Northern News

• Portadown District Orange Lodge has indicated that it is willing to enter talks with Garvaghy Road residents to discuss the Lodge's wish to again march down the largely nationalist road after their Drumcree church service each July. A message to this effect was sent to the Parades Commission with the proviso that the talks have an independent chairman. For the Residents Association Breandán Mac Cionnaith said some indication of a change of heart had been passed on by the commission but he had heard nothing official and there been no contact from the Orange Order.
• A Strabane family had started to wake their son last Sunday when they were told that he was still alive. Christopher McGonigle (35) was working on a supply ship to oil rigs in the North Sea when he went missing and it was presumed he had fallen overboard. In the early hours of last Saturday, while on night duty, he went for his break but failed to return. The ship was subjected to a number of searches and a full-scale air-sea rescue mission launched. This continued throughout Saturday and Sunday by which time it appeared that the missing man had drowned. That night, however, a crewmember, working out in the ship's gym, heard a noise. A further search resulted in Mr McGonigle being found in a virtually inaccessible roof space. Unconfirmed reports say that he had a broken leg, a back injury and was suffering from hypothermia. He also had a supply of food. No explanation has been put forward as to how he sustained his injuries but Scottish police say "there was no criminal aspect to the incident". Mr McGonigle was airlifted to a hospital in Aberdeen.
• David Morrison (52), from the New Lodge area of Belfast, was given a nine-year jail sentence and banned from driving for life after he pleaded guilty to a number of motoring offences, including causing death and grievous bodily injury by dangerous driving. Morrison failed to stop after he knocked down and killed Anne-Marie Dineen (38) in Andersonstown in February. The dead woman's friend, Veronica Armstrong, was badly injured in the incident and clung to the speeding car as Morrison served from side to side to shake her off.
• Michael Stone, the loyalist killer who is now accused of attempting to murder Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness, has come up with a novel explanation for his armed attack on Stormont last month. In an open letter to Northern Secretary Peter Hain he apologies to all those who felt threatened by his artistic endeavours. He describes his attempt to enter the Stormont building as "performance art" inspired by the likes of Pablo Picasso and Éamonn McCann.
• Sinn Féin made news with the decision of Mitchel McLaughlin to abandon his Foyle constituency in favour of South Antrim in the Assembly elections planned for March 7. Without any representation in South Antrim currently, the Sinn Féin strategy is to target Alliance leader David Ford's seat; Martin Meehan came very close to winning this in the last Assembly elections. Other unusual activity was also taking place. Two Sinn Féin candidates were deselected although this has to be confirmed by the party leadership. Davy Hyland and Pat O'Rawe, who are currently MLAs for Newry-Armagh, were told by their local organisation that they will not be sitting this time round. The Irish Times predicts that Ms O'Rawe will be reinstated by HQ but that Mr Hyland will be left out in the cold because of his misgivings about the party's possible support for the PSNI.
• At the High Court in Belfast, bail was refused to David McCartan (35) and his wife Geraldine (34) who are accused of murdering Mr McCartan's mother. A prosecution lawyer claimed that the couple killed Annie McCartan (75) because she would not vacate her Warrenpoint house so the site could be used to develop apartments. The value of the proposed development was put at £2.4m.
• It was reported on Friday that Sinn Féin and the DUP had, over a number of days, been in intensive negotiations with the British Government, in an attempt to agree a timetable for devolving responsibility for justice and policing to the proposed new power-sharing executive. Senior Sinn Féin officials spent Friday reviewing progress and were expected to decide on whether to call a meeting of the party's Ard Comhairle over the weekend, but the review went on into Saturday. Such a meeting will decide if the time is right to convene an ardfheis to seek grass roots approval for a change in party policy, which would see it supporting the PSNI.
• Rhonda Paisley has withdrawn her application for assistance from the Equal Opportunities Commission after receiving an apology from the Democratic Unionist Party. The daughter of DUP leader Rev. Ian Paisley had alleged that she was not considered for the advertised position of policy officer as a result of sex discrimination.
• Property developer Armoy Homes has unveiled plans for a state-of-the-art greyhound track and a 31-bedroom hotel at Stranocum, near Ballymoney, Co. Antrim. The company already owns a popular bar and restaurant on the site chosen for the £12m development.
• Seán Hoey (37), who is charged with carrying out the 1998 Omagh bombing, has failed in his attempt to have the charges against him dropped. In Belfast Crown Court on Thursday Justice Weir ruled that the state of the evidence does not warrant the dropping of the charges.
• James McGuigan (30) and his daughter Lorna (8), from Belfast, were killed in a road accident in Co. Antrim on Friday. In the single vehicle accident the car left the road and crashed into a tree near Crumlin at around 9:00am. Two other daughters, aged four and five, were critically injured.
• Matthew Dagens (15), from Crossgar, Co. Down, died that night at around 9:30pm when he was struck by a car while crossing the Ballydugan Road in Downpatrick.

Ireland Today: A case study in poor customer relations

I don't think I have ever heard a commercial company come in for more criticism from its customers than cable television company NTL did on Joe Duffy's Liveline programme. The company decided to increase its prices and apply a surcharge on those customers who failed to pay by direct debit. Both decisions annoyed many but it was NTL's customer service operation, or lack of it, which really irked people. Many had spent days trying to make contact by phone but without success. Some even found a Dublin address but it was always closed. The few who eventually got through to report faults were told that a repair engineer would call in three weeks. NTL refused to talk to RTÉ, claiming that it only dealt directly with its customers, causing hoots of derision from those who had failed to make contact. The Irish Times later suggested that, as the company would soon change its name to UPC, it wasn't too concerned about the bad publicity.

Bits and Pieces

• A three-man armed gang forced their way into a house near Kinsale, Co. Cork last Sunday morning and assaulted the three residents, a couple in their 50s and their teenage son. The man, who worked in Britain, was forced to provide details of his bank accounts in the Isle of Man, and the gang also stole credit cards and a laptop computer with bank details. The family managed to raise the alarm after the gang left and the bank was contacted before any attempt was made to remove money from the accounts or use the credit cards.
• The parents of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, murdered in west Cork in December 1996, returned to the site of their daughter's death at the weekend to lay a wreath. Speaking after a commemorative Mass yesterday, Mme Bouniol expressed the fear that she would die before anyone is brought to justice for the murder. She was also critical of the lack of cooperation between the Irish and French governments on legal matters.
• In an interview with the Irish Times marking his ten years as Primate of Ireland, Archbishop of Armagh Seán Brady, spoke of the deep concern of many at the "growing coarseness and aggression" that has become a feature of modern Ireland. This, he said, was evident on the roads, in binge-drinking and the sexualisation of children. He blamed the change on the "marginalisation of religion", a development that has created "a very deep concern, particularly by parents, about where we are going morally and spiritually". Probably what captured most attention was his question, "Do we want to have a culture of Podge and Rodge, or one of decency and respect?" Not that people were falling over themselves to answer this. Instead they focused on the two puppets, late night regulars on RTÉ 2, who could be described as offering the ultimate in bad taste, a description with which even their fans could hardly disagree.
• The Irish Times reports that a Department of Foreign Affairs audit committee is concerned at the management of the Irish Aid budget. It notes that staffing in the department's evaluation and audit unit are "barely adequate", leaving it "susceptible to sickness, emergencies, staff departures, etc.". The committee is also concerned at the implications of decentralising the Irish Aid unit to Limerick; experienced staff who are not interested in relocating are being replaced with staff from other departments. The separation of the Irish Aid unit from the rest of the Department could, it is feared, lead to inconsistencies with other aspects of foreign policy. The practice of using consultants to prepare reports was questioned, as often there is insufficient staff to implement the resultant recommendations.
• The Government on Tuesday published details of a strategy aimed at making the country properly bi-lingual over the next 20 years. The plan was launched by Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Éamon Ó Cuív, accompanied by the entire cabinet. Among the targeted areas are education and broadcasting. Mr Ó Cuív noted that policies to date have been successful as successive censuses have shown increasing numbers of people able to speak Irish, while Minister for Justice Michael McDowell noted that 100,000 pupils attend Gaelscoileanna every day.
• Det. Sgt John White, who has been severely criticised in more than one report from the Morris Tribunal, has been dismissed from an Garda Síochána. He is, however, appealing the decision. He was told that his dismissal arose from the conclusions of the Morris Tribunal in relation to the Ardara module. This found that he had planted an explosive device at a television transmitter so that he could arrest, under the Offences Against the State Act, a number of people who had been protesting against the company which owned the transmitter. That particular Act allowed for their detention for three days rather than 12 hours.
• Two members of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, a New York-based religious order, have arrived in Limerick where they are to open a friary in the city's Moyross area. The order already has a presence in New York, London, Honduras and Albuquerque where they work with deprived communities.
• It is expected that from 2008 onwards taxis which are more than nine years old will be considered unfit for use. This is being proposed by Taxi Regulator Ger Deering but he first plans a period of public consultation on that and other issues.
• Ireland's celebrity gardener Diarmuid Gavin is currently taking action in the High Court in London against a British garden designer. Mr Gavin alleges that Andrew Sturgeon, winner of the gold medal at this year's Chelsea Flower Show, infringed his copyright with the winning design.
• On Tuesday, gardaí in Dublin arrested a 23-year-old man after 17kg of heroin, worth around €4m, was found in his car.
• A garda on foot patrol in the Blanchardstown area of Dublin received minor injuries when he was knocked down while attempting to stop a car on Tuesday evening. Garda mobile units were alerted and some time later a car was stopped on the M50. The driver was arrested and has since appeared in court, charged with a number of motoring offences.
• "Mad cow disease", or BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy), is still with us although on a very much reduced scale from previous years. This year the total number of cases detected was 41, down from 69 last year and 333 in 2003.
• Those who were lucky enough to be chosen to visit Newgrange on the shortest day of the year were rewarded with a perfect sunrise illuminating the burial chamber just before nine o'clock on Thursday morning.
• Four gardaí jumped into the water at Custom House Quay in Wexford on Friday to rescue a local man who had been seen to jump from the parapet of the bridge. Gardaí James Maher, John Joe Sinnott, Eric O'Sullivan and John O'Flynn were treated at Wexford General Hospital for hypothermia, as was the man they rescued.

