A round-up of today's other news stories in brief
Nine people to object to renewal of hotel lincence on Inis Mór Island
Nine people are scheduled to raise objections to the renewal of a local hotel’s annual licence before a special court sitting to be held on the island of Inis Mór later this month.
Judge Mary Fahy set aside Thursday, September 30th, for a special court sitting to be held on the island so that objectors could air their grievances to the licence renewal.
Aran Islands Hotel Ltd., Kilronan, Inis Mór, which is owned by PJ Flaherty, has been operating since 2005 but local people raised objections at the scheduled sittings of Aran District Court on September 2th last to the hotel’s excise licence, which is due for renewal on September 30th next.
22m land moved to State agency
A south Dublin local authority is to transfer land it bought for almost €22 million for social housing to a State agency because it cannot afford to pay the interest on the loans. Councillors in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council last night voted to transfer 15 hectares of housing land in three locations – Ballyman Road, Lehaunstown and Enniskerry Road – under the Government’s Land Aggregation Scheme.
Under the scheme, the Department of the Environment will pay off the loans of local authorities that want to off-load land banks they are unlikely to develop to stop escalating interest payments.
Boy detained for motoring offences
A 16-year-old boy was detained yesterday for seven months and banned from driving for six years for a series of motoring offences.
Judge Bryan Smyth heard at the Dublin Children’s Court that the boy, who has Asperger syndrome, a mild form of autism, has pleaded guilty to travelling as a passenger in a stolen vehicle, dangerous driving and possessing a blade as a weapon and a set of bolt cutters for use in a theft.
Judge Smyth imposed a seven-month term, which was backdated to include the time the boy has spent in custody on remand.
A six-year road ban was also ordered.
Call for Eirgrid to reroute power line
Residents in the North Dublin seaside village of Rush have called on electricity supplier Eirgrid to reroute a high-voltage power line away from their main street, writes Fiona Gartland
A €600 million electricity interconnector between Wales and Ireland is being landed at the North Beach in Rush and will pass under the village in a heavy-duty plastic duct, buried one metre below the street surface. Residents have raised concerns about the health implications of the power line.
Brain injury charity criticises camogie player without helmet
The charity Acquired Brain Injury Ireland has criticised all-Ireland camogie champions Wexford for the failure of one of their players to wear a safety helmet during Sunday’s final Chief executive Barbara O’Connell said they were “stunned” to see Wexford goalkeeper Mags D’Arcy playing the match without a helmet.
Camogie’s “fast pace can make it extremely dangerous for players not wearing protective headgear. Camogie players who don’t wear a helmet are at a danger of suffering head trauma, concussion as well as fractures or injuries to the face”. But Camogie Association president Joan O’Flynn said helmets were mandatory for under 18s and would be for everyone by January 2011. Three matches were played on Sunday and a “very small minority” had no helmets, she said.
Man charged over explosives
A 25-year-old Monaghan man was brought before the Special Criminal Court last night charged with possession of an explosive substance.
Martin Connolly, of Mullantimore, Tydavnet, was charged with knowingly possessing a Novital Magnum Electric Cereal Mill and ammonium nitrate at his address between September 8th and 11th contrary to section 4 of the Explosive Substances Act. Det Garda Ronan Mulligan told State solicitor Michael O’Donovan that he had arrested the accused outside Monaghan Garda station shortly after 6pm yesterday. He was remanded in custody to the same court on Thursday.
Police group calls for new inquiry
The group representing former RUC officers has called for a fresh inquiry into the 1972 Claudy bombing. The Northern Ireland Retired Police Officers Association called on PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott to order a new inquiry, claiming the Police Ombudsman who published his findings last month had overlooked key aspects. The retired officers said they felt scapegoated because Al Hutchinson’s investigators had adopted a “one-dimensional and highly selective approach”. The Police Ombudsman’s report found that the Catholic Church, the state and police officers had co-operated to cover up the role of suspect Fr James Chesney.
Wicklow road closed after flood damage
Yesterday’s meeting of Wicklow County Council was told that the road between Aughrim and Aughavannagh has had to be closed to traffic after a bridge was damaged by last week’s floods.
Highlighted at the meeting was the need for remedial works to stop a recurrence of the flooding from the river Slaney. Cllr Nicky Kelly said that the volume of flood waters was now unable to pass under many bridges because of amount of silt and sand that had built up in river basins.