Stories from the Irish Examiner's News From Ireland section for 09/11/00
http://www.examiner.ie
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Méabh plucks her way to a traditional award
THE smile, the sweep of brown hair, the flowing bow, the dancing fingers — Méabh O’Hare stands out at a noisy session in a Castleisland pub.
On Saturday week, she will occupy a larger stage when she receives the TG4 Young Traditional Musician Award. But, for now, she is happy with the more intimate scale of the session.
Méabh O’Hare was born in Belfast to parents with a deep interest in traditional music. Early promise on the tin whistle led her to McPeake’s music school in Andersonstown and a free transfer to the fiddle. Seán Maguire, probably the most flamboyant fiddle player in the history of traditional music, was Méabh’s teacher for five years. While she acknowledges him as a major influence, her playing shows little sign of his presence. Other influences are worn lightly too.
“Seán is an absolutely amazing fiddle player,” says Méabh. “But I realised that I’d never be able to play like him. I wasn’t going to go down that road of being a complete mimic.”
A model pupil in Maguire’s classroom, she often did the exact opposite outside. “I regret that now,” she admits. “I realise that if I had really worked at what Seán was doing, I’d probably be a much better technical player. I also learned hundreds of tunes at sessions in Belfast with Andy Dickson and Davey Maguire. Andy and Davey took me away from that whole Seán Maguire scene and opened up other influences.”
Méabh moved to Cork in 1996. “I had it in my head that I wanted to do the degree in UCC. I had a whole pile of mates that were down doing it. I had spent all my musical life playing with older musicians — which made me the player that I am — but I wanted to be down playing with all these young ones and out drinking and having the craic. I also felt that the degree would give me the chance to play music all the time, plus the option to specialise in traditional music.”
The TG4 award? “I was shocked,” she says. “I couldn’t believe it. It’s wonderful to be recognised as a really good traditional player, especially coming from Belfast, where we don’t have the same background as other areas in the tradition.
“It’s now very much acceptable for women to go out and make a living playing music, although it’s still more difficult. The fact that both awards have gone to women is a reflection of what’s actually going on in the music at the moment.”
Méabh is presenter of Banish Misfortune, a new series of traditional music for RTE´, due for broadcast in the Spring. In the meantime, you can catch her at the TG4 Awards Concert at Cork Opera House on Saturday November 18.
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Brendan’s in the house for the CIT Arts Fest
by Colette Sheridan
WHEN Brendan O’Connor officially opens the Cork Institute of Technology’s Arts Fest, on November 14, he may well sing a catchy new song with a Christmas theme. “We’re working on something at the moment. It’s just a bit of craic,” says the man who had a hit with Who’s in the House? It was in the Irish charts for three months and got to number three.
“That came about totally by accident. I was filming one day in Temple Bar and had a priest’s outfit. I basically looked deep into my heart and that’s what led to the lyrics. I wrote it with Don O’Sullivan who lectures in marketing at UCC. Two other Cork men, Stephen Granger and Graham Finn, composed a hip hop backing track and it caught on. Kids really liked it. If I had known that it would have that kind of appeal, I would have left out some of the more smutty references.
“What was nice about the whole thing was that the song wasn’t hyped into the charts. We were making CDs in batches of 1,000 to keep up with the demand.”
Thirty year old Brendan graduated from UCC with a degree in commerce. He did a post graduate course in journalism before joining the Sunday Independent, but he defies the categories most would to label him with.
“I wouldn’t put myself in a box. The journalist/comedian thing is what I do. But my first love is writing. The television work is a bit of craic. I’d like to make a bit of money in a few years so I’ll probably end up in business.”
At UCC, Brendan was something of a minor celebrity, making smart comments at philosophical society meetings and hanging around Dramat which was “a great way to meet women and drink beer.” He nearly stayed on to do a masters but the slacker lifestyle took over. After five years of hanging around however he was ready to bounce back.