National Lottery Winning Numbers:

• Wed: 27, 30, 35, 39, 42, 45 (44) - the jackpot of €3.96m wasn't won.
• Sat: 13, 17, 29, 31, 34, 39 (2) – the jackpot of €5.93m wasn't won.

Government's response to organised crime

Crisis talks on organised crime took place on Monday at a meeting attended by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Justice Minister Michael McDowell, Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy and Assistant Commissioner Fachtna Murphy. They were expected to discuss the speeding up of the court system, tightening bail laws and the level of garda resources.
It was later announced that the DPP will have a greater role to play in opposing bail applications; additional staff will be allocated to prepare cases for court in a more expeditious manner; more civilians will be recruited to carry out administrative work normally carried out by gardaí, 1,200 new garda patrol cars (to replace older vehicles) will be on the road within a month, and already the order has been placed for a long-awaited radio communications system.
Later in the week Mr McDowell announced that he had signed new regulations which allow gardaí to detain suspects for questioning about certain crimes for up to 24 hours, instead of 12 as at present.

Gangland shootings continue

Another innocent man was shot dead in yet another gangland shooting, this time in Limerick. Noel Crawford was hit in the abdomen as he stood at the front door of his mother's house in O'Malley Park, shortly before 3:00am on Monday. He was pronounced dead in hospital a short time later, on what was his 40th birthday. Seconds before the gunman appeared he was chatting to his brother Paul (32) who appears to have been the intended target. Their nephew, Jordan Crawford (5), was shot in the leg outside the same house in November, when again Paul Crawford was the target. According to the Irish Times, shots were also fired at the house on November 3 and, in July a 15-year-old boy was injured when shots were fired at Paul Crawford as he sat in a car with a woman and child.
Paul Crawford was arrested later on the day of his brother's death, for allegedly making threats to kill a woman. When he appeared in court he was remanded in custody after a senior garda officer described him as a leading member of the McCarthy-Dundon criminal gang who, if released, would attempt to exact revenge for his brother's murder. He was back in court again on Thursday, seeking bail to attend his brother's funeral. Also in court was Elizabeth Sparling, who had made a formal statement to gardaí about the threat. She now claimed that she was satisfied that she had nothing to fear from the accused, a man she had known all her life. A garda witness countered this by stating that Ms Sparling had only retracted her earlier statement as a result of further bullying and intimidation by members of the McCarthy-Dundon gang. Bail was again refused.
Shots were also fired in two separate incidents in the city before and after Monday morning's' murder. At about 11:30pm on Sunday a man was injured in the shoulder in Cliona Park, but this shooting is not believed to be connected to the feud. Shots were later fired at an occupied house in O'Malley Park, in all likelihood this was in response to the murder.
At lunchtime on Wednesday another well-known Limerick criminal, Brian Collopy (34), received two gunshot wounds in the leg in a drive-by shooting near the city centre. Collopy was in the news a couple of years ago when the Criminal Assets Bureau confiscated and sold his bungalow at Fedamore in Co. Limerick.
No one was injured when two shots were fired through the window of a house in Swords, Co. Dublin late on Tuesday. Two nights later a man was injured in Clondalkin when a shotgun was fired through the window of his home

Judges take umbrage

On Thursday a member of the Supreme Court commented on the barrage of criticism directed at the judiciary since the gunning down of 20-year-old plumber Anthony Campbell, because he happened to be working in the house in which drug dealer Martin Hyland was hiding when he was shot dead. Speaking in the Court of Criminal Appeal, Justice Adrian Hardiman said, "The court pays the comments in question no attention whatever". Without mentioning any names he referred to what was very reasoned argument from Minister for Justice Michael McDowell, and politicians of all shades, as "strident and repeated public comments" which were given "wide and excited coverage in the media". Justice Hardiman went on to say that it was the duty of judges to decide cases "in accordance with the Constitution and the law" but ignored the fact that they were being accused of failing to do exactly that.
That night Minister McDowell held his annual Christmas drinks reception at King's Inn but, according to the Irish Times, the event was boycotted by the majority of the judges of the High Court and Supreme Court. This is being interpreted as the judges' way of showing that they consider themselves above criticism, from a Minister for Justice or anyone else. It did, however, only generate more criticism, making Mr McDowell something of a hero in the eyes of many.
On Friday evening RTÉ asked retired judge Justice Feargus Flood his view of Mr McDowell's comments. He was strident in his condemnation of a Minister attempting to give advice to the judiciary, but that only generated phone calls and text messages to RTÉ, mostly critical of Justice Flood.

• In dealing with the case before him Justice Hardiman refused to reduce the seven-year sentence imposed on a Carlow drug dealer. Cocaine with an estimated street value of €21k had been found in the bedroom of Andrew Dermody (24).
• In the week's first significant drug case Bernard White (33), of Clonshaugh in Dublin, was given a ten-year sentence for possession of cannabis worth €17,500. Judge Thomas Teehan accepted, however, that White was "a relatively minor cog in the operation" and suspended five years of the sentence.
• On Thursday Justice Joseph Matthews imposed a 12-year sentence on Keith Mahon (30), of Tallaght, who had been found in possession of cocaine with a potential street value of €1.9m. Mahon, who regularly processed the drug for other dealers, had pleaded guilty and had three years of his sentenced suspended.
• Anthony Swift (21), of Tallaght, could have had the mandatory ten-year sentence imposed on him when he pleaded guilty to possessing cocaine worth €70k and two unlicensed shotguns. Instead the judge set him free but with an eight-year suspended sentence hanging over him.

Dublin Port Tunnel opens to traffic

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on Wednesday opened the Dublin Port Tunnel, making it available to heavy goods vehicles and buses for journeys between the N1 at Whitehall and Dublin Port. The 4.5km tunnel, which cost €752m, was completed two years behind schedule but no one seems to be able to agree just how much it was over budget. HGVs and buses will not be subject to a toll, but when cars are eventually allowed to use it, probably late next month, they will pay a toll of between €3 and €12, depending on the time of day.
Since opening, the tunnel has experienced a few teething problems. While some trucks were allowed through after the official opening, the plan was to close the tunnel until 1:00pm. This deadline wasn't met due to the number of people attending the official opening and it was 4:15pm before the tunnel was fully operational.
On Thursday morning there were reports of congestion at Dublin Port with trucks unable to leave the area. Heavy traffic was also reported from the Dublin Quays with many trucks opting not to use the tunnel. A spokesman for Dublin Port claimed that it had not been made aware that the tunnel was closing overnight, and also blamed a mistimed traffic light for contributing to the difficulty. Dublin City Council responded by sending out a spokesman who disputed the traffic light story and who claimed that the port authority was informed that it was always the plan to close the tunnel for a number of hours each night in the initial stages. What had happened was that the traffic light was changed to give more time to traffic heading for the tunnel, but the majority wanted to go through the city and the 15 seconds allowed out of each 90 caused them to back up into the dock area.
Dublin quays were again at a standstill early on Friday as truckers coming off the ferries continued to avoid the new tunnel. It appeared that many of those heading west and south preferred to take their trucks through the city centre rather than pay the toll of up to €5.60 on the West-Link Bridge. It was also suggested that many foreign truckers were confused by the changes which had taken place. By eight o'clock the traffic problems at the Point roundabout had eased.

Christmas travel now a two-way process

Christmas has caught up on me far too quickly but as I write most of the family are currently travelling and will arrive in Galway sometime today, Saturday. We are excited about seeing them all, but most particularly our two small grandchildren who are flying in from Moscow. Over the past few days I have spent a great deal of time on the Internet monitoring flights across Europe to make sure that our sons and their wives and girlfriends and our grandchildren reached their destinations. I have monitored the progress of flights from Helsinki to Dublin. Bratislava to Dublin, Moscow to Dublin via Heathrow, and Edinburgh to Valencia via London Gatwick. The good news is that no one was delayed by more than an hour.
I am sure that the same concern was displayed one way or another in houses around the country. As recently as ten years ago the arrival of emigrants, returning home for Christmas, was the top story on most news bulletins in the days prior to Christmas. It still makes news but alongside a new phenomenon, that of immigrants going home to places such as Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovakia to be with their families at Christmas. We also have significant numbers of parents of immigrants arriving in Dublin from eastern Europe to spend Christmas in Ireland in the company of their sons and daughters. Although they will not arrive from Moscow until January 2, we are looking forward immensely to having our son Liam's mother-in-law and brother-in-law stay with us for a few days on what will be their first visit to Ireland. They will be here for the christening of Alina Maria on January 6.
The effects of the Celtic Tiger were very evident in Galway on Saturday morning. Pauline and I arrived in the Dunne's Stores car park at 8:10am and, while we did not have any difficulty in finding a parking spot, we took the first one we saw. The story was the same in the Galway Shopping Centre at 8:30am and when we reached the butchers from which we had ordered the turkey and ham there were 25 people ahead of us in the queue and it was no shorter when we left. The city centre was equally busy shortly after nine with long queues of cars waiting to enter the multi-storey car parks.

• Among the Christmas stories from different parts of the country we had:
  On Monday Dean Dr Houston McKelvey again took up position, in his black robes, outside St Anne's Cathedral in Belfast. In keeping with a tradition established by his predecessor he collected money for good causes throughout the week.
• Dublin was inundated with Santas on Wednesday when the students from Inchicore College of Education donned the appropriate gear to solicit funds for an organisation working with children of special needs.
• Students from Dublin's Belvedere College staged their annual sleep-out on the pavement at College Green, to raise funds for a number of selected charities.
• On Wednesday President Mary McAleese sent Christmas greeting to Irish troops serving overseas with the UN. Communication was via a live video link and some 200 relatives of the personnel involved were invited to Áras an Úachtaráin for the occasion.
• Civil Servants from the Department of the Taoiseach sang carols on the steps of Government Buildings on Thursday. To the fore was Mr Ahern himself, accompanied by Minister of State Tom Kitt.
• Overheard in a crowded Dunne's Stores on Thursday evening, "It was much easier in New York". For a significant number of Irish women (one report suggested that a recent Aer Lingus flight carried only a handful of men) Christmas shopping in New York has become a tradition. This year the drop in the value of the dollar made the visit even more attractive.

