Accidental death verdicts returned at inquest of Declan Davitt and Martin Needham

A jury has returned a verdict of accidental deaths at an inquest of two young friends, who drowned when their jeep when into a Mayo river last Christmas.

26-year-old Declan Davitt and 27-year-old Martin Needham - both from the Louisburgh area - died when their vehicle was swept away as it tried to cross a swollen river.

The inquest heard that the part of the river near Louisburgh is regularly used by larger SUV-type vehicles.

Journalist union 'gravely concerned' over support for Garda photography ban

The Irish secretary of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has expressed grave concern at the support for a ban on photographing Gardaí.

The view was expressed by Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan in an interview on RTÉ radio on Monday.

Mr Flanagan said he was "favourably disposed" to introducing legislation to make it an offence to photograph Gardaí while they are undertaking their duties.

Westmeath woman pleads guilty to 25 animal welfare offences

A 55-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to 25 offences under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 at Mullingar District Court.

The charges included causing unnecessary suffering to a number of animals on her property, as well as neglect and recklessness with regard to the animals' welfare.

Beatrix Urban - of The Vale of Uisneach, Killare, Athlone Road, Mullingar - was fined €1,500 on one charge.

Great-grandfather (83) fights off armed robbers at bookies in Cork

A gang of armed robbers who attempted to raid a bookies were forced to leave empty-handed after being fought off by an 83-year-old "hero" customer.

Denis O'Connor stepped in when the balaclava and hoodie-clad raiders - two carrying hammers and the other brandishing what appears in CCTV footage to be a shotgun - burst in to Bar One Racing in Glanmire, Co Cork.

It happened at about 6.30pm on Saturday.

Sensors to be deployed in the Irish Sea to monitor climate change

A new marine monitoring scheme has been announced between Ireland and Wales.

The STREAM (Sensor Technologies for Remote Environmental Aquatic Monitoring) project will use technology in the Irish Sea to help people to understand the impacts of climate change

It will see sensors feed back real-time data.