Other home news in brief
Garda warns over danger of sea protests
A Garda superintendent has advised demonstrators at the Corrib Gas pipeline site in Co Mayo about the dangers involved in putting to sea in flimsy, unsafe craft.
Supt John Gilligan was speaking yesterday following the release without charge of eight Shell to Sea activists who were arrested at Glengad on Thursday night.
He said some of those arrested had used "blow-up inflatables suitable only for a day at the beach". Eleven small craft from the Solidarity Camp resisted Garda and Navy security personnel for about an hour on Thursday night.
Seven people were arrested in connection with the offshore incidents, five from the UK and two Irish. None of the seven was from the Co Mayo area.Later on Thursday night, a local man was arrested following an incident when a car was rammed into the gate of the Shell compound at Glengad.
Cocaine worth €400,000 seized
A 20-year-old man from the Congo is due to appear in court today in connection with a seizure in Dublin of cocaine worth up to €400,000. About six kilos of the drug were found yesterday at Peter's Street during a joint operation involving the Garda National Drugs Unit and the Customs Service. The man was detained at Pearse Street Garda station in Dublin last night. A Garda spokesman said the man is expected to appear at Dublin District Court this morning.
Judge nominated for High Court
The Government has announced the nomination of John D Cooke for appointment by the President as a judge of the High Court.
Mr Cooke has been a judge of the European Court of First Instance since 1996 and served as president of the first chamber of the court. He was the Judge Rapporteur on the Microsoft case, which was one of the most significant cases in European Community law.
Battery laws to come into effect
New waste battery regulations published by Minister for the Environment John Gormley come into effect on September 26th, writes Abiba Ndeley.
Under the regulations, users of waste batteries in Ireland will be entitled to return them free of charge to retail outlets selling equivalent batteries, or to other authorised collection points, including local authority civic amenity sites.
Producers will be obliged to fund the full cost of ensuring the batteries are collected and treated in an environmentally sound manner. The new regulations implement a 2006 EU directive on the issue.
Three arrested over shooting
Three men were arrested yesterday by gardaí investigating the shooting of a man in Dundalk on July 4th .
The three were arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act on suspicion of being in possession of a firearm at Fatima Court, Dundalk on that date. A 51-year-old man received serious shotgun injuries to his knee in the attack, which took place in a house in the estate in the early hours of the morning.
Two of the men arrested are 38 years old and the other is 28.