Irish vessel the LÉ Eithne is expected to dock in a port in Italy today, with 399 migrants on board rescued from the Mediterranean over the weekend.

The 280 men, 78 women and 41 children were rescued by the Irish boat during two operations.

In total the LÉ Eithne has picked up more than one thousand migrants so far. The mission is due to last ten weeks.

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10,000 Irish holiday-makers could be affected by four days of strike action by Spanish air traffic controllers.

Workers represented by the USCA union will down tools for two hours each morning and two hours each evening today, Wednesday, Friday and again on Sunday.

The workers are disputing penalties levied by Spain's airport operator.

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The man in jail for shooting rugby player Shane Geoghegan in Limerick nearly seven years ago is due to find out today if he has won an appeal against his murder conviction.

Barry Doyle of Portland Row in Dublin is serving a mandatory life sentence.

Crime figure John Dundon, from Hyde Road, Limerick, was also found guilty of the murder.

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Alton Towers in the UK will reopen later, six days after four people were seriously injured in a rollercoaster crash.

The cause of last Tuesday's accident on The Smiler ride still has not been worked out, so that section of the British theme park will stay shut.

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A Galway company working on an experimental treatment for kidney disease has been awarded a multi-million euro grant by the EU.

Orbsen Therapeutics hopes to use stem cells to treat the disease in diabetes patients.

The €6m worth of funding will be used to test the safety of the treatment, and the first human trials could take place as early as next year.