A league table of 400 secondary schools was published recently which lists schools based on the percentage of sixth formers attend university. The study reveals a clear bias in favour of private fee-paying schools. Of the 54 fee-paying schools listed in the table, 34 are in the 70 highest listed schools. Nine of the 10 highest listed boys schools and five of the 10 highest listed girls schools are fee-paying.
Mobile heavyweight Vodafone Ireland with its massive financial clout really has no excuse for the poor redesign of its popular website. Far be it from Village to complain about getting free stuff, but vodafone.ie, complete with free mobile texts, is simply too slow. There seems to be a problem with heavy traffic - it takes more than 30 seconds (we stopped counting) for the homepage to load during the day but this seems to be alleviated in the evening when traffic would be lower.
A profile of Chabal 'The Mountain Man', talisman of the French rugby team
Media Q&A with Liam Toland, Rugby commentator with Setanta Sports, coach with Landsdowne Rugby Club in Dublin and Army Officer with the Defence Forces
Brent Pope selects his player of the tournament for each Rugby World Cup since 1987, and the single player who will determine the winners of the 2007 World Cup.
World Rankings show a team's form relative to its international rivals as it enters the World Cup and is an indication of how far a team will likely progress. The system behind the rankings is explained below.
Favourite book:
The Bank Manager and the Holy Grail, by Byron Rogers. Part history, part politics, part gonzo journalism, this is an exploration of Wales, past and present, that defies description, but is a must-read.
Television from the internet is going to be the next big thing. By Malachy Browne
Local authorities are unfairly advantaged over private operators in the waste management sector as a result of several shortcomings in government policy in the sector. By Malachy Browne
The eurphoria following victories against South Africa and Australia and the Six Nations performance has given way to pessimism and anxiety
By Brent Pope.