Storms cause roadblocks and wreck reputations

Saturday

The storm which swept across the country on Saturday night, gusting at up to 77 m.p.h., felled trees, broke telephone lines and pitched 30,000 homes into darkness. Roads were blocked by fallen trees and floods caused by heavy rain.

A storm of a different kind brought Mr Simon Coveney, as expected, into the Dail seat left vacant by the death of his father, Hugh, last March. Fianna Fail members said that an RTE radio broadcast showing a lack of knowledge of local issues on the part of their candidate, Ms Sinead Behan, was damaging, but not the whole reason for the party's defeat.

Sunday

The UK Unionist Party dismissed as "absolutely without foundation" any suggestion that it supported Irish unity. The statement followed newspaper articles by Dr Conor Cruise O'Brien outlining a scenario in which unionists might be obliged to enter negotiations for a 32-county republic.

The Department of Health is wasting £88 million annually on acute hospital beds occupied by patients who should be in other facilities, the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association reported.

A Co Galway man, Mr Walter Regan (71), said he believes he and his colleagues in the Limerick Steamship Company dumped toxic, and possibly nuclear, waste in the Irish Sea. The waste emanated from Windscale, latterly Sellafield, in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Monday

Faithfulness and love were the hallmarks of Mr Noel Carroll, mourners at the removal of the former athlete were told. Mr Carroll was chief executive of Dublin Chamber of Commerce and a former spokesman for Dublin Corporation.

Father Kieron McDermott said he had made an "immense" contribution to civic life in Dublin.

Kenya's Joshua Kipkemboi won the 98FM Dublin City Marathon for the second year in a row. His winning time of two hours 20 minutes was, however, four minutes slower than the previous year.

Dublin Corporation gave the go-ahead to a huge new shopping centre for O'Connell Street, incorporating 15 cinemas and at least a dozen restaurants on the site of the old Carlton.

Tuesday

Dr Conor Cruise O'Brien resigned from the UK Unionist Party because his analysis of the North had put the party leader, Mr Robert McCartney, in "a very difficult position."

Tributes were paid to Dr T.J. O'Driscoll at his funeral Mass in Rathfarnham, Co Dublin. Father Michael O'Sullivan said Dr O'Driscoll had been a good and kind husband to his wife Elizabeth and a loving father to his daughters Sara, Mary and Liz. He also served his country with distinction as a former director-general of Bord Failte, chairman of Coras Trachtala, president of An Taisce, ambassador to the Netherlands and pioneer in the development of Irish aviation.

Wednesday

The Government was given one month by the Irish Farmers' Association to deliver on key demands to boost income. The deadline was announced at a protest gathering which brought an estimated 40,000 farmers on to the streets of Dublin.

The city centre was brought to a standstill for six hours. The IFA leadership said it would repeat the exercise if its demands were not met, and that it would pull out of Partnership 2000.

The National Maternity Hospital apologised in the High Court to the family of a 31-year-old woman who died while undergoing treatment there five years ago. The hospital also acknowledged that it was negligent in the diagnosis and treatment of Mrs Geraldine Gleeson.

After the hearing her husband, Mr John Gleeson (39), said it took the hospital "five years to say they were sorry."

Loneliness is the main reason elderly people are calling a help line in Co Meath, according to a report from the Summerhill Active Retirement Group and the North Eastern Health Board.

Ms Mary Nally, a co-ordinator of the helpline, said: "Many of our callers experienced feelings of loneliness and isolation, and a number of them have literally no one else to call."

Fingal County Council regularly had to arrange Garda protection for workers repairing damage in one of its housing estates, a judge was told. Mr Eamon Brady, a council roads overseer, told Judge Michael White in the Circuit Civil Court that the Dromheath Estate in Mulhuddart was regarded as "life-threatening" for council workers.

Thursday

The Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by the Brixton Prison escaper, Nessan Quinlivan, against the High Court's refusal to make an order directing the production of documents relating to his escape. The documents sought by Quinlivan (33) include unpublished reports on the alleged role of a prison officer and a detective sergeant in the escape in July 1991.

Quinlivan is at present appealing a Dublin District Court Order for his extradition to Britain. The papers he sought would have facilitated preparation of his appeal, he argued.

The English Poet Laureate, Ted Hughes, died peacefully at home, aged 68, it was announced. Although Hughes had suffered from cancer for about 18 months, few people were aware of his illness, and the literary world reacted with astonishment.

Seamus Heaney said simply that he was "grief-stricken at the loss of a great friend."