“I have a freelance mentality which means I never say no. I really love doing comedy stuff on the streets. A UK music producer has approached me and expressed interest in doing something. There’s also talk of making a Fr Brien film, a kind of mockumentary.
“You don’t really get famous in Ireland, you just achieve a level of notoriety. It’s certainly no good to you. All I get is people coming up to me singing Who’s in the house.
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Forget about the million Who wants to win £2,000
by Fionnuala Quinlan
FOR £1m, can you name the people who pen the questions for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
If you can, then you’re blessed with extraordinary insight, because the quizmaster’s identity is being kept under wraps for security reasons.
Yesterday, the question everyone wanted answered was who dreams up the questions for the Irish showing of the hit TV show.
Whoever it is, they are certainly giving contestants a tough run for their money.
For a measly £2,000, Paddy Delaney from Co. Tipperary was asked whether the lesser celandine was a snowdrop, a bluebell, a buttercup or a daisy. Understandably stumped, he asked the audience, who luckily came up trumps.
Compare that to the £2,000 question on the ITV version. On Monday, Chris Tarrant’s tough talking didn’t dent the confidence of the candidate asked who Tony Booth’s famous son in law is. Answer Tony Blair. His wife being Cherie Booth was kind of a clue. Plain sailing.
Tuesday night’s show sparked debate after contestants went home with a paltry £9,000 between them. And this in the show that was supposed a nail biter, that kept us hanging on the edge of our seats.
Irish viewers have complained that the questions are just too tough, that producers are maintaining a white knuckle grip on purse strings and that the show lacks the breath catching drama of the Chris Tarrant version.
Forget £1 million, the $64 million question is whether the Irish production team and the sponsor Eircell actually want to dish out any decent cash.
Brian Munn, Associate Producer of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire in Ireland, admits that, with hindsight, the lesser celandine question was too tough for a mere £2,000, but holds that the other questions were accurately pitched.
“It was just one of those things. The person who wrote the question is a keen gardener, the producer is also a keen gardener. That is what happens when a couple of people look at it and say they know the answer. It’s a very subjective area,” said Mr Munn, who admits that a question on Coronation Street would leave him puzzled.
And the ratings? For the first show on October 17, Gay Byrne drew 1.2m viewers. It’s been averaging about 900,000 viewers a week since.
Sponsor, Eircell is logging 50,000 calls a week, which cost callers from a landline an average of £1.16. But unlike their British counterparts, the money from phonecalls does not go back into the prizefund, but towards the production of the show, with Eircell creaming off just a fraction, a spokeswoman said.
Their $7.2 million two year sponsorship deal is essentially the prize fund.
On average, Irish winners are walking away with as much as their English counterparts, Mr Munn claims, adding that the producers were equally unhappy with the low takings on Tuesday night as they are in the business of dishing out cash.
So are we not a nation of scholars or are the questions just too hard?
A total of eight question setters beaver away behind locked doors and shuttered windows to keep the compulsory database of 2,500 questions topped up.
While the writers do not follow any strict criteria in the level of difficulty, the questions are broken down into three categories: up to £1,000; up to £32,000 and up to £1 million.
Afterwards they smuggle a floppy disc, which may contain the key to £1 million, into RTE, and sit down with the show’s producer and associate producer for a top secret conference to determine the level of the question.
But across the water, the producers of the ITV version were brimming with sympathy for their fellow producers.
“We know exactly what they are going through. It has happened here that people have gone home with absolutely nothing. The Irish producers are now going through everything we did. Poor things, I don’t envy them,” said a spokeswoman for the ITV show.
Back on home turf, the pundits are not so forgiving.
One irate viewer caustically commented, “It should be called Who Wants To Win £2,000.”
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The Russians are coming with the best of the Bolshoi
by Declan Hassett
A STRAIGHT to the head cocktail of magnificent Russian voices and the stirring sounds of Irish military bands should lift the roofs of the National Concert Hall in Dublin and the City Hall in Cork next week.
