What the papers say

Journalist Keith Baker takes a look at what is making the headlines in Monday's morning papers.

The Irish News claims this morning that almost two thirds of 12 and 13-year-olds in Northern Ireland admit they are drinking alcohol, many of them more than once a week.

This is a story which will frighten a lot of parents, although not all of them, since the Irish News says many of the children are drinking with their parents' permission.

The paper says the news comes as a counselling service reveals it has seen children as young as eight who are affected by alcohol and drug misuse.

The News Letter carries the headline: "It's D Day" - reporting on the meeting between Bertie Ahern and Peter Hain on Sunday when they warned that the plug will be pulled on Stormont if an administration is not formed by 26 March.

The paper talks of the wrangling still going on between Sinn Fein and the DUP but it says that in spite of Mr Hain's warning, unionists are not going to be pressurised.

The Belfast Telegraph reports a claim by the USPCA that the pit-bull terrier which mauled a child on Merseyside at the beginning of the year was bred in Northern Ireland.

According to the organisation, documents linking the killer dog to Northern Ireland were unearthed during a raid on a remote farm in County Armagh.

Divorce poll

The paper said the documents have also revealed a trade in fighting dogs being moved around Ireland, Britain and the United States.

It is 10 years since divorce was introduced in the Republic after a referendum which said yes but by a very close margin.

According to an Irish Times survey, things are different these days and 75% of people would vote in favour now.

They also do not think that 10 years of divorce has undermined the institution of marriage.

Among the cross-channel papers, bird flu is the big story, of course.

The Guardian and the Daily Telegraph have front page pictures of workers at the Bernard Matthews turkey farm looking more like scenes of crime officers in their masks and protective clothing.

But the general feeling in the papers is that we shouldn't panic, in fact there is criticism of the tone of some of the news coverage - but all that is undermined a bit by the Daily Star which claims that health officials are planning to use giant fridges to store human bodies in case the virus transmutes.

The Times has more on the Labour loans investigation. It has been talking to sources in the prosecution service and says three people are likely to face criminal charges.

Tissue trail

It also says Tony Blair may be interviewed by the police for a third time because he has yet to answer certain questions.

The Guardian says some senior Labour figures are talking about contingency plans for Mr Blair's early departure if charges do appear likely.

The Financial Times reports that Masterfoods, the company which makes the Mars and Snickers chocolate bars, are to stop marketing confectionery to children under 12.

The paper says this is the first time a major foodmaker has set such a high global age threshold for such products and it reflects all the concern about advertising being linked to childhood obesity.

And finally, did you know that Britain leads the way in the use of toilet paper?

According to the Daily Telegraph, we each flush 39 lbs of it down the loo every year, which is two-and-a-half times the European average.

In fact research carried out by the European Tissue Symposium appears to suggest that some countries have not been using very much at all.

But all that is changing apparently with the runaway success of a black toilet paper, which is described as a creative and daring concept and a defiance of conventional thinking.