A scarecrow dressed as Environment Minister Phil Hogan at the National Ploughing Championships at New Ross, Co.Wexford, on the last day of the Championships. Image: Niall Carson/PA Wire/Press Association Images

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

THINGS WE LEARNED

#HORROR: The body of missing Irish woman Jill Meagher has been found in a shallow grave in Melbourne, Australia. Adrian Bayley, a 41-year-old local man, has been charged with her rape and murder.

#NEW FACE: Labour’s Alex White is to replace Róisín Shortall as the Minister of State at the Department of Health. The decision has been welcomed by Minister James Reilly.

#STRIKE OFF: Workers at Dublin Airport have deferred planned industrial action from Monday after SIPTU “reluctantly” agreed to sit down for talks with Aer Lingus and DAA at the Labour Relations Commission.

#NOT SO THRIFTY: Ireland spent about €25 billion more in 2011 than it took in through taxes, the State’s spending watchdog confirmed in his annual report. That means the country’s deficit reached a record €25.518 billion.

#AT LEAST THE AIR IS FREE? And it’s of decent quality. That is according to a new report by the Environment Protection Agency which says Ireland’s air is among the best in Europe.

#RED CARD: Chelsea captain John Terry has received a four-match ban and £220,000 fine after being found guilty of racial abuse towards QPR’s Anton Ferdinand.

#IRAN: Is thiiiiiiis close to completing its nuclear programme, according to Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu.

THINGS WE LOVED

Image: Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland

• This image of the Taoiseach high-fiving a young man attending the National Ploughing Championships in Wexford reminded us just how much we loved this Tumblr of Enda Kenny High-Fiving People.
• We’re not sure what exactly it is – maybe because it looks like something from a future Prohibition era, a still from the Blair Witch Project-Ireland style or that the black things just have a disturbing resemblance to Ku Klux Klan hoods – but something about this shot of a Diageo-only bar celebrating Arthur’s Day perturbed and delighted us in equal parts.

Thanks to the anonymous reader who sent it in – if you want a credit, email me on sinead@thejournal.ie

• Speaking of this very important day in Ireland’s calendar, we visited the quiet resting place of the man himself in Oughterard, Kildare last week. And don’t worry, he’s not turning in his grave over today’s antics.

THINGS WE SHARED

• Bee for Battens has launched a new video as part of its campaign to raise awareness about Battens Disease. It is definitely worth watching – and passing on – for those who may not know about what can be done to help young kids with the rare but always fatal condition. The video was created by artist Mick Minogue and edited by Albert Hooi.

• Samuel L Jackson is hoping that this video will spur people into campaigning and voting for Barack Obama in the upcoming presidential elections in the US. We’re not sure who’s scarier? SLJ or the weird little know-it-all kid?