Jose Cura is a hard act to follow. He certainly demonstrated in the last opera gala series just why he is considered the best in the world. But the capture of the three leading singers from the prestigious Bolshoi Opera should be another talking point in operatic circles. They play the NCH on November 18, in the Unicorn New Millennium Gala, and the Pfizer Gala in Cork, on November 22.
One voice that made a lasting impression in this series last time around was that of tenor Badri Maisuradze, thought by some critics to be the most exciting voice heard in live performance. Maisuradze is big time material and has performed in Moscow, La Scala in Milan, Berlin and the Met in New York. This is tenor singing without a safety net as Badri is not one for half measures and his programme for Dublin and Cork demonstrates this.
He opens with Corrado’s aria from Il Corsaro by Verdi. He follows this with the lovely Notte, Perpetua Notte from I Due Foscari, again by Verdi. Then he will sing, with the leading Bolshoi soprano Irina Bikulova, the thrilling death scene from Aida, a show stopper if ever there was one.
Badri turns to the little known but beautiful aria O Paradiso from Meyerbeer’s L’Africano. He sings with the magnificent baritone Yuri Nechaev, the haunting Solenne in Questa’ora and he finishes with Puccini’s E Lucevan le Stelle from Tosca. What other than the amazing Il Trovatore trio could round off the evening.
Irina Bikulova has not been heard in Ireland before, but she has been at the top in the Bolshoi for over a decade and her programme should be well worth hearing. Her programme ranges from Il Trovatore’s Tacea la Notte, the stunning Vissi d’Arte from Tosca and the lovely Pace from The Force of Destiny. Her Russian piece will be an aria from the Queen Of Spades and baritone Yuri Nechaev will join her for Undiste again from Il Trovatore.
Nechaev is in the world class category too with appearances in La Scala and the Met. He has chosen the challenging Cortiganai from Rigoletto and the soulful classic Il Balen from Il Trovatore; Eri Tu from A Masked Ball and Roberta’s aria from Iolanta by Tchaiovsky. Accompanying all three singers is the most sought after pianists on the recital circuit, Welshman Phillip Thomas, whose orchestral vision is the golden thread which seamlessly draws together the tapestry of sound.
Barra O´ Tuama is stepping back from the day to day operations of his company but says that that the Opera Gala series will continue under the direction of daughter Deirdre O´ Tuama.
In Dublin the special guests are the Army No I Band and in Cork the Band of the First Southern Brigade with narration by David McInerney on both nights. The concerts are supported by the Irish Examiner, Sunday Independent and RTE´ with booking at the National Concert Hall, Dublin (01 4751572) and Pro Musica, Cork (021 4271659).
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Patent ruling fails to rattle Pfizer
by Colette Keane
PFIZER’S Irish operation will continue to surge despite a British court’s ruling that the patent on a key ingredient for its impotency drug Viagra was invalid.
Fears this ruling would have major implications for the Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork, production plant were dismissed yesterday. Locally it was indicated that there would be no immediate impact as a result of the decision and a spokesperson said it would be unlikely to affect operations in the medium term.
Viagra accounts for less than 15% of total production at the US drug company’s operations in Ringaskiddy. Operating there for more than 25 years, Pfizer employs 450 people. As a result of its recent merger with Warner Lambert, Pfizer has invested more than $2 billion in its Irish operations and is in the process of building a £200 million expansion programme which will employ a further 100 people.
Pfizer is expected to face to stiff competition from rival drug companies following the British ruling that its patent on sildenafil citrate, one of the key ingredient for the drug known as the Pfizer Riser, is invalid.
High Court judge Hugh Laddie found the patent on the ingredient was based on knowledge already in the public domain before the patent was taken out in 1993.
Lilly ICOS, a joint venture between Eli Lilly and Co. and ICOS Corp, had brought the case against Pfizer.
Lilly ICOS is trying to produce an impotency treatment to rival Viagra, one of the world’s fastest growing drugs.
Any question of an appeal, and the legal costs