A round-up of other stories in brief...
Men held over smuggled cigarettes
Four men were last night being questioned by gardaí in Co Tipperary in relation to the seizure of about eight million counterfeit cigarettes worth an estimated €3.2 million.
Customs officers supported by gardaí seized the cigarettes at commercial premises in Carrick-on-Suir.
The men, who officials said are aged from 45 to 65, are believed to be from the Waterford area. They were last night being questioned at Garda stations in Clonmel and Cahir. Revenue sources last night said the cigarettes arrived into Dublin Port from China on March 20th.
No social worker for homeless girl
An abandoned 15-year-old girl, who has been relying on emergency hostel accommodation over the past two years, was not allocated a social worker or placed into care, the Children’s Court heard yesterday.
There was “scant information” available about the circumstances of the troubled girl, whose mother and allegedly violent stepfather have moved to England. The girl had been remanded in custody last Wednesday.
Defence solicitor Catherine Ghent told Judge John O’Neill yesterday that the girl had not been placed in care and if released on bail could not be “guaranteed a bed”.
The teenager was brought before the court for the first time on Wednesday last after she was arrested earlier this week for assault of an officer at Store Street Garda station.
Solicitor for the HSE Eoghan Wallace told Judge O’Neill that steps would be taken to provide care.
Judge O’Neill granted bail but said in doing so he could be “leaving a 15-year-old girl out on the streets, alone. I do not have any right . . . from the law to refuse bail.”
Drop in number of overseas trips
The number of Irish trips overseas fell by 6 per cent in the final three months of 2008, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
From October to December, 1,636,000 trips were taken abroad by Irish citizens compared with 1,734,000 a year earlier.
Visits by US and Canadian citizens declined by 14 per cent to 179,000 from 208,000 over the year. The number of visitors from Britain fell by 8 per cent to 851,000.
New drugs group in funds appeal
A national organisation to support the families of drug users has called on the Government not to cut funding to families in crisis.
The Family Support Network, which was part of Citywide Drugs Campaign, was yesterday launched as an independent national organisation. Its co-ordinator, Sadie Grace, said it is already at risk of funding cuts. “We have two workers funded by the National Drugs Strategy and two from the Family Support Agency, but our funding has already been cut,” she said.
Music festival plans outlined
The recital rooms and gardens of Wicklow’s Kilruddery House and the intimate surroundings of Co Louth’s Beaulieu House are among venues for an annual chamber music festival taking place in June.
Details of this year’s KBC Music in Great Irish Houses festival were announced yesterday.