A roundup of todays other home news in brief
Cowen has not talked to Callely over expenses
Taoiseach Brian Cowen has not spoken to Fianna Fáil Senator Ivor Callely about the former Dublin North Central TD’s expenses claims, Mr Cowen said yesterday.
It emerged at the weekend that Mr Callely claimed overnight and travel expenses from his west Cork property.
Mr Callely, who retains his Dublin home and constituency office in Clontarf, Dublin, claimed more than €81,000 in expenses from December 2007. His home on Sheep’s Head peninsula in west Cork is 370km from Dublin.
Asked to comment on this matter yesterday, Mr Cowen said: “I haven’t spoken to Senator Callely about this. I was attending the funeral of a colleague yesterday. Matters like this are raised by that office concerned or issues that arise between individual members and the office should be dealt with in that way.”
The funeral Mr Cowen referred to was that of Fianna Fáil Senator Kieran Phelan who died suddenly in Dublin on Wednesday morning.
Group critical of M3 traffic use
A group which opposed the construction of the M3 road has said the taxpayer is facing a bill of €1.3 million per annum because insufficient traffic will use the new motorway.
The 61 kilometre M3 officially opens on Friday but Tara Watch spokesman Vincent Salafia said revenue from two tolls on the road scheme will not meet income targets. Tara Watch says the NRA through the taxpayer expects to pay Eurolink a minimum of €1.3 million in the first year due to a predicted 3,250 vehicle a day shortfall.
€10 tax blamed for tourism ‘collapse’
Ryanair has blamed the Government’s €10 tourist tax on the ‘‘collapse’’ in Irish tourism and said the situation will only worsen throughout 2010.
The airline yesterday cited a report by an independent consultancy on seat capacity throughout Europe as “irrefutable evidence” that traffic growth has returned to EU countries that do not impose tourist taxes.
A report by RDC Aviation showed total seat numbers down by over 700,000 to 4,321,433 in the year-to-date to the end of April.
Ryanair said the downward trend at Irish airports would worsen during 2010.
Two men stabbed in Arklow
A young man underwent an operation yesterday after being stabbed a number of times during an assault in Arklow earlier.
The incident took place in a house at Pearse Park, Wexford Road, at around 3am and involved two young men aged 18 and 20 years.
One man was stabbed a number of times in the body. However, his injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.
The other person is believed to have sustained superficial wounds and he was discharged later after both men were taken by ambulance to Loughlinstown hospital.
Gardaí cordoned off the house for a forensic examination to be carried out.
Honorary degree for schools’ CEO
Chief executive of the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools Donal Flanagan has been awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy by St Patrick’s College, Maynooth.
Mr Flanagan has headed the organisation which is the main advocate for Catholic education in Northern Ireland since 1993. It employs more than 8,500 teachers and supports the management of Catholic maintained schools through boards of governors.
According to the citation at Mr Flanagan’s conferring the challenges facing Catholic education in the early 1990s when he took over at the CCMS were significant.
“The Catholic education sector was seen as one with low standards, poor accommodation, weak leadership, lacking coherence and vision,” it said.