Haughey slated by Moriarty

The Moriarty report on the late Charles Haughey's financial affairs captured the total attention of the media. The report condemned the former Taoiseach on virtually all counts, accusing him of accepting payments of £9.12m between 1979 and 1996 in return for mostly unspecified favours. The sum involved is regularly converted into €45m "in today's money" but the Irish Independent went a stage further with the headline, "Haughey stole €45m".
While for the most part the tribunal failed to identify what Mr Haughey did in return for the money, Moriarty accused him of accepting £50k from a Saudi businessman in return for issuing 15 Irish passports to the man's Lebanese relatives. He was also accused of signalling that the Revenue Commissioners should reduce a potential tax bill for the Dunne family. The report went on to question the motives behind all Mr Haughey's political decisions.

• Allied Irish Bank was attacked for its firm denial to the Evening Press in 1983 that Mr Haughey had run up an overdraft of more than £1m. Various businessmen subsequently contributed to help bail the former Taoiseach out and the bank ultimately wrote off £393k.
• For many the most damning accusation was that Mr Haughey continued to seek donations to cover the cost of Brian Lenihan's liver transplant after sufficient was raised. The Tribunal claims that more than £265k was collected, but only £70k was required. Much of the excess, it was alleged, was "misappropriated.... for his personal use". The Lenihan family refuse to join in the condemnation, noting that their father's medical bills were taken care of in full. There was also an accusation that VHI broke its rules by contributing in excess of its guidelines towards the operation, which took place in the US.
• Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was mildly rebuked for signing blank cheques which allowed Mr Haughey to spend money from the leader's allowance account in whichever way he chose. It was this account which was used to pay personal bills at Dublin's Le Coq Hardi restaurant and to purchase Charvet shirts in Paris.
• Businessman Ben Dunne doesn't dispute the allegation that he gave more than £2m to Mr Haughey. He does insist, however, that he does not recollect making many of the payments. He has since repeatedly attacked the Tribunal for rejecting his evidence, for failing to seek information on his medical condition at the time, and for jumping to the wrong conclusion in relation to his meeting with Revenue chairman Séamus Paircéir. Mr Dunne reminded us that there was a time when he abused cocaine and he could not remember much of what he did while under the drug's influence.
• Financier Dermot Desmond also came out with all guns blazing when he attacked the tribunal. His financial contributions were more modest and made after Mr Haughey had left office. Despite the timing the tribunal believed it still had to investigate the transactions. It also rejected the claim that the money constituted a loan. Mr Desmond issued a statement in which he said, "I would like to thank the tribunal for exonerating me and finding that I received no favours from Charlie Haughey. I am sure the taxpayers are thrilled at the nine years and millions of euros in verifying the information which I issued in press statements in January 1998". Elsewhere he suggested that the legal team involved would have been fired long ago if they had worked in the private sector. The "delays" and "massive costs" involved were "inexcusable".
• The Haughey family described the report's findings as "perverse"; they particularly took exception to the claims about the Brian Lenihan Fund, the relationship with Ben Dunne and allegations about passports. They repeated the claim that the £50k paid by Sheikh Mahmoud Fustok was for the purchase of a yearling horse.
• Fianna Fáil politicians for the most part said nothing; Taoiseach Bertie Ahern regretted signing blank cheques and noted that he had initiated new systems leading to much tighter financial controls.
• Some of Mr Haughey's friends have tried to offset the report's findings by recalling the positive aspects of his political career.
• Opposition politicians used phrases such as "damning indictment" as they tried to spread the blame as far as possible within the Fianna Fáil party.
• The media was almost unanimous in its outrage at the behaviour of the former Taoiseach. The only exception, if I heard him correctly on RTÉ television, was Irish Times columnist John Waters. He argued that the Tribunal produced little evidence to support its many allegations, relying instead on assumptions and hypotheses.

News from Ireland - Week-ending December 23, 2006

The Christmas spirit of goodwill was evident on the streets of Ireland in the past week but, while the media did find space for occasional feel-good articles appropriate to the season, most attention was paid to hard and often unpleasant news stories. We had another gangland murder in the early hours of Monday and would have had more if the gunmen had their way. Once again the victim was an innocent man caught up in someone else's feud.
The official response to the recent spate of lawlessness continued to be debated but took a new turn when a Supreme Court judge responded to the criticism directed at the judiciary. That was quickly followed by the majority of senior judges delivering what was seen as a childish snub to Minister for Justice Michael McDowell.
The week's big story took no account of Christmas. On Tuesday Justice Michael Moriarty delivered his report on the financial affairs of the late Charles Haughey. While there was little new in it, the media saw it as an official imprimatur on all the unsavoury rumours that surrounded the former Taoiseach.
Nowhere was the Christmas spirit seen better than in the country's airports, that was if the focus was kept on the many emotional reunions in the arrival halls. The story was different for some of those leaving the country, particularly if they were heading for England or using a London airport as a transit point for another destination. The persistent fog at Heathrow created many problems here

S P O R T

Rugby
Heineken European Cup
........SU Agen 13........Leinster 25
........Munster 32 ........Cardiff Blues 18
........Ulster 29........London Irish 13
European Challenge Cup Pool Four
........Montpellier 35........Connacht 22
AIB All-Ireland League Division One
........Ballymena 29........Terenure C. 10
........Buccaneers 8........Garryowen 6
........Clontarf 26........Blackrock C. 22
........Dungannon 25........UCD 24
........Lansdowne 17........Galwegians 16
........UL Bohemians 15........Belfast quins 9
........Cork Con. 17........Shannon 17
........Dolphin 19........St Mary's C. 13
Sports Shorts
Soccer: Galway United are the main beneficiaries after the FAI unveiled the 12 teams that will make up the new National League Premier Division, to replace the Eircom League as the league comes under the governance of the IFA. The 12 teams making up the new top flight includes the top ten teams in last year's Premier Division: Shelbourne, Derry City, Cork City, Drogheda United, Sligo Rovers, UCD, St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Longford Town and Bray Wanderers; First Division champions Shamrock Rovers; and Galway United. Waterford United and Dundalk were the main losers. Waterford lost their premier division status despite having a better recent record than Galway, while Dundalk were rated 12th in the country after finishing second in the First Division, above Galway, and winning their play-off against Waterford. But the teams were judged on their league standings for the past five years and on the structure of the club off the field – finances, fan base, facilities, youth structure, etc. There is no appeals process in the decision, but Dundalk are reportedly seeking legal advice as to their options.

Golf: European number one Pádraig Harrington finished eighth in a 16-strong field in the Target World Challenge, at the Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California. His opening round of 75 gave him a mountain to climb and although he finished on five-under this was 11 behind runaway winner Tiger Woods, who also hosted the tournament.

Following the success of September's Ryder Cup, another prestigious international golf tournament has been awarded to Ireland. The 2011 Solheim Cup, essentially the ladies' equivalent to the Ryder Cup featuring Europe and the United States, will be held in Killeen Castle in Co. Meath. The Jack Nicklaus-designed course is still under construction.
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Weather

It started out another wet and windy week until the winds eased on Thursday. We continued to get some very heavy showers but things looked better on Saturday with bright sunshine as I drove north from Galway. Before reaching Donegal town it had darkened over and from there to Moville we experienced a number of downpours and a few sunny spells. Sunday's occasional showers didn't amount to much.

It seems we are in for a change in the weather. While some parts may have the odd shower today, after that it will remain dry until late Thursday at the earliest. We should also have long bright periods after overnight fog clears. Nights are also expected to be frosty.

Latest Temperatures: Day 9C (48F).................Night 4C (39F)

Business News

• It was claimed at the first National Payments Conference in this country that Ireland is lagging behind its neighbours by the slow rate of movement towards a cashless society. It seems that we are much more likely to make purchases with cash and, at a time when most modern economies are abandoning them, we still use cheques regularly. The conference was told that by retaining these antiquated practices we are losing money on a grand scale. It was suggested that one reason for the slow adoption of credit cards is the government's decision to impose stamp duty on all cards.
• Revenue has published its latest quarterly list of tax defaulters who between them had to pay €31.6m in back taxes, interest and penalties. Of the 141 names on the list the one that stands out is that of Anthony Fogarty of Arklow. He had to come up with €2.75m while his company, P. Boland hardware merchants, was liable for a further €2.25m. Others caught for more than €1m were: Thomas Carroll, a retired optician from Roebuck, Dublin (€1.72m); Michael Keane, a company director from Ballsbridge, Dublin (€1.02m); Séamus Quinn, a retired company director and farmer from Enniscrone, Co. Sligo (€1.82m); Frederick Shekleton, a farmer from Dromconrath, Co. Meath, (€1.5m); and Peter Sweeney Snr, a farmer and potato merchant from Newcastle, Co. Dublin (€1.29m). When the value of unpublished settlements is included the total amount recovered during the quarter was €171m. The full list can be seen at http://www.revenue.ie/publications/lists/def2-7-06.pdf

