Teachers split on pay reform

Teachers' unions were split down the middle today over the proposed public sector pay and reform deal.

Members of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (Into) -- the largest teachers' union in the country -- gave the green light to the deal by a margin of two to one after a ballot.

Meanwhile, the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (Asti) and the Teachers Union of Ireland, representing more than 32,000 workers, voted to throw out the agreement.

Barrister's art up for auction

Legal eagles are expected to be among those hoping to swoop on a top barrister's art collection when it goes under the hammer later this month.

Paintings by Francis Bacon and Louis le Brocquy are among the works in the late Jim O'Driscoll's catalogue, to be sold at the Whyte's auction in Dublin.

The Important Irish Art event will also feature a sought-after Paul Henry painting discovered at a valuation in Belfast.

Man acquitted of club rape

A MAN has been acquitted of raping a girl in a nightclub car park two years ago.

The 23-year-old Kilkenny man had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to raping and orally raping the then 18-year-old woman in a Kilkenny car park in the early hours of April 27, 2008.

The jury of seven women and five men returned their unanimous verdicts of not guilty on both counts after almost three hours deliberation on day five of the trial. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy thanked the jurors for their attention to the case and exempted them from further service for five years.

Volcano erupts for 10,000 days

The world's longest continuously erupting volcano, which has become a major attraction for scientists and tourists since it became active in 1983, has marked a milestone. It was 10,000 days ago that Kilauea Volcano began erupting on Hawaii's Big Island. The superintendent of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Cindy Orlando, calls it "a biological and geological wonder".