In short

More news in brief.

More news in brief.

Worker at water plant dies in stairwell fall

A man in his early 30s has died following a workplace accident in Borrisoleigh, Co Tipperary. The man, who will not be named until relatives have been informed, fell at the Tipperary Mineral Water plant on the Templemore Road yesterday morning.

A well-known member of the local community, he is believed to have fallen down a stairwell at the factory. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

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The Health and Safety Authority is to investigate the circumstances and the Gleeson Group, who own and operate the facility, are also expected to launch an internal investigation.

Construction worker killed in dumper truck accident on M3 site

A construction worker has died in an accident on the site of the new M3 motorway in Co Meath.

Peter McAndrew (44), a pipelayer from Coolarty, Co Longford, was killed when the dumper truck he was driving overturned into a deep gully at Derrockstown, Dunshaughlin.

Mr McAndrew, originally a native of Crossmolina, Co Mayo, got trapped under the vehicle in water.

The accident happened at 12.10pm on Monday on the Dublin side of the road.

He was taken to Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown, but was pronounced dead.

The accident is currently being investigated by gardaí and the Health and Safety Authority (HSA).

A statement from the consortium for the road, Eurolink M3 and Ferrovial-Agroman SIAC JV, expressed regret about Mr McAndrew's death.

Three released after questioning

Three people arrested by gardaí investigating the murder of Marie Kilmartin in the midlands in 1993 have been released without charge and files are being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Two men and one woman were detained in Portlaoise Garda station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

Limerick students screened for TB

Students at a Limerick secondary school are being offered screening for tuberculosis by the HSE after a second case has been diagnosed in a pupil this year.

The first case occurred last March and although more than 150 contacts were screened, no other cases were found at that time.

The second case is in a different school year, according to a statement by the HSE yesterday.

'Picnic' petition calls for privacy protection

A petition with 3,000 signatures gathered at the Electric Picnic and calling for greater protection for the right to privacy has been handed into the Department of Justice.

The signatures were gathered by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) which says there is no legal basis to protect electronic correspondence. It is calling for a proper lawful basis for the use of surveillance.

ICCL director Mark Kelly said most people were not aware that all phone, fax, e-mail and data communications between the UK and Ireland for the last seven years had been intercepted and stored by the British ministry of defence.

The European Court of Human Rights found the British government to be in breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights which guarantees privacy.

The ICCL also called for a legal obligation to disclose the loss of sensitive personal information to the Data Protection Commissioner.