Deaths

• John Brown, a developer from Rostellan, near Whitegate in Co. Cork, died last Saturday while working on a site he owned at Shangarry. The father of four was laying pipes in a ten-foot deep trench when the sides collapsed on him. Both the Gardaí and the Health and Safety Authority are investigating the accident.
• A 41-year-old man died on Saturday afternoon when he fell while roofing a farmhouse near Cahirciveen, Co. Kerry.
• The funeral took place on Tuesday of murdered Kilkenny postmaster Alan Cunniffe. As a mark of respect all post offices in the country closed from noon until 1:00pm and all postal workers observed two minutes' silence at noon. Ten days ago Mr Cunniffe (32) was shot in the stomach when he confronted a gunman who had just robbed his sub post office at John's Green in the city. A Chinese national, who was arrested nearby, was later charged with murder and remanded in custody.
• Gardaí investigating the murder of Mr Cunniffe have appealed for anyone who travelled all or part of the journey from Dublin to Kilkenny on the Bus Éireann Expressway coach on December 8, the day of the killing, to contact them.
• State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy carried out a post-mortem on the body of 19-year-old Ronan Halloran which was taken from Galway Docks on Tuesday afternoon. Mr Halloran, from Shrule, Co. Mayo, had come into the city with friends on Sunday night but became separated from them after they had been harassed by another group in Eyre Square.
• Gardaí in Co. Galway are seeking help in identifying the body of a man who was found at Lough Inagh Valley near Recess in Connemara. It appears that the man had been hill-walking and died from natural causes. His body was badly decomposed and could have been lying there since August. The man is described as being 35 to 50 years of age, 5ft 6ins to 5ft 11ins tall. He was wearing a yellow waterproof jacket, dark navy shirt, orange jumper with a Norwegian Flag and blue denim jeans.
• A further three of the previous week's road victims were named on Monday. The motorcyclist who lost his life on Dublin's Phibsboro Road last Saturday was Slovakian Zoltan Szafko (31), who had been living on the Navan Road in Dublin. Later that day William Day (22), Newtownmountkennedy, Co. Wicklow died in a single-vehicle accident at Shankill, Co. Dublin. The victim of the following morning's hit-and-run incident in Co. Laois was named as Arunas Urbelis (30), a Lithuanian who had been living in Tullamore. Carl Conroy (17), from Robertstown, Co, Kildare was the driver who died last Sunday evening when his car plunged into the Grand Canal from the Allenwood to Prosperous road. Of the 11 people who died as a result of road accidents during that week five were from overseas – one from England and four from eastern Europe.
• Frank Long (59), from Roches Buildings in Cork city, was fatally injured shortly before 5:30pm on Monday when he was struck by a van, while crossing the road at Farnanes on the Cork-Macroom road.
• A Polish man in his 20s was killed early on Wednesday when two trucks coming from the Limerick direction collided on the N7, before the Plunkett Street roundabout, in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. The victim was a passenger in one of the trucks.
• Patrick Cox (17) lost his life shortly before 9:00pm on Saturday when the car he was driving collided with a truck near his home at Arva, Co. Cavan.
• A 26-year-old man died in a two-car collision in Bruff, Co. Limerick, shortly before 10:00am on Sunday.

Property

Paul Appleby, Director of Corporate Enforcement, has warned owners of flats that their properties could be devalued if proper maintenance and management is not carried out. The Director's office has issued a draft guide for the management of apartment complexes, the failure to comply with which could lead to companies being struck off; a number have already been removed and a further 75 are under threat.

Entertainment

Country singer "Big Tom" McBride was readmitted to hospital last weekend, a fortnight after he had been treated for a heart attack. According to his family, the second hospital admission was to monitor the success of the singer's earlier surgery.

Education

Minister for Education Mary Hanafin announced last Sunday that €544m will be spent on next year's school building programme. More than half the total will fund new schools and extensions to existing schools, while some €100m will be allocated to a summer works scheme which will allow repairs and maintenance work on around 1,000 schools. The end result will be 15,000 places in new schools and 45,000 places in extensions and refurbished classrooms.

Speaking at the conclusion of a four-month period of studying at NUI Galway, actor Martin Sheen referred to the period as "the most extraordinary adventure". The star of "Apocalypse Now" said he had always dreamt of returning to his mother's native country to study, having never attended university. Speaking on Monday, prior to most of the week's violence, the actor commented, "I have never felt more at home. Ireland to me is the safest place on earth".

Conservation & The Environment

The Government has decided that 16 Moore Street in central Dublin should be listed as a National Monument. The modest red brick house briefly became the headquarters for the 1916 Rising after the leaders were forced to vacate the GPO. It was in this house that Pádraig Pearse wrote the surrender document.

Results of the latest survey from Irish Business Against Litter shows that the situation is improving and that Irish litter levels are now close to the European average. Fermoy was declared the cleanest town in Ireland, followed by Dundalk, Greystones, Wexford and Youghal (joint fourth) and Galway. In all 26 towns were considered Litter-Free, 20 were Moderately Littered and three had a Serious Litter Problem. That left four Litter Blackspots, with Dublin at the bottom of the list, below Maynooth, Naas and Navan.

A National University Ireland, Galway postgraduate student has discovered heavy metal contamination in South Park in the Claddagh area of Galway city. The park, often referred to as The Swamp, was reclaimed some 40 years ago and prior to that it was used as a landfill site. The council has warned people not to eat shellfish collected from the Claddagh area until tests have been completed.

Residents of Kildimo, Co. Limerick have, for some months, been at odds with their county council over the future of their water supply. They are happy with it as it is, while the council wants to connect it to the supply from the River Deel which the residents claim is polluted. Council workmen moved in, in the early hours of Tuesday to connect the local supply from Bleach Lough. Residents, however, quickly organised and disrupted the work.

A High Court ruling that the State could not refuse to grant a diving licence in respect of the RMS Lusitania is to be appealed to the Supreme Court. F. Gregg Bemis, the present owner of the vessel, which was torpedoed in 1915, had applied for a licence for a research expedition but the State is arguing that the expedition involves excavation rather than merely research.

The Irish Abroad

• Pat McDonagh, the owner of the Supermac's chain of fast-food restaurants, has won his claim against Kevin Blair, president of the US-based Claddagh chain of restaurants, of which he is a major backer. The settlement of $2m in compensatory and punitive damages refers to a sum of $20m given to Claddagh which Mr McDonagh claims was a loan rather than an investment.
• The man who pushed John Curran (52) in front of a London Underground train in July pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The Dungarvan, Co. Waterford man was returning from work and was standing on the crowded platform of Highbury and Islington station on the Victoria line when Mehmet Bala (20) pushed him in front of an incoming train. Doctors confirmed that Bala had been suffering from mental illness.

Travel & Tourism

Preliminary talks have taken place between officials of Cork City Council and the Railway Procurement Agency with a view to establishing a light rail system for the city. A feasibility study is to be carried out on the project, which would be completed in three phases beginning with a line from Ballincollig to Blackrock and Mahon; a feasibility study has already commenced on a water bus service for the River Lee.

If there is no multilateral deal between the EU and the US within the next few weeks Minister for Transport Martin Cullen has said the Government will look for a bilateral agreement with Washington. The Minister will await the outcome of a January meeting between the EU and the US on the "open skies" policy. The Government is anxious to negotiate additional US destinations for Aer Lingus.

When the Dublin Port Tunnel opens on Wednesday access will be confined to trucks. The authorities want to assess the impact of the change to existing traffic flows. A review will take place in mid-January and cars may then be allowed to use it.

Health

• The terms of settlement in the action taken by the family of a woman who committed suicide in Limerick Regional Hospital include an apology from the HSE and the payment of a six-figure sum. Anne O'Rahilly (21), of Adare, Co. Limerick, was admitted to the hospital in September 2002 in a suicidal state and committed suicide a few hours later. The Health Service Executive issued the unreserved apology, saying that the care given to Ms O'Rahilly fell below acceptable standards.
• Wednesday's RTÉ news gave prominence to the suspension in late October of three nurses at Cork University Hospital. It is alleged that, as a prank, they squirted a hand-washing solution at a colleague who was leaving to work in Australia. The incident left the young nurse with a serious eye injury, although she has now recovered and is in Australia.

Politics & Politicians

• For more than a week now different sections of the media have been telling us that a report from the Moriarty Tribunal is imminent. This will focus on former Taoiseach Charles Haughey's dealings with businessmen. Some journalists suggest that the late Mr Haughey will be severely criticised, while others suggest that the report will largely absolve him of serious impropriety.
• Last Sunday Taoiseach Bertie Ahern urged Sinn Féin to call an ardfheis as soon as possible to obtain the grass roots approval necessary for the party to support the PSNI. Such support is one of the DUP's prerequisites for a power-sharing executive. Another area of contention between the DUP and Sinn Féin is the devolution of responsibility for justice and policing. A transition date is a prerequisite for Sinn Féin while the DUP wants responsibility to remain at Westminster, lest Sinn Féin ever have any direct influence over policing. A suggested compromise of reserving this portfolio for either the SDLP or the UUP has now been rejected out of hand by Sinn Féin Justice spokesman Gerry Kelly.
• MEP Marian Harkin announced on Monday that she will not seek re-election to the Dáil in next year's general election. Currently Ms Harkin represents the Sligo-Leitrim constituency as an Independent but says she believes she can be more effective by focusing on her role as MEP for the North and West constituency.
• The Labour Party has confirmed that Nicky Kelly will join outgoing TD Liz McManus as a Dáil candidate in the Wicklow constituency. Less than a month ago Mr Kelly was fined €730 for careless driving (he caused a collision by ignoring a stop sign), and for driving without insurance or motor tax. He also has a drink-driving conviction.
• As was widely predicted, Seán Haughey was appointed Minister of State for Education in succession to Síle de Valera who stood down on Friday. The son of former Taoiseach the late Charles Haughey, the 45-year-old career politician has represented Dublin North Central since 1992. Prior to that he spent five years in the Seanad.

Employment & Industrial Relations

After months of stalemate, management at Shannon Airport has presented to unions what it terms "final" cost-cutting proposals aimed at reducing the overmanning at the airport and saving some €10m per year. The plan calls for more than 200 voluntary redundancies, coupled with increased flexibility in work practices and rosters from those who remain behind. In the new environment the aircraft and ground catering division will be outsourced and franchises brought in. The total cost of the restructuring package is estimated at around €35m. Those opting for redundancy will receive between seven and ten weeks' per year of service, to a maximum of 145 weeks. Staff aged over 55 can opt for early retirement while additional incentives will be aimed at those over 60. Employees choosing to remain will receive a €10k lump sum, presumably in return for the increased flexibility demanded. Unions are expected to ballot their members on the proposals over the coming weeks.

