22-year-old Rory McIlroy made golfing history at the U.S. Open yesterday, closing his four-day onslaught and setting twelve Open records at 16-under-par 268—eight shots ahead of his closest competitor, and four shots better than the U.S. Open record set by Tiger Woods. McIlroy is from Northern Ireland, and is the youngest winner of the tournament since the legendary Bobby Jones won in 1923. Mark Simpson, from our partner the BBC, joins us from McIlroy's Northern Ireland hometown, Hollywood, to discuss the match.
One hundred years ago today, the Titanic launched. It was designed to carry 3511 passengers and was supposed to be "unsinkable" with lifeboats for less than a third. It was first dropped into the waters in Belfast on May 31, 1911. She got the traditional shakedown and then there was that quick stop in Southhampton on the way to New York and then an unscheduled stop at the bottom of the sea just after midnight on 15 April, 1912, after hitting an iceberg. Less than a third of the people on board survived. The BBC's Mark Simpson reports from Belfast on the anniversary of the launch.
The Irish government is in the unprecedented situation of having a leader of parliament who does not head up his own party. On Saturday, Taoiseach (leader) Brian Cowen stepped down as head of the ruling party, Fianna Fail, after the resignation of key ministers a few days earlier. And yesterday, the government's coalition partner, the Green Party, withdrew its support. Now elections that were scheduled for mid-March will most likely happen in the next few weeks. And the fate of a finance bill that was to complete the IMF bailout is uncertain.
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