DEPUTY Lord Mayor of Dublin Aodhan O'Riordain warned yesterday's Bloomsday celebrations were in danger of "ringing very hollow" if poor literacy standards were not challenged.

Speaking at the Joycean celebrations on North Great George's Street, O'Riordain said 30% of children in some disadvantaged areas have basic reading problems.

"It is important that our literary city becomes a literate city. Twenty two percent of our adult population are functionally illiterate which means they can't play a full and empowered role in society. We need to eradicate illiteracy as a long-lasting tribute to the memory of James Joyce."

To celebrate Bloomsday, a number of events were held in Dublin yesterday with more planned for the rest of the week.

Lightning strikes for Aer Lingus passengers

AER Lingus passengers using Dublin Airport yesterday faced delays of up to two hours due to unofficial action by ground staff.

Commercial director of Aer Lingus Enda Corneille described the action as a "sinister and pre-meditated actfIt was a deliberate action to disrupt passengers at peak time".

Check-in staff and other workers at the airline staged a lightning strike at the airport between 6am and 7am causing long delays to flights. Arriving and departing flights were delayed by between oneand-a-half and two hours for the rest of the day.

It is understood workers gave the company 10 minutes' notice that they were walking off the job to hold a meeting about being asked to work on both check-in and boarding.

Gardai seek to identify cold storage victim

GARDAI in Galway are following a definite line of inquiry to establish the identity of a man who was found dead in a cold storage unit in the city last Wednesday. The garda press office confirmed that a murder investigation is underway. However, they will not know the cause of death until the post mortem examination is carried out by assistant State pathologist Dr Michael Curtis after the body thaws.

PSNI investigate arson attack

POLICE in the North are investigating an arson attack on a house in west Belfast.

Up to six masked man are believed to have thrown petrol bombs at the house in Whitecliff Parade in Ballymurphy shortly before midnight on Friday. No one was inside the house at the