The Courts

• President Mary McAleese will be asked to appoint nine new judges in a bid to reduce waiting periods for cases to be heard. Two will be assigned to the High Court, two to the Circuit Court and the remainder to the District Court; the president has already sworn in two new High Court judges. Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has yet to nominate the new judges.
• Imposing a seven-year sentence on William O'Brien (21) of Tralee, Co. Kerry for a serious sexual assault, Justice Paul Carney suspended the final three years due to a number of factors, including O'Brien's confession. O'Brien, who had consumed beer and cannabis prior to the attack, was accompanied by his father when he gave himself up to gardaí. Describing the 2004 assault as an "isolated incident", Justice Carney ordered that O'Brien be placed on the sex offenders' register but said he saw no need for post-release supervision.
• Judge James O'Connor was given quite a bit of publicity over remarks made in the course of a trial at Tralee District Court on Wednesday. On convicting Polish national Robert Kwiatkowski (25) of handling a stolen laptop computer, Judge O'Connor gave him 48 hours to leave the country or face a seven-month jail sentence. In doing so he said, "Don't come in here looking for asylum, or whatever status is going, and within ten days be engaged in criminal activity".
• An application by a lesbian couple to have their Canadian marriage recognised in this country has been rejected by the High Court. Dr Katherine Zappone, a public policy consultant from the US, and Dr Anne Louise Gilligan, an academic, had argued that the failure to recognise their marriage breached their rights under the Irish Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. Justice Elizabeth Dunne did not agree, ruling that marriage, as defined in the Constitution, clearly referred to the union of a man and a woman. The couple expressed disappointment with the outcome and will take time to consider whether they should appeal to the Supreme Court.
• Joseph Keane (18) was charged in Limerick District Court on Wednesday with the murder of Darren Coughlan (18) of Moyross, Limerick in November of last year. Keane is the son of crime boss Kieran Keane who was murdered in 2003. Two other 18-year-olds have already been charged with murdering Mr Coughlan, who died in hospital some days after being beaten by a gang of young people.
• Hassan Hassan (38), the Lebanese partner of murder vicgim Baiba Saulite, appeared before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Saturday. He was supposed to be sentenced for abducting his two children from their mother and taking them to Syria. They were later returned to Ireland. Sentencing was adjourned until next week and Hassan was returned to prison where he is serving a sentence for car theft.
• Mark Kavanagh (34) from Dundalk appeared before Dublin District Court on a charge that he caused a breach of the peace. He had earlier entered the headquarters of the Football Association of Ireland, poured petrol over himself and threatened to set the place alight. He was protesting at the FAI's decision to reject Dundalk as a Premier Division club.

Northern News

• It was widely reported on Monday that dissident republicans have been planning to kill Gerry Adams and that the increased security provided for the Sinn Féin leader had forced the abandonment of at least one attempt on his life. For some republicans Mr Adams is now considered a traitor for his willingness to talk to the British and participate in a power-sharing assembly at Stormont. The fact that he may soon lead a party which acknowledges the legitimacy of, and supports, the PSNI is a step too far for many.
• Two boys aged 13 have appeared in Belfast juvenile court accused of rape, attempted rape and making threats to kill. The two allegedly attacked a young woman as she walked through Woodvale Park on Monday. The boys were also charged with stealing £40 from the woman at knifepoint and with causing her grievous bodily harm.
• The North's police ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, has found no evidence to support the allegation that the British intelligence services, in their anxiety to protect an informer, could have prevented the shooting of Stephen Restorick, the last British soldier to be killed by the IRA. During her investigation Ms O'Loan established that the car used by the killers had been under surveillance although documentation relating to the surveillance operation had disappeared. Lance Bombardier Restorick (23) was shot dead by an IRA sniper, while on checkpoint duty at Bessbrook in sough Armagh.
• Robbers have been targeting pensioners in their homes with alarming regularity. Wednesday's newspapers reported on five such incidents which took place in Co. Antrim over a five-hour period on Monday. Thieves terrorised elderly people in their homes in Ballinderry, Glengormley and Crumlin. The PSNI believe the incidents may be linked to similar incidents in Belfast and Co. Down during the previous week.
• The High Court in Belfast reversed an earlier decision and ruled that a prisoner on hunger strike need not be force-fed. The change came after a psychiatrist told the court that Belfast man Oswald Brown has no identifiable psychiatric condition and is capable of making rational decisions. Brown, who been on hunger strike for 58 days, was jailed for six years in 2001 after he was convicted of rape. He has always maintained his innocence.
• David McCartan (35) and his wife Geraldine (34), of Warrenpoint, Co. Down, on Friday appeared before Newry Magistrates Court charged with the murder of Mr McCartan's mother. Both have pleaded not guilty. Annie McCartan (75) was found dead in her Warrenpoint home in June of this year. She had been beaten and stabbed.
• On Tuesday a woman was killed in a road accident on the Glenshane Pass, Co. Derry, close to the Castledawson roundabout.
• Claire Wakeland (23) and Lisa McFerran (25), near neighbours from Rasharkin, Co. Antrim, were killed in a road accident near Portrush in the early hours of Saturday. The two women had alighted from a car on Ballybogey Road and were talking to the driver when the vehicle was struck by two other cars. Ms McFerran was the mother of two daughters, aged three and seven. Her brother was the partner of Ms Wakeland, who was brought up in England but had relatives in the area.
• A fund has been set up to raise the £200k needed to erect a life-size bronze sculpture of footballer George Best in his native Belfast. The fund patron is footballer David Healy and expressions of interest from sculptors are to be sought in the New Year.
• On Wednesday Gerry Adams led a Sinn Féin delegation at a meeting with PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde and other senior officers. The two men have met before but that was in London and this was considered groundbreaking as it took place at Stormont.
• Senior UUP politician Dermot Nesbitt (59) has announced that he is bowing out of politics. The MLA for South Down will not contest the next Assembly elections.
• Abandoning politics with almost immediate effect is the SDLP's Patricia Lewsley. She is currently MLA for Lagan Valley and a member of Lisburn council but has just been appointed Commissioner for Children and Young People.
• If we do have Assembly elections in March the Alliance candidate in South Belfast will be Anna Lo, the head of the Chinese Welfare Association.
• Since 2000 some 1,300 British soldiers have been found guilty of crimes in the North. Lady Hermon, UUP member for North Down, has called for a breakdown of the figures to reveal the kinds of crimes committed.
• Well-known Redemptorist priest Fr Bob McGoran (70), who was attached to the Clonard Monastery in Belfast, has died in hospital after a short illness.

Ireland Today: The latest rumour – which I hope isn't true

The many Polish people who arrived in Ireland in recent years have earned a reputation for politeness and hard work, and are probably the most popular of our immigrant communities. During the week I heard of a new type of Polish immigrant, a mafia-style operator who preys on his fellow countrymen by demanding a cut in their earnings, under threat of violence.

Bits and Pieces

• On Monday An Bord Pleanála opened the oral hearings relating to the appeal against the proposed redevelopment of the Lansdowne Road rugby ground. Most of the objections to the building of a new 50,000-seat stadium on the site are from local residents. The main complaint is about the height of the structure which will leave some houses in permanent shade; it is particularly close to one row of houses. Objectors questioned the right of the developers to annexe a stretch of the Dodder walkway and argued against the inclusion of conference facilities in the stadium.
• The parents and sisters of Siobhán Kearney, who was murdered at her Goatstown home in January of this year, held a vigil outside her home on Sunday night last. The 38-year-old mother of one was found in her bedroom with the cord of a vacuum cleaner around her neck. No one has been charged with the murder and the family called for the person responsible to go to the gardaí; there seems to be a chief suspect.
• In a report published on Monday, the Competition Authority has called for major changes in the governance of the legal profession. Structures and rules which inhibit competition were the main concern. To this end it called for an independent body to oversee the profession and an end to the current situation in which barristers and solicitors have their own self-regulation bodies. The report recommends the recognition of external bodies offering legal education and an end to the current monopoly which solicitors have in relation to the conveyancing of property. This report has been some years in preparation and it was claimed by both the legal profession and the Government that many of the recommendations are currently being implemented.
• Monday night's Prime Time programme on RTÉ questioned the ethics of estate agents and others in the property business. Examples were given of phantom bidders being invented to push up a house price to the figure which the potential purchaser is thought to be able to afford. One mortgage broker routinely informed estate agents of details of purchasers' financial circumstances. Some estate agents failed their clients by selling properties cheaply to "pet investors" in return for a commission. The programme led to Dáil questions and the Taoiseach revealing that legislation was being prepared to allow for the establishment of a regulatory body for estate agents. It was later alleged that the manipulative practices of auctioneers revealed in the Prime Time programme had not received much publicity in the newspapers because there is an "unhealthy relationship" between the two. This was the view of Labour leader Pat Rabbitte, speaking at a public debate on homelessness held in Trinity College Dublin on Wednesday.
• T.K. Whitaker, who was probably Ireland's best-known and most admired public servant, celebrated his 90th birthday during the week. The occasion was marked by President Mary McAleese who invited Mr Whitaker and his wife Mary to Áras an Úachtaráin for tea. The former secretary general of the Department of Finance and former governor of the Central Bank is generally credited, along with Taoiseach Seán Lemass, of transforming the Irish economy.
• The first 36 members of the new Garda Reserve force graduated on Thursday from the Garda College at Templemore, Co. Tipperary. Garda representative organisations had campaigned against the establishment of the new volunteer force but Minister for Justice Michael McDowell seems to have prevailed, as both the GRA and the AGSI have indicated that they will reluctantly work with the new recruits.
• On Wednesday and Thursday one of the talking points was the Irish Marine Search and Rescue Committee's public criticism of two surfers who refused to be rescued when they were in difficulty off the Cliffs of Moher on November 24. A rescue helicopter arrived at the scene and lowered its winchman to the surfers who, it is claimed, refused help when told that they would have to abandon their surfboards. The surfers eventually accepted help from a lifeboat crew. It is suggested that the matter may be referred to An Garda Síochána and that the surfers could end up in court where they could be fined up to €2k. The surfers have not been named but others have said in their defence that they didn't instigate the emergency call.
• Despite the high cost of child care in this country, women in Ireland are still having more children than those in other EU countries. The figures from the Central Statistics Office show that Irish women are having an average of 1.95 children, French women follow with 1.9, Finnish women are having 1.8 children and the Danish 1.78. This was just one of a number of statistics contained in a report entitled "Women and men in Ireland 2006". http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/women_and_men_in_ireland_2006.htm
• Áine Kilmartin (26) was in Portlaoise on Friday, handing out leaflets appealing for information which she hopes will lead to the arrest of the person or persons who murdered her mother 13 years ago. Marie Kilmartin (35) was last seen in the Co. Laois town on December 13, 1993 and her body was discovered in a remote bog some six months later. At the time Áine did not know that Marie was her mother as she had been adopted at birth within the extended Kilmartin family.
• National Lottery Winning Numbers:
  Wed: 6, 20, 26, 27, 34, 45 (9) - the jackpot of €2.60m was not won.
  Sat: 9, 16, 21, 24, 28, 40 (44) - the jackpot of €3.34m was not won.

Weather makes news

For some five weeks rain has fallen every day in many parts of the country, bringing flooding to low-lying areas. We have also been hit by a series of gales which have frequently disrupted travel.

• While visiting flooded farmland south of Athlone in the Shannon Callows during the week Irish Farmers' Association president Pádraig Walshe called for systematic drainage to be carried out in the area. The floods in the area are at their highest in a decade, according to local farmers. The town of Athlone was under flood alert but appears to have been spared.
• The recent gales have seen the islands off the coast of Co. Galway virtually cut off from the mainland. Only a handful of cargo and passenger vessels have been able to reach the Aran Islands and just one has berthed at Inishbofin in the past five weeks. The air service to Inis Mór has been also been grounded and some islanders were unable to make it back from the mainland.
• High speed ferry services on the Irish Sea have frequently remained tied up at the dockside, with passengers forced to use traditional ferries, although from time to time the storms also prevented them from going to sea.
• The heavy rain caused a landslide near the Gleniff Horseshoe in Co. Sligo, blocking part of a remote rural road.
• Some houses were flooded and at least one road impassable near The Neale, south of Ballinrobe in Co. Mayo. Flooding was also reported from Counties Clare, Kilkenny, and Cavan. Saturday's Irish Times carried a photograph of sheep in a snow covered Sally Gap in Co. Wicklow.

BUPA pulls out of Ireland

Medical insurance company BUPA announced on Thursday that it is pulling out of Ireland due to the insistence of the Government that it contributes to a risk equalisation fund which will subsidise rival VHI, which has an older membership profile. BUPA has stopped signing up new members and will not renew the policies of its 475,000 existing members, although they will have cover for the duration of their policies. The move will lead to the loss of 300 jobs, mostly in Fermoy, Co. Cork.
BUPA insists that it cannot trade profitably if the risk equalisation requirement remains. The Government points out that, when BUPA accepted the invitation to enter the Irish market ten years ago, it was fully aware that risk equalisation would be brought in at an appropriate time. When it was introduced, BUPA immediately challenged the decision in court and lost. It then entered negotiations with the Government but these negotiations broke down on Tuesday.
While BUPA argues that it could not sustain the losses arising from risk equalisation the Government consultants, Mercer, concluded that, although BUPA might incur losses in the short term, it would return to profitability. A VHI spokesman said he was disappointed at the BUPA decision and claimed that the company could have remained profitable. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern entered the fray, robustly dismissing BUPA's arguments and saying that the Government would not stand over a situation whereby one company enjoyed big profits by focusing on young healthy members while another was forced to increase premiums because it had a predominance of older members. It should be noted that, while BUPA had a younger membership, it did encourage older people to join at the same rates.
Some economists seemed to sympathise with BUPA MD Martin O'Rourke and blamed the Government for the debacle. Other observers said the rules were clear from day one, although they too bemoaned the departure of BUPA as it is accepted that it brought real competition to the sector. While this may not have resulted in lower prices, it probably limited the rate of increase and certainly introduced a greater range of options. There were also those who were more critical of BUPA, accusing it of only being interested in the high profits its younger members have delivered over the past ten years and of trying to blackmail the Government. Opposition politicians were in a quandary; they too believe in risk equalisation and in competition, so they simply blamed the Government for allowing the negotiations to fail. Members of BUPA seem to be backing the company and lay the blame squarely on Mary Harney.
It was reported on Friday that the Competition Authority will next month publish a report which calls for the break-up of VHI into two or more independent competing units. The only other independent medical insurance company in the country, the much smaller Vivas Health, has no intention of following in BUPA's footsteps. It will seek to reduce the amount due under risk equalisation and hopes to pick up as many BUPA clients as possible. A spokesman claims, however, that VHI, with its state protection, has an advantage over it. The Vivas website explains how easy it is to switch from one insurer to another, even for those receiving ongoing medical treatment.

New funding for care of elderly

Minister for Health Mary Harney has announced details of how the State proposes to take care of the elderly in the future. From January 1, 2008 all elderly people assessed as "high dependency" will be entitled to care in a nursing home, largely at State expense. All nursing home residents will, however, be required to contribute up to 80% of their disposable income. Where this does not meet the cost of the care, and it won't for those on the State pension, a further deduction will be made from those who can afford it. This will be based on the value of the person's house and will amount to 5% per year for a maximum of three years. This payment will only be demanded after death, on the disposal of the estate. Where a dependent relative continues to live in the house the payment will be deferred.
In making the announcement Ms Harney acknowledged that most elderly people prefer to remain in their own homes for as long as possible. To facilitate this she committed to improving the system of home care currently in place.
Ms Harney saw the proposals as a radical improvement on what exists today, where some people have their nursing home costs taken care of by the State while others have to sell their homes and depend on the generosity of relatives.
While many people welcomed the proposals as an important advance on the current inequitable situation, some sections of the media attacked Ms Harney, using the most intemperate language. The tabloid Irish Daily Star was criticised by politicians in the Seanad for its headline "Mary the Blood Sucker".

Pádraig Nally acquitted of manslaughter

After deliberating for more than two days a jury yesterday acquitted Pádraig Nally of manslaughter. The 62-year-old Co. Mayo farmer had admitted killing John "Frog" Ward (42) who had entered his remote farmhouse uninvited, not knowing that Mr Nally was in a nearby outhouse. What made the case particularly contentious was the level of violence used by Mr Nally and the fact that the dead man was a Traveller.
During the trial it was claimed that Mr Nally, who lived alone, had been living in real fear for many months as a result of a number of break-ins and thefts from his farm near the village of Cross. It was, however, not disputed that after firing one shot at Mr Ward, Mr Nally then beat the father of 11 with a stick before reloading his shotgun and firing after him as he tried to limp down the road.
Supporters of Mr Nally deny emphatically that the incident and verdict display a deep prejudice against Travellers and point to the fact that Mr Ward was a violent man with more than 80 convictions; a warrant was out for his arrest at the time of the incident in October 2004. Travellers and their support groups disagree. They maintain that, had a Traveller shot a member of the settled community in similar circumstances, he would have been convicted and jailed for life.
This trial was held in Dublin. An earlier trial which found Mr Nally not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter was heard in Mayo. He then spent 11 months in prison before his appeal was heard and a retrial ordered.
The verdict came as something of a surprise not least, it seems, to Mr Nally and his supporters. Afterwards he spoke briefly to reporters, thanking those who had supported him and to say, "I feel sorrow for the Ward family who have lost a father and are left with young children". Friday's newspapers gave the story enormous coverage, the tabloids enthusiastically applauding the outcome and the broadsheets taking a more balanced view. Mayo politicians mostly welcomed the verdict while they and others called for a change in the law so that people seen as defending their property would not go through the turmoil experienced by Mr Nally.

Man murdered in random attack in Co. Louth

The murders in Dublin diverted attention from an atrocity which took place in Co. Louth late on Tuesday night. In an act of random violence near Dromod, one man died and another was badly injured.
A drunken gang, thought to be members of the Travelling community, had hijacked a number of vehicles that night, slashing one car owner with a machete; he required 45 stitches to his arm. In a stolen people carrier they later rammed a car from behind at Upper Faughart. In the ensuing altercation the two occupants of the damaged car were attacked. Aidan Myers (37), from Cox's Demesne in Dundalk, died later in hospital while his friend, who was driving, was less seriously injured.
The gang went on to hijack at least one other vehicle north of the border but no one has been arrested, although at one stage they rammed a garda vehicle.
In the same area a day earlier, a man in his 30s was shot in the side while attending the funeral of a member of the Travelling community. The victim, from south Dublin, was admitted to hospital where his injuries were said not to be life-threatening. Gardaí recovered two firearms at the scene but no one was arrested. No one has suggested that this was connected with the following day's violent rampage.
Nor has any link been made publicly with another incident in the early hours of Saturday. At approximately 1:45am a car failed to stop for members of the Traffic Corps in Dundalk. The vehicle was followed onto the Armagh Road where it collided with a taxi. It then turned around and drove directly at the pursuing garda patrol car, damaging it before crashing a short time later at Faughart Lower.
The driver was arrested and later in the day Stephen Campbell (32), from Bessbrook, Co. Armagh appeared in Ardee District Court charged with drink driving, dangerous driving, and four alleged hit-and-run offences in Dundalk. He was also charged with failing to give a breath specimen.

Minister has advice for judiciary

A wave of revulsion swept the country in response to the killing of apprentice plumber Anthony Campbell. His family received messages of sympathy from total strangers, many doing so through radio phone-in programmes. The Government came in for criticism from all quarters. Opposition politicians said they were to blame for not investing in An Garda Síochána. In response Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said that the garda authorities had acknowledged that they had access to all the necessary manpower and he had a blank chequebook ready, if asked for additional resources.
The only group apart from the criminals to come in for criticism from all quarters was the judiciary. It was alleged that our judges were out of touch with reality and deliberately ignoring the wishes of the electorate, as expressed in a referendum, and of the Oireachtas. At the core of this criticism was the readiness with which judges allow criminals out on bail after they have been charged with serious crime. The Irish Independent claimed that the 23 associates of Martin Hyland who had been granted bail had faced "charges ranging from drug trafficking to firearms possession and armed robbery". It also quoted official figures which showed that criminals on bail last year were known to have been responsible for 5,456 additional offences, including 20 homicides. Paul Williams claimed that it is not unknown for a criminal to be brought before the courts for a crime committed while on bail and to again be granted bail and that this can happen repeatedly. The other issue on which the judges are seen to be letting the nation down is in their unwillingness to impose the mandatory minimum ten-years sentence on those caught with significant quantities of drugs. Most judges seem to view ten as the maximum and then look for reasons to reduce it.
In the Dáil on Thursday and at the Garda Training College in Templemore on Friday, Mr McDowell criticised those members of the judiciary who fail to apply the bail laws as they now stand. In a referendum the people approved a change in the Constitution which allowed the Oireachtas to tighten the law so that those considered likely to commit further crimes could be remanded in custody. The Minister was concerned that, although the District Court regularly refused bail, this was frequently reversed by the High Court. Lawyers, he said, appeared to wait until particular judges were sitting before applying for bail in the upper court.
He also referred to the disregard judges have for the legislation which calls for mandatory ten-year sentences for major drug criminals. In exceptional circumstances a judge is entitled to impose a lesser sentence but Mr McDowell, not unreasonably, argued that 80% of cases cannot be considered exceptional.

Yet another gangland killing

Wednesday night saw yet another gangland killing in Dublin, with the shooting dead of a 25-year-old man in the vicinity of the International Financial Services Centre. Shortly before 9:00pm two men in balaclavas fired a number of shots at Gerard Batt Byrne as he stood at the door of the Mace Supermarket on Lower Mayor Street, close to the National College of Ireland. He was later pronounced dead at the Mater Hospital.
Thursday morning's newspapers described the victim as a violent criminal who had been involved in a number of armed robberies and who had threatened to kill specific members of An Garda Síochána. Most recently he was arrested in a stolen car on his way, gardaí believe, to carry out a contract killing.
In the immediate aftermath of these murders the Garda Press Office announced that, with effect from Friday, the Organised Crime Unit was being strengthened with the addition of 20 new members, bringing its headcount up to 70. The unit, it was stated, would work closely with other specialist units in mounting an intensified campaign against the country's main criminal gangs.

Another innocent caught in the crossfire

Gardaí in Dublin are investigating a double murder which occurred in Finglas before 10:00am on Tuesday. Responding to an emergency call, officers entered a house at Scribblestown Park and discovered the bodies of two males. Both had been shot. The victims were later named as leading drug dealer Martin "Marlo" Hyland (39) and Anthony Campbell (20) who, as has been said repeatedly, "was in the wrong place at the wrong time".
Mr Campbell, the eldest of four children, lived with his parents at St Michan's Flats in Dublin's north inner city. He was an apprentice plumber who had been dropped at the house at around 9:00am while his employer went off to collect some materials. When the man returned to the house, shortly before 10:00am, he discovered his apprentice dead on the ground floor and Mr Hyland, who had been asleep in an upstairs bedroom, had been shot six times. It appears that those who wanted the drug dealer dead thought nothing of killing the young apprentice to make sure he would never act as a witness.
Martin Hyland had been at the centre of a major garda operation aimed at tackling serious crime in north Dublin. Over the past few months Operation Oak had proved to be particularly successful, with the seizure of drugs valued at €23m, the recovery of a number of firearms and the arrest of 30 people, including Hyland's second in command. At least 24 of those arrested have been charged in the courts but 23 are currently out on bail.
Hyland has been described as possibly the country's biggest drug dealer. Five days before he died he was warned by gardaí that some of his many enemies were planning to kill him. For that reason he was staying at different addresses and, for the previous few nights, he had slept in his niece's house at Scribblestown Park where his enemies caught up with him. The niece had been taking her five-year-old son to school at the time of the shooting.
There is a widespread theory that Hyland was killed as a result of the recent garda success in arresting his accomplices and intercepting his drug shipments. It is thought that some of his erstwhile associates considered him a liability and decided to kill him.
Once Hyland was dead journalists had much to say about him, none of it in any way complimentary. I had never heard of him, apparently because those journalists who knew his history had all been threatened with libel suits if they published anything untoward about him. According to Sunday World crime correspondent Paul Williams, Hyland was a violent and ruthless man who carried out a number of murders and organised others, "five or six in the past year". He accused him of being the person who arranged the murder of Latvian mother-of-two Baiba Saulite. He went further and claimed that the first two people sent to carry out the killing came across Ms Saulite with her two children and couldn't bring themselves to shoot her. Hyland, it is claimed, then gave the job to others who would have no such qualms.
Mr Williams was being interviewed on Joe Duffy's Liveline programme on RTÉ Radio 1. He used the occasion to attack the legal profession, saying that Hyland and others like him have access to the country's best lawyers who are totally unconcerned about the consequences of ensuring their clients remain free to continue with their murderous activities. He went on to claim that a Sunday World undercover team had been monitoring Hyland and had twice seen him in the company of Dessie O'Hare in recent weeks; the two, he said, met in a hotel in Swords one week before Baiba Saulite was murdered. If true this could have serious consequences for the former INLA man who was considered one of the most vicious paramilitaries at the time of his arrest in 1987. He served 18 years of a 40-year sentence and one of the conditions of his extended temporary release is that he does not associate with criminals.

News from Ireland - Week-ending December 17, 2006

We have just been through what was one of the most dramatic and tragic weeks of recent times. Dublin's criminals were again to the fore as they killed each other but they also killed an innocent young man doing an honest day's work. In Co. Louth another innocent man was murdered, this time by drunken thugs who went on a car-hijacking spree on both sides of the border. In the fall-out from the gangland killings Minister for Justice Michael McDowell took the unusual step of urging the country's judges to apply the law in the manner prescribed by the Oireachtas.
Also during the week a Co. Mayo farmer who had been charged with the manslaughter of an intruder was found not guilty. The verdict became a major talking point and was viewed as causing further divisions between the Travelling and settled communities.
On Thursday medical insurer BUPA announced that it was pulling out of Ireland. That became another major controversy as it will leave 300 people without jobs and some 475,000 will have to make alternative arrangements when their current policies expire.
Prior to all of the above occurring I was convinced that my lead story would be the radical new arrangements Minister for Health Mary Harney is preparing for the care of the elderly.

S P O R T

G.A.A.
AIB Munster Club SFC Final
........Dr Croke’s 2-05........The Nire 0-08
........(Kerry) .......................(Waterford)

Rugby
Heineken European Cup
........Leinster 26...............SU Agen 10
........Cardiff Blues 12........Munster 22
........London Irish 29........Ulster 13

European Challenge Cup Pool Four
........Connacht 26..............Montpellier 13

AIB All-Ireland League Division One
........Ballymena 19............Dolphin 12
........Belfast quins 16........Clontarf 27
........Galwegians 18..........Buccaneers 18
........Garryowen 16...........Lansdowne 15
........St Mary’s C. 13..........Cork Con. 24
........Terenure C. 13..........Shannon 27
........UL Bohemians 21.....Dungannon 22
........UCD 21....................Blackrock C. 29

Sports Shorts
Golf: Former winners Paul McGinley and Pádraig Harrington failed to spark in the World Golf Championships World Cup in Barbados. The pair finished on nine-under tied for 12th place, seven shots behind winners Germany.

Meanwhile Irishman Keith Nolan missed out on a USPGA Tour card when he finished outside the top 30, in 46th place, in the qualifying tournament during the week.

Soccer: Soon after resigning as manager of Shelbourne, Pat Fenlon took up the management post at Derry City, which was managerless after Stephen Kenny's move to Scottish club Dunfermline.

Snooker: Dubliner Ken Doherty eased into the third round of the Maplin UK Championships in York with a 9-1 win over Mike Dunn on Sunday. He faces Joe Perry in the last 16. Irish players Joe Swail and Graham Greene were both eliminated at the second round, by Stephen Maguire and Mark Williams respectively.

Weather

While there were periods of calm, gaps in the showers, and the sun shone for much of Friday, the overall picture of the past week was one of wind and rain. Sunday turned out to be the most miserable day of the week with persistent rain and strong winds.
The forecast for the coming week doesn't promise much improvement. Wind and rain will again predominate although it will be colder on Monday and Tuesday. There is a possibility that it might improve by the weekend
Latest Temperatures: Day 12C (54F).................Night 5C (41F)

Business News

• Ryanair has set a third deadline, December 22, for Aer Lingus shareholders to accept its €1.49bn takeover bid for the national carrier. When the second deadline expired on Monday the owners of some five million shares had taken up the offer, but this amounted to just one percent of the total, bringing the Ryanair holding to more than 26%.
• Croke Park was the chosen venue for the launch by Microsoft of its new operating system, Windows Vista, and the simultaneous launch of Microsoft Office Suite 2007 and Exchange Server 2007. Some 3,000 business personnel attended the event at which the keynote address was given by former US astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon.

Deaths

Galway loses popular councillor and former mayor

• Galway city's longest serving councillor and three times Mayor, Councillor Michael Leahy died ten days ago after a short illness. A native of Limerick, he came to Galway in the 1950s and served on the council from 1979 until his death at the age of 74. I had the good fortune to get to know Councillor Leahy and it was refreshing, in an age when politicians are often viewed with cynicism, to find a man who was clearly in politics solely to serve the people. Michael was also a man who was rarely discussed without someone in the group referring to him as a "thorough gentleman", or words to that effect. I would like to offer my sympathy to his wife Bridie and their three sons and a daughter.

Road deaths in Cos. Dublin, Meath, Sligo, Cork, Tipperary, Offaly and Kildare

• A 30-year-old Moldovan woman, who fell from her bicycle in Dublin last Saturday afternoon, died in the Mater Hospital on Monday night. The accident happened at the junction of Conyngham Road, Parkgate Street and Infirmary Road. An 11-year-old child being carried on the bicycle was uninjured. While reports fail to say exactly what happened, the Sunday Independent says that a file is being sent to the DPP.


• On Tuesday afternoon a man in his mid-70s died when he was involved in a two-car collision in Co. Meath, on the Kells to Cavan road. The victim was later named as Patrick Taggart, from Carlanstown, Co. Meath.


• Pat Carney, an elderly man from Baltra, Co. Sligo, died shortly after 5:30pm on Wednesday when he was struck by a car while walking near his home, on the N59 Ballina to Sligo road.


• On Thursday afternoon Mary Murray (45) was fatally injured when the car she was driving collided with another car near her home outside Schull, Co. Cork.


• Also on Thursday Lily Hastings-Bass (20), from England but with an address in Rathgar, died in hospital as a result of injuries sustained in a hit and run incident on the night of November 26. She was crossing Rathgar Road in Dublin when she was knocked down by a small dark blue, two-door hatchback-type car which failed to stop.


• At 6:00pm on Thursday Bridget O'Connell (79), from Ballyquin, Co. Waterford, was killed when she was struck by a car on the Pill Road, Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary.


• Dace Leisavniece (23), with an address in Trim, Co. Meath, died in a two-car crash at Bellinter, Navan, Co. Meath on Friday evening. The Latvian native was a back-seat passenger in one of the cars.


• A male motorcyclist lost his life at around 4:00am on Saturday when he collided with a car on Dublin's Phibsboro Road.


• That night at around 9:00pm a man in his 20s died when he lost control of his car on the M11 at Shankill, Co. Dublin, and crashed into a pole.


• A man in his 30s died in Tullamore General Hospital yesterday a short time after he was found injured at the side of the road outside the Co. Offaly town.


• Yesterday evening a 17-year-old youth lost his life when the car he was driving went out of control and fell into the Grand Canal near Skew Bridge, on the Allenwood to Prosperous road in Co. Kildare.

Property

• The Royal Dublin Hotel on O'Connell Street is to close on January 5 following its purchase by developer Joe O'Reilly. Mr O'Reilly has also been named by Dublin City Council as the preferred developer for the adjacent Carlton Cinema site if it can be compulsorily acquired by the council.

Conservation & The Environment

• The development company which demolished the former Presentation Convent in Terenure last month has been ordered by the city council to halt work on the three-acre site and to reinstate the 19th century building. Kimpton Vale Ltd bought the site for over €15m in October last, at which time it had been described as being in good condition. The council was actively considering making it a protected structure at the time, but bulldozers moved in at 7:00am on Saturday November 4.

The Irish Abroad

• The family of Christy McGrath (29) have been unable to establish the reason for the delay in repatriating him from a prison in England to a prison in this country. In 2001 the Carrick-on-Suir jockey was convicted of the murder of a man in Co. Durham, although he has always maintained his innocence. In July his application to be repatriated was approved but no one in authority is willing to explain why he remains in England.
• While in London on Monday Taoiseach Bertie Ahern attended a reception in his honour hosted by the mayor of Kensington and Chelsea Tim Ahern. While there he also met the mayoress, the mayor's daughter Roberta, who is known to her friends as "Bertie". Mayor Ahern's family came from Cork.
• The Irish Times reported in some detail on a story about Tipperary man Paul O'Sullivan, which is receiving considerable attention in South Africa. Mr O'Sullivan had been a successful head of security at the country's airports until he was suddenly dismissed after he terminated a security contract with a private company. He blames the dismissal on South African police chief Jackie Selebi who, he claims, had links with the company which lost the contract. Since then Mr O'Sullivan has made some apparently well-substantiated allegations about Mr Selebi's links with the criminal underworld. He recently accused one of Mr Selebi's acknowledged criminal friends of involvement in a high-profile murder and this man has been arrested by South Africa's elite Scorpions police force, which does not come under the control of Mr Selebi.
• Sligo men Vincent Sweeney (44), of Ballytivnan, and Robert McGowan (38), of the Cartron estate, have been jailed for 16 and 18 years respectively after being found guilty at Canterbury Crown Court of smuggling drugs worth some £2.6m into Britain. The pair were intercepted at Dover in March of this year, when 600kg of cannabis and 25kg of heroin were found concealed in the horsebox in which they were travelling. Sweeney, it seems, was drafted in as he was involved with horses. Minister for Justice Michael McDowell was impressed with the severity of the sentences – they are probably twice as long as would be imposed by the courts here – and called on judges here to "get real" when dealing with drug criminals.

Travel & Tourism

• Preliminary figures released by Tourism Ireland reveal that a record 8.8 million people will have visited the island of Ireland by the end of the year, an increase of 8.5%. The majority, some five million, came from Britain but the 2.3 million visitors from mainland Europe was an increase of 17%. An 11% jump in the numbers coming from North America brought that total up to 1.1 million, breaking the one million barrier for the first time since 2000. Some 7.4 million visited the Republic while the North had 1.8 million visitors. Just 4.1 million of the total came here on holiday.
• Minister for Transport Martin Cullen officially opened a new section of the M6 between Kinnegad and Tyrrellspass in Co. Westmeath, on Tuesday. The new 19km stretch of road is part of the Dublin-Galway motorway, and the next section to Kilbeggan is due to open next year, with Athlone to be added in 2008. Travellers to Galway from Shannon and Limerick are also expected to enjoy less stressful journeys in the near future; it is planned to open the Ennis bypass just before Christmas.
• The Irish Times reports on a legal battle in the US with strong Irish connections. Gregory Patrick, who runs Tours of Enchantment from Houston, Texas, has launched a court appeal in New Jersey to compel Robert Greifeld, chief executive of the Nasdaq stock exchange, to pay for a party held in Luttrellstown Castle. The US businessman brought a party of 16 adults and seven children to the castle for a week-long family reunion, but he is disputing the final $70k of the total $610k for the event, claiming that he was overcharged. The fantasy holiday required the recruitment of 32 actors, four butlers, Irish dancers, and experts in falconry and archery, as well as the hire of helicopters and horse drawn carriages
• The Dublin Port Tunnel opened yesterday for some 10,000 runners who completed a 10k charity race, by going up one tunnel and returning via the other. Traffic will start using the tunnel from December 20 but there is a fear that, by filtering all trucks from Dublin's docklands through the tunnel, traffic snarl-ups on the M50 will just get worse.
  

Media

• For years the Government and the press have disagreed about how best to limit the excesses of some sections of the media while not endangering press freedom. Resolution appears to be at hand with new proposals for a complaints procedure and an independent press council, being put forward by the newspaper and magazine publishing industry. Among the proposals are the establishment of a press council comprising 13 members, and the appointment of a press ombudsman to deal with complaints. These institutions will now be formalised in new defamation legislation currently being enacted by the Oireachtas.

Health

• An agreement between the Health Service Executive and the Whitfield Clinic in Waterford will see public patients having access to the private clinic's radiotherapy facilities. Local people and politicians had initiated a campaign to allow treatment at the clinic until Waterford Regional Hospital can supply such a service. For years cancer sufferers in the southeast have had to make the long journey to either Dublin or Cork to receive appropriate treatment.
• Following Monday night's Prime Time programme on RTÉ, something of a controversy blew up over delays in treating children with mental health problems. Minister of State Tim O'Malley put some of the blame on consultants, some of whom, he said, feel "kind of powerful" when they have hundreds of patients on their waiting list. On Tuesday, in the face of fierce criticism, Mr O'Malley said he had no proof that any consultant was deliberately creating long waiting lists but, he argued, questions had to be asked when in some parts of the country a prospective patient can be seen within two months while in others the wait could be as long as four years. He asked the Health Service Executive for an analysis of the waiting lists. On both Tuesday and Wednesday the Dáil focused on Mr O'Malley's initial remarks although he eventually withdrew them. The Opposition's preferred method of attack was to ask the Taoiseach where he stood on the issue.
• The Health Service Executive said that there is no evidence that contaminated heroin had caused the deaths of six drug addicts in Dublin over a recent ten-day period. A spokesperson added, however, that the tests had not yet been completed and a conclusive judgement could not therefore be made. The six victims, all of whom lived in Dublin, were between the ages of 26 and 40.
• Despite being told by all the experts that Monaghan General Hospital does not have a sufficiently large catchment area to maintain the skills of consultants and other medical staff, the people of the town continue to demand the retention of acute inpatient services at the hospital. Local TD Peadar McMahon, representing Monaghan Hospital Community Alliance, led hundreds of people from the county in a protest outside the Dáil on Tuesday. The next phase in the campaign will involve organising a cavalcade to disrupt traffic on the Dublin-Monaghan road, some time after Christmas.
• Plans by Minister for Health Mary Harney to develop private hospitals on the grounds of existing public hospitals are facing an obstacle since no developer has come forward to construct the proposed hospitals in Galway and Letterkenny. However it is understood that plans for a further eight hospital sites will go ahead. Why the Department of Health even considered another private hospital in Galway is something of a mystery, as the recently opened Galway Clinic and upgraded Bon Secours hospital are already available.

EU News

• The country's fishermen are angry at the latest cuts in quotas proposed by the European Fisheries Commission. In what is claimed to be a conservation measure, the plan is for further reductions in the catch of herring, cod, plaice and whiting. At the same time the commission reports success in earlier conservation measures and is willing to allow increased quotas for hake, monkfish and mackerel.