A round-up of today's Irish news stories in brief
Former car firm director jailed for not paying fine
A former director of a car company has been sent to jail yesterday for 28 days at the Central Criminal Court for non-payment of a fine,
following his conviction earlier this year for price-fixing offences under the competition regulations.
James Bursey (64) was director of Bursey Peppard Motors Limited, which traded at St Agnes’s Road, Crumlin Cross, Dublin, until October 2008.
Bursey and the company pleaded guilty in March to four charges of entering into and implementing agreements with other Leinster car dealers to fix the prices of Citroën vehicles.
In April, Mr Justice Liam McKechnie in the Central Criminal Court in Dublin had sentenced Bursey to 15 months in imprison suspended for five years for the two offences, to which Bursey pleaded guilty, and also fined him a total of €80,000. He also fined the company €80,000.
Dispute over Cork 135m wind farm settled
A dispute over an alleged agreement for a €135 million wind farm project in Co Cork has been settled at the Commercial Court. Denis Cremins, Knocknagoshel, Co Kerry, had claimed SWS Energy, Bandon, Co Cork, was in breach of a joint venture agreement with him for the construction of a 29-turbine wind farm in Co Cork.
He was seeking orders restraining the development unless all conditions attached to it are fully complied with. He claimed the wind farm under construction at Knockacummer is “entirely different” to that for which permission was granted in 2005 with “very significant” consequences for his property rights and for the environment.
Mother of Dana dies at home in Derry
Sheila Brown, the mother of Dana Rosemary Scallon, has died at the family home in Barons Court, Derry, after a long illness.
The former Eurovision winner and presidential candidate was among family members at her mother’s side when she passed away at on Sunday night, aged 91.
She and her husband, Robert, were both musicians but moved to London for work, returning to Derry in 1955. Their youngest daughter, Rosemary, was born in Islington, London, the fourth in a family of six.
Funeral of elderly Fermanagh couple
The funeral has taken place of the Co Fermanagh couple who were found dead in Enniskillen last week.
Ann Barbour (83) and her husband Bill (88), a former teacher at Portora College in Enniskillen, were cremated after a private funeral service at Roselawn cemetery in Belfast yesterday.
Mrs Barbour, who had Alzheimer’s disease, was found dead at her home on Sligo Road, Enniskillen, last Tuesday.
Mr Barbour’s body was later recovered in nearby Lough Rossole.
House 'sold' with existing bank charge
A building firm alleged to have persuaded a man to buy a house in a "deal of a lifetime" had failed to tell the purchaser a bank had an existing charge over the premises, it was claimed at the High Court yesterday.
The firm has had its assets frozen below €170,000.
George Munnelly, a civil engineer, Killala, Co Mayo, secured the order against Coggins Construction Service, Crossmolina, Co Mayo. The injunction remains in place pending the full hearing.
Mr Munnelly is seeking revocation of a December 2007 contract for house purchase from Coggins and is claiming damages for alleged breach of duty of care and negligence.
New education campus to be built on former barracks in Monaghan
A new education campus including a Gaelscoil, Gaelcholáiste and a further education centre is to be built on site of the former Army barracks in Monaghan Town.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen unveiled the project in Monaghan yesterday, calling it “a very significant development which will dramatically modernise the town’s educational facilities”.
The idea to transform the barracks was first mooted last year just weeks after it was announced in the October budget that the barracks was to close.
Discussions have been under way between local representatives and Minister for Education and Science Batt O’Keeffe. Mr Cowen said the Department of Education and Science has now instructed Monaghan Vocational Education Committee to acquire the site and begin the process of outlining an accommodation brief for a new Gaelscoil, Gaelcholáiste and further education centre.
Monaghan VEC will lead the procurement process for the education campus which already includes a functioning PE hall, sports field and canteen facilities.
The new educational facilities will replace those in rented accommodation in Monaghan town.
Man rescued from Achill mountain
A man who climbed Slievemore, the highest mountain on Achill Island, Co Mayo, in sub-zero temperatures, had to be rescued and treated afterwards in hospital for hypothermia.
The man, who is in his forties, was rescued by local Coast Guard personnel and members of Mayo Mountain Rescue, at about 11pm on Sunday night.
His location was pinpointed by the crew of a Coast Guard helicopter which had been scrambled from Sligo.
Conditions on the mountain were atrocious at the time, with temperatures below zero and a mixture of snow and hail showers.