To our knowledge.

From top, Reagan (Smithwicks), Clinton (Murphy’s), Her Maj (Guinness, refused), Obama (Guinness).

(Photocall Ireland/Getty)

Cead Mile Failte, Mr President (Declan Cashin)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwRuH2LcHeQ

Everybody loves us and now this.

Above, Diarmuid’s gold-winning entry, Irish Sky Garden.

Diarmuid Gavin Wins Gold At Chelsea Flower Show (Examiner)

(BBC)

The First Lady.

Sick of the wind right now.

Later, inside…

They’re probably talking about us.

Obama Greeted By The Queen (Guardian)

(AP/Reuters/Getty)

An Irish man has died attempting to reach the summit of Everest days after his wife gave birth to a baby girl.

John Delaney (above), 41, from Kilcock, Co Kildare, is understood to have collapsed less than 50 metres from the top. He is the first Irish man to die on the world’s highest mountain.

The climber, the managing director of an online market prediction company, died on Saturday but because his team was out of contact it has only just been confirmed.

Mr Delaney – who also had two young sons, Caspar, three, and two-year-old Alexander – died without knowing his wife Orla gave birth to a baby girl last Wednesday.

Irish Climber Dies In Rescue Bid (Offaly Express)

Siobhan Moore, Dublin Airport Authority spokesperson minutes ago

Aer Lingus and Ryanair have cancelled a number of flights to and from Scotland today due to the risk posed by a fresh outbreak of volcanic ash from Iceland.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) this morning said there will be no closures in Irish airspace, based on the latest data from the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in London.

Although all Irish airports remain open, the IAA said some services may be affected by restrictions imposed by other European service providers, and it advised passengers to regularly check airline website

Ash Cloud Disrupts Flights (Irish Times)

Ryanair

Aer Lingus

(Sasko Lazarov/Photocall Ireland)

If you saw last night’s Prime Time report by Aoife Kavanagh, you’ll know – if you didn’t sense it already – that Irish priests and nuns brought more than the Good Book to Africa.

The “pennies for the little black babies” funded some to go to the Third World and abuse youngsters in their care.

And they were aided by their superiors and the by-now familiar pattern: moving abusers around, not cooperating with local police, Vatican indifference etc., etc.

Fr Eamon Aylward (above), executive secretary of The Union of Irish Missionaries, went on Morning Ireland this morning to defend his organisation. You might have heard him.

What you may not know is that he was expertly coached and that it was just the start of an expensive PR operation by the UIM, – revealed in last Sunday’s Sunday Business Post – designed to limit damage.

The article says the UIM is “understood to have hired several public relations experts, including Terry Prone, to manage the fallout from [the documentary].”

It goes on to highlight the importance of developing a ‘‘support system for those fronting the issue’’ in broadcast and print media.” That’s counselling for the people defending the church.

But it gets better.

After various ” internal focus groups” members identified the biggest obstacles facing the religious orders at the moment.

And they were…

‘‘Fear of losing power [and] status’’ and a ‘‘fear of change’’.

Irish Missionaries Union Statement