What the papers say

Journalist Mike Philpott takes a look at what is making the headlines in Wednesday's morning papers.

There are many heart-rending pictures taken at the first of the funerals of the four young friends killed in the weekend road crash in Fermanagh.

One, which appears on the front of the Irish News, shows Daniel McDonald, who survived the accident, being pushed in a wheelchair and carrying a single red rose as he attended the funeral of his cousin Jonathan.

Daily Ireland sums up the feelings of the local community with the headline "untold grief".

The News Letter has two pages of coverage, but devotes its main headline to fears that soldiers from the Royal Irish Regiment who are being sent to Afghanistan may not have the proper equipment as they take on the Taleban.

The paper says "MPs have questioned the selection of certain land vehicles and have raised concerns about the number of aircraft available".

The Irish News says the Orange Order is under pressure to dissociate itself from loyalist paramilitaries after two of its members admitted being in the UVF when they appeared at Manchester Crown Court.

'Freedom of speech'

The Belfast Telegraph leads with an apology by the BBC after Gerry Anderson made remarks about the US President George Bush, during his show on Radio Ulster on Tuesday.

The paper points out that it was Independence Day, but it adds a quote from the US Consulate, who said "freedom of speech was one of the values Americans were celebrating".

The Daily Mirror leads with those arrests during a police investigation into child pornography.

The paper says it involved searches at a significant number of premises across Northern Ireland.

The front pages of the papers in Dublin are dominated by pictures of huge crowds of people, after the city's airport was evacuated in a bomb scare.

The Irish Times says the drama started when a man in the terminal raised a bag over his head and said it contained an explosive device.

The Irish Independent talks of "pandemonium". It reports that "100 flights were delayed or cancelled".

As the first anniversary of the 7 July bombings approaches, the Mirror and the Daily Telegraph both demand a public inquiry.

The Telegraph draws a contrast between the government's views on Bloody Sunday, the inquiry into which cost £400m, and its argument that a public investigation of the events surrounding 7 July would be too expensive.

The paper accuses "ministers of protecting Britain's rulers while endangering its people".

Channel swim

The comedy star David Walliams is the most photographed man of the morning, thanks to his achievement in swimming the channel in aid of Sport Relief.

Many of the papers take the opportunity to refer to the TV show in which he stars, by saying that he "swam from Little Britain to France".

He managed the crossing in ten and a half hours - a time which puts him in the top 50 channel swimmers.

The Daily Express says he was astonished when he was told the news.

The Times carries some little-known snippets of information about the crossing - such as the fact that all swimmers must carry their passports.

Its piece is written by its sports correspondent John Goodbody, who should know his stuff. He swam the channel himself in 1991.