A round-up of today's other news in brief
€2 rise in price of cigarettes call
The price of a packet of 20 cigarettes should be increased by €2, to over €10 a leading economist has said.
Jim Power, author of The Economic Case for a Significant Increase in the Price of Cigarettes, said the Government would raise €420 million a year if it raised taxes on cigarettes by €2 a pack in the forthcoming supplementary budget.
Mr Power said the arguments usually put forward against such a large increase – that it would push up inflation and give rise to wage-increase demands – were not tenable.
He also argued against those who say a €2 increase in the price of a pack would increase cigarette smuggling and have a disproportionate adverse impact on the poor.
Patients to be recalled for ear tests
More than 1,000 children and adults in the south and midwest are to be recalled for hearing tests after concerns were raised about the quality of work carried out by a HSE member of staff who initially assessed them, writes Eithne Donnellan, Health Correspondent.
The HSE said yesterday the patients were being recalled as a precautionary measure after a review of the work of an audiological scientist who provided audiology services at clinics in Cork, Tralee and Limerick.
The audiological scientist whose work was the subject of the review has not worked in the HSE audiology services since December 2007.
Fire at disused Belfast courthouse
A fire at a disused courthouse in north Belfast yesterday afternoon caused extensive damage and could have been caused deliberately.
Ten fire appliances and 45 personnel were deployed to tackle the fire at Crumlin Road courthouse where hundreds of paramilitary trials were staged.
It was closed in June 1998 but has been subject to frequent acts of vandalism.
The proprietor, Barry Gilligan, a Belfast-based property developer, announced plans for its transformation into a luxury hotel in 2006. Mr Gilligan is also vice-chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board.
Man found dead in apartment
Gardaí are not looking for anyone in relation the death of a man in Dublin on Wednesday.
The Lithuanian national in his late 20s was found in the apartment on the Navan Road after gardaí received a call at 6.30am from other people in the apartment. A postmortem ruled out foul play.
College bug
A third-level college in Limerick has been closed until next week following confirmation of seven cases of the winter vomiting bug. Some 3,400 students at Mary Immaculate College have been asked not to return for lectures until next Wednesday while the campus is sanitised.