A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Petition bids to keep Sligo street free of traffic
The Mayor of Sligo has been handed a petition signed by more than 2,500 people opposed to bringing traffic back on to the main street, which was pedestrianised three years ago.
Sligo-based writer Dermot Healy and local trader Paddy Dooney handed the petition to the Mayor, Cllr Jimmy McGarry. Sligo Chamber of Commerce and the O’Connell Street traders oppose the plan to bring traffic back.
The Mayor yesterday repeated his view that traffic would be back on O’Connell Street before Christmas. He said the elected members had voted on this issue twice and he did not expect them to change their mind.
Aircraft bird-strike investigated
The Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) of the Department of Transport has confirmed it is investigating the bird-strike involving a bmibaby scheduled flight from Knock to Manchester.
The aircraft, which struck the birds shortly after take-off from Ireland West Airport in Knock, also suffered damage to its fuselage and was grounded in Shannon again last night.
The captain did not declare an emergency but requested that airport emergency services be on standby before he landed the aircraft safely.
A spokesperson for bmibaby said: “Bmibaby did arrange for a replacement aircraft and crew to fly to Shannon Airport so that all passengers could continue with their journey.”
Cork jazz festival ticket sales up on 2008
Ticket sales for this weekend’s Guinness Cork Jazz Festival are up on last year, according to the organisers
With a cast of more than 1,000 musicians from 29 countries, the event is now ranked in the top three jazz festivals in Europe. Festival artistic director Jack McGouran said: “Ticket sales are going remarkably well, we are up 40 per cent on last year already. We are thrilled and just amazed. The recession seems to be at bay at the moment. People are still trying to enjoy themselves and get out and our programme for 2009 seems to have really clicked.”
Council concerns over Kerry hedges
Roadside hedges and ditches in Co Kerry are not being cut, a council meeting was told in Tralee.
Some 5,400 letters were sent to farmers this year warning them of their duties, said the council’s director of services Charlie O’Sullivan. These were followed in some cases with warning notices.
“With such a large number of landowners and with the extensive length of public roads in the county it is not possible for the enforcement officer to inspect every kilometre of road,” he said.