his wife, Florence, and a number of grandchildren.

Aer Lingus pilots vote to accept deal

Aer Lingus pilots have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a deal that clears the way for the establishment of the airline's new Belfast base.

A ballot of 480 pilots by the Irish Airline Pilots' Association union, Impact, was 80 per cent in favour of the agreement negotiated by both sides last weekend.

It brings to an end the bitter dispute between management at the carrier and pilots over terms and conditions of employment at the Belfast hub.

No winner of €2m Lotto jackpot

THERE was no winner of last night's Lotto draw for a jackpot of €2m. Wednesday's jackpot will be over €2.5m. The numbers were 6, 10, 12, 19, 29, 45 (bonus 25).

There were 3 Match 5+bonus winners who each receive €25,000; 52 Match 5s (€1,642); 157 Match 4+bonus (€137 each); 3,012 Match 4s (€44); 4,370 Match 3+bonus (€20 each); and 47,216 Match 3s (€5). The Lotto Plus Draw 1 numbers were 2, 4, 13, 21, 24, 29 (bonus 5). The Lotto Plus Draw 2 numbers were 1, 8, 19, 22, 23, 26 (bonus 37).

In the UK draw for stg£7.6m, the numbers were 40, 33, 27, 04, 15, 25 (bonus 20).

Dan Boyle is new chairman of Greens

Senator Dan Boyle is the new chairman of the Green Party. Four other candidates were in the running for the post after the previous office holder John Gormley succeeded Trevor Sargent as party leader last month.

The other hopefuls were TD Paul Gogarty, Cllr Bronwyn Maher, Dr John Barry and Dublin party worker Phil Kearney.

Wife of former diarist Danker dies

THE death has taken place of Carmel Danker, wife of former Sunday Independent diarist Trevor Danker. She died peacefully in Blackrock Hospice on Thursday.

Her funeral takes place on Tuesday from the Church of SS Alphonsus and Columba, Ballybrack.

O'Loan to join Basque peace process

The North's retiring Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan is travelling to the Basque country in Spain to help devise a peace strategy for the area.

Mrs O'Loan steps down on November 5 after seven years probing some of Northern Ireland's most sensitive policing secrets. She announced the new role at a leaving party in Belfast.

Around 800 people have died across Spain as a result of the violent campaign waged by ETA over the last 40 years to try to secure independence for the Basque region.

Garda dies as killer gets transfer wish

A Garda detective who led the investigation into the murder of the three soldiers in south Lebanon in 1982 died on the same day it was announced last week that the killer whose convictino he helped secure, Michael McAleavey, is to be transferred to a prison in the North prior to his release.

Former Chief Supt Pat Culhane was one of the Garda's top investigators in the 1970s and 1980s, at a time when the force was fighting to content with the onslaught from republican terrorists as well as the emerging crime gangs in Dublin. He died at the hospice in Raheny on Wednesday.

He was involved in the arrest of dozens of serious criminals and terrorists while serving with the Garda murder squad.

Top PUP man is quizzed over stabbing

A leading figure in a fringe political group that helped broker the Loyalist ceasefires, has been arrested by police in Belfast probing the fatal stabbing of a Catholic boy two years ago.

Billy Hutchinson, a former member of the Stormont Assembly, is among seven people arrested by the PSNI. Detectives probing the murder of 15-year-old Thomas Devlin in North Belfast arrested the PUP figure on Friday.

One in five teenage girls is on a diet

A major study of eating and exercise habits among secondary school children in Ireland has found that one in five teenage girls are on a diet.

Leading psychiatrist, Prof Fiona McNicholas of UCD and the St John of God Lucena Clinic, also warned that one in 10 teenage girls worry a lot about eating while 1.2 per cent of her sample group were identified of at risk of having Anorexia Nervosa. A further 1.5 per cent were at risk of Bulimia Nervosa.

The psychiatrist will speak at a special information evening for parents and carers of children and adolescents with eating disorders next month at the Lucena Clinic.

Dublin woman leaves €6.3m in will

Mary McNamara, Nutley Avenue, Donnybrook, Dublin, who died on January 28, 2007, has left e6,351,468 in her will.

Other wills: Herbert Semple, farmer, Headfort Place, Kells, Co Meath, e3,061,033; Miriam Arthurs, St Columba's Heights, Swords, Co Dublin, e2,280,836; Patrick Kavanagh, farmer, Mill Lane Nursing Home (formerly of Valleymount, Co Wicklow), e1,775,995; Helen Milliken, Glengara Nursing Home, Lwr Glenageary Rd, Dun Laoghaire, e1,607,859; Jerome (Jerry) Morris, company director, Haven Court, Convent Rd, Bray, Co Wicklow, e1,329,829; Brendan Quinn, company secretary, Thornhill Rd, Mount Merrion, Dublin, e1,293,389; Mary McCabe, Richmond Rd, Fairview, Dublin, e1,267,147; Eamonn Campion, farmer, Johnstown, Co Kilkenny, e1,126,039; and Catherine de Buitleir, Coppinger Glade, Stillorgan, Dublin, e1,090,488.