A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Voting change over Jedward song leak
The public will be given less of a say in who represents Ireland in the Eurovision song contest in Germany on May 14th after it was felt Jedward had been given an unfair advantage when their entry was leaked online.
Friday’s night contest, which will take place on the
Late Late Show
, was due to be decided by a 50:50 split between the public and a jury.
Now it will be split 2:1 with the jury having the greater say.
A 30-second snippet of Jedward’s entry,
Lipstick
, was broadcast last Thursday on Amazon and was quickly disseminated through the internet.
Universal Records apologised for the breach, which was ahead of the release date agreed with RTÉ when snippets of each of the songs involved were broadcast in a documentary last weekend.
Many observers felt that Jedward already had a major advantage over the four other entrants.
Suicide prevention changes urged
An alliance of support groups has called for a new approach to suicide prevention which would involve businesses, voluntary groups and the Government working together to reduce the incidence of suicide,
writes Alison Healy.
The Action on Suicide Alliance said it was taking the initiative because of the increase in calls to suicide- prevention support groups. Many calls related to the economic downturn.
KBC increases mortgage rates
KBC Homeloans has become the third lender in the State to announce increases in its mortgage rates in less than a week.
Last night the lender announced changes to three of its fixed-term mortgage packages for new customers.
From today, the bank’s two-year fixed term mortgage rate, three-year fixed rate and five-year fixed rate will rise.
However, its standard variable rate is not to increase at this time.
Customs seize cigarettes worth €2.5m in international operation
Six million contraband cigarettes worth some €2.5 million were seized by Customs officers yesterday.
The cigarettes were labelled “glasswool insulation rolls” and arrived into Dublin Port from China. Two commercial vehicles and the consignment were seized in Coolock, Dublin, by Revenue Customs officers and gardaí.
An international surveillance operation involving the European Anti-Fraud Office led to the haul. Several people were interviewed as part of the national and international investigation.The seizure represents a potential loss to the exchequer of €2.1 million. So far this year, cigarettes worth some €7 million have been seized by the Revenue.