What the papers say

Journalist Malachi O'Doherty takes a look at what's making the headlines in Thursday's morning papers.

Local newspapers lead on renewed hopes for the relatives of the Omagh bomb victims after the conviction of Michael McKevitt.

The News Letter reports that the Omagh relatives feel that the net is now closing on the men who slaughtered 29 people in the town in August 1998.

The Irish News says that McKevitt may face a life sentence after being convicted of directing terrorism on Wednesday.

The Daily Mail renews its plea for donations to help the Omagh relatives in their civil action against Michael McKevitt and others.

Barbados

Elsewhere, the Mirror carries a picture of Tony, Cherie and Leo bathing in Barbados.

For the Irish Times, there are more serious issues to consider and they don't come much more serious than the danger of a collapse in house prices.

The International Monetary Fund has warned that Irish house prices have been inflated by a boom in credit and could tumble if unemployment increased.

Meanwhile, the Star and the Daily Express claim Basque separatist bombers are out to kill David Beckham.

The papers claim Beckham's new team Real Madrid is regarded by ETA as the establishment in Spain, and is everything that ETA opposes.

The Mail's Stephen Glover attacks the "arrogance" of the Anglican church in the US, which in appointing a gay bishop, threatens the "pure and living expression" of a form of worship which evolved in England nearly five centuries ago.

The Irish Independent reports that a vicious Vietnamese pot-bellied pig is on the loose in County Clare.

It says that it chased a man near Ennis, while it bit another man.

But where did it come from? Perhaps it escaped from an abattoir, the report suggests.

One man told the paper he saw the pig running down the road chased by two men in white overalls.