(Runners pass the Houses of Parliament and the nicknamed “Big Ben” clock tower during the London Marathon in London, today. Pic: AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

HERE ARE THE things you need to know as we round off the day in three easy steps…

THINGS WE LEARNED

#ABORTION BILL: Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has said that Labour ministers have not “rejected” the draft abortion bill that plans to legislate for the X Case. Gilmore was responding to a report in today’s Sunday Times that said that the draft bill had been rejected by his party. Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week, Minister of State Jan O’Sullivan said that it would be “entirely impractical” for a suicidal women to have to be assessed by a panel of six doctors before they could be given a termination, were this clause to be contained in the draft bill.

#BOSTON: Boston State Police have released a video which shows the capture of 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. The three-minute-long video shows infra-red and heat-seeking footage where the shape of a man’s body can be seen lying in the boat in Watertown. Doubt remains over whether police will ever be able to question Tsarnaev, who remains in a serious condition in hospital. Russia’s North Caucasus rebels have denied involvement in Monday’s bombings.

#ARMED ROBBERY: A man has been arrested following the armed robbery of a shop in Johnstown in Co Kildare earlier this morning. Gardaí apprehended a man near the scene and recovered a handgun in addition to a sum of money. A second male that was involved in the incident escaped by car. No shots were fired and no-one was injured.

#REGULATION: Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said that “failures in regulation cost this country dearly” and that better regulation would be central to recovery. Kenny made his comments while launching a public consultation on a new Government policy statement on economic regulation. He said that better regulation would ensure that “fair, reliable, sustainable and cost effective services are delivered to the public.”

#ILLEGAL CIGARETTES: Retailers have said that they are “furious” over government’s failure to tackle cigarette smuggling and illegal cigarette selling problems in Dublin. Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) said that “the loss to business from the illegal trade is €500 million, while the loss to the Exchequer is €460 million.”

#CROKE PARK II: Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said that the failure of the Croke Park Agreement is a “crisis of the government’s own making”. Martin went on to say that the current coalition was “obsessed with public relations over substance” and had disrespected the work of public servants. He made his comments during the party’s 1916 commemoration at Arbour Hill in Dublin 7, earlier today.

THINGS WE LOVED

• It began to feel a little bit like Spring today. Well, it wasn’t raining anyway. Nobody, and we mean NOBODY, enjoyed this as much as Ricky the toy poodle, who let loose on Sandymount strand this afternoon.

Check out how much air-time he gets!

(Images courtesy of Marc O’Sullivan Photography)

• Never did we think of an orchestra as intimidating. That was until we saw this video…

(RTÉ Republic of Comedy/YouTube)

THINGS WE SHARED

• Being an adult isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be. In short: bills = stress. What better way to take time out than to remember your inner-child and with it, all the things that excited you in years gone by, such as completing your Panini set of stickers!

(Courtesy of oldschoolpanini.com)