Bye Bye Zayn, Hello Broadcasting Horses: It’s This Week’s Pub Talk

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It’s a busy world out there, and it’s sometimes easy to miss even the biggest stories in the midst of our hectic lives and the waves of information that surround us every day.

So, just to ensure you don’t end up with a blank look on your face down the pub tonight, here are the six stories on everyone’s lips this week – and what you need to know about them.

Goodbye Zayn

And then there were four.

The world’s biggest boyband suffered a 20% reduction in staffing this week as Zayn Malik joined Robbie Williams, Geri Halliwell and Bri(y)an McFadden in the ranks of pop group members that have quit at their zenith.

And the reaction online? Well…

IVE LOST TOO MANY GOOD PEOPLE IN MY LIFE MY GRANDFATHER MY CAT MY FRIENDS AND NOW ZAYN IDK HOW MUCH MORE I CAN TAKE

— Cassidy (@centineostyles) March 26, 2015

Germanwings

The crash itself is a topic that hardly bears speaking about – as soon as it became clear that the co-pilot had deliberately brought the plane down, the subject took on a darker tone that even the biggest disasters we’ve seen in recent years.

This was hardly helped by the Daily Mail’s heinous splash (below) in the days that followed, which drew a direct link between the pilot’s history of depression and his fitness to fly. An unhelpful and pretty disgusting contribution to the debate, albeit one that’s thankfully caused a very positive backlash.

Horsegate

Today FM’s website and social profiles were hacked last week, with imagery of horses being plastered all over the place.

But while most media organisations would be mortified by such a breach, and attempt to brush it under the carpet, Today FM have responded in the most amazing way imaginable.

Boys in Green

The widely supported (but lesser loved) Boys in Green are in action tomorrow, as the Republic of Ireland face Poland in a vital Euro 2016 qualifier.

The commitment, ability and drive of Martin O’Neill’s men has become a topic that the Irish love to moan about more than pretty much anything other than water charges – but can they do the business tomorrow?

.@No1shaygiven not sure if attempting a push up or trying to hug the ground @FAIreland training today! pic.twitter.com/l9wMom7nmo

— Inpho Photography (@Inphosports) March 28, 2015

Grangegorman

Not the DIT campus that people have been talking about since the dawn of time itself, but the group of squatters that won a six-week stay on their eviction from an abandoned site.

Despite the fact they’ll have to leave the property – which now boasts allotments for the local community – the group is celebrating the stay as a win. Could we do with a few more similar sites in Dublin?

Graham Dwyer

It’s depraved, it’s horrific, but it gripped the nation – and when the guilty verdict was read out yesterday afternoon, it paved the way for publishers to finally reveal the details they couldn’t while the case was in progress.

The Irish Times, in particular, published a stunning series of articles detailing the relationship between Dwyer and his victim Elaine O’Hara, the chillingly concealed double-life he led, and – most intriguing of all – the various methods employed by the gardaí to draw a trail to the murderer’s front door.

Stunning journalism about a tragic topic, and something that’s sure to spark a wider debate about privacy in the digital age.

#grangegorman is celebrating tonight – tomorrow sore heads & debating & working out where all this fits into #Dublin the city that is loved

— Workers Solidarity (@WSMIreland) March 27, 2015

Graham Dwyer

Stunning journalism about a tragic topic, and something that’s sure to spark a wider debate about privacy in the digital age.

#GrahamDwyer in custody since arrest in October 2013, spending 15 months in Cloverhill Prison.http://t.co/6l2i47TytS pic.twitter.com/IdcRim2gWt

— The Irish Times (@IrishTimes) March 27, 2015