What it says in the papers

IRISH TIMES

- The Irish Times reports on the state papers of 1986, highlighting documents which show that the board of management of a primary school in Loughlinstown, Co Dublin, refused to take two young Traveller boys unless they had a class of their own, a hygiene screening services and other aids. The boys lived in permanent housing at the time.

- The paper reports on figures from Insurance Ireland which show that more than 1,100 people were refused a car insurance quote by three or more insurers last year, by far the highest number of multiple refusals on record.

- The Irish Times says the company that operates the National Car Test, Applus, paid the Road Safety Authority a "performance adjustment" and profit share of €3.3m last year. The fine related to a failure to meet performance targets related to longer waiting lists and the notification to car owners that their car was due for testing at the beginning of 2015.

- In business, the paper says staff at Irish property developer Ballymore Properties were told last week that the company had exited Nama, having repaid €3.2 billion in gross debt to the state agency since 2010.

FINANCIAL TIMES

- The Financial Times says the US has slapped sanctions on Russian intelligence agencies and expelled 35 spies in retaliation for cyber attacks it said Moscow launched on the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

- The FT says a flurry of large takeovers during the last months of 2016 lifted global deal-making to its second-best annual level since the financial crisis as the appetite for corporate acquisitions continued in spite of political turmoil and heightened regulatory scrutiny.

- The paper says Bitcoin, which it describes as the digital currency that has attracted drug dealers and tax evaders, is on a roll again. But it adds that, after a price rise which echoes Bitcoin's first speculative bubble three years ago, the currency's backers are warning that another sharp correction could follow.

- The FT says new Formula One owner Liberty Media plans to overhaul the elite motorsport, selling naming rights and staging ancillary events around its 21 Grands Prix with the aim of making each one "the equivalent of the Super Bowl".

IRISH INDEPENDENT

- The Irish Independent leads with a report that more than 10,000km of Ireland's road network is in such appalling condition that it is essentially falling apart. A report by the National Oversight and Audit Commission, which monitors the performance of local authorities, finds that roads in Offaly are the worst in the country.

- The paper says Irish authorities are increasingly asking Facebook to supply information to investigate citizens, usually to assist Gardaí investigating criminal or terrorist activity. The company's latest Transparency Report says the number of such requests quadrupled in the first six months of this year.

- The Irish Independent reports on comments from Fine Gael chairman Martin Heydon, who says the party has begun preparations to fight a general election. He says the party must work on the assumption that an election could happen in 2017 - and was perhaps more possible in 2018.

- In business, the paper says Irish Tourism Industry Confederation chairman Paul Gallagher has criticised junior minister Patrick O'Donovan's plan to have local authorities become more involved in tourism strategy, saying there had been "far too much of everybody doing their own thing".

IRISH EXAMINER

- The Irish Examiner says arrears by social housing tenants have doubled in the past eight years, leaving councils owed €65m in unpaid rent. The paper says only a tiny number of cases are pursued to court and just a handful of evictions sought as councils are also responsible for housing people if they become homeless.

- On the 1986 state papers, the Examiner says the government of the day made a major effort to secure international backing for its nomination of Bob Geldof to win the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize after he organised the Live Aid concerts to raise funds for the victims of famine in Ethiopia. In the end, the government was too late in submitting its nomination.

- The Examiner reports on a call from Agriculture Minister Michael Creed for "hollowed out" rural towns to rejuvenate themselves by reclaiming town centres for the artisan and agri-food sector, citing the "iconic" status of Cork's English Market as a model.