A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Chair of Northern Tories quits over election pact with unionists
Chairman of the British Conservative party in Northern Ireland Irwin Armstrong has resigned in protest after the Tories and the Ulster Unionist Party agreed a pact for next May’s Assembly elections, writes Gerry Moriarty. Mr Armstrong quit the Tories after the UUP leader Tom Elliott gained agreement that the Conservatives would not put up candidates in May.
Mr Elliott has also agreed that should the UUP win any seats in future Westminster elections – it has no seats at present – its MPs will take the Conservative whip.
The agreement appears to mark the formal end of the failed link-up between the Tories and the UUP under which they contested the British general election in May this year.
Mr Armstrong said the pact would effectively disband the Conservatives in Northern Ireland.
Prison for postman who dumped letters
A postman who dumped more than 10,000 letters entrusted to him for delivery was yesterday sentenced to four months in jail for the offence. Daniel O’Regan of Ard Abhain, Knockraha, Co Cork, had pleaded guilty to three counts under the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act arising out of his actions.
Judge Con O’Leary was told at Cork District Court that the matter came to light on March 18th last when more than 2,000 letters were found dumped in a field at Knockraha.
Union claims HSE staff left in dark
The Impact trade union has said that more than 2,600 staff in the Health Service Executive who have applied to leave under the Government’s early retirement and voluntary redundancy schemes are still awaiting details of their entitlements.
Impact’s national secretary for health Louise O’Donnell, in a letter to Minister for Health Mary Harney, said the union had been told by HSE management it would be December 17th at the earliest before it was decided who would leave the service.
Judgment reserved in dentists' challenge to service cutbacks
The High Court has reserved judgment on a challenge by two dentists to cutbacks in the free dental treatment available to medical card holders.
Martin Reid and James Turner claim the proposed changes to the Dental Treatment Service Scheme outlined in a circular issued last April will radically confine the services they can offer to medical card holders to emergency services and one oral examination in a 12-month period.
The HSE denies the claims and argues it acted properly in implementing the changes to the scheme. It said the changes were implemented after the Government instructed the HSE to cut its costs dramatically.
Sentence delay for hospitalised man
The sentencing of a Sligo man who was last month convicted of raping and sexually assaulting his daughter has been adjourned after the man was hospitalised following an alleged overdose.
The 46-year-old man was found guilty by a jury last month of raping and sexually assaulting his teenage daughter following a six-day trial at the Central Criminal Court. The jury was unable to agree a verdict on three further counts of sexual assault.
Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne was told by the prosecution it had received information that the man had been hospitalised at the weekend and would not be in court. Counsel for the man said he had been unable to get instructions from his client who had declined to see his solicitor on an occasion following the trial. Ms Justice Dunne said she understood the allegation was “there was an overdose of some kind”. She adjourned the case to December 21st.
Replacement for judge nominated
A Fianna Fáil councillor and former Dáil candidate has been nominated for appointment by the President as a judge of the District Court, writes Carol Coulter.
Solicitor Paul Kelly, Leixlip, Co Kildare, a Kildare county councillor, was nominated by the Government last Tuesday to replace Judge John Neilan, who recently retired.
Mr Kelly was Charlie McCreevy’s running mate in the 2002 election but lost to Fine Gael’s Bernard Durkan.
NI Service criticised over prison suicide
The Northern Ireland Prison Service has been criticised over its handling of a prisoner suicide at Maghaberry prison last year. John Derry (50) hanged himself in his cell and died later in hospital.
Prisoner Ombudsman Pauline McCabe said the Prison Service was in urgent need of reform.
She found that some staff had been on the phone or using the staff computer when the incident happened in August 2009.
Missing girl (12) found
A 12-year-old girl who went missing from her home in west Cork yesterday evening was found safe and well within a number of hours.
Gardaí from Castletownbere and Bantry launched a search operation after the girl was reported missing from her home outside Castletownbere at 6.30pm.
The local lifeboat assisted in the search as did the Coast Guard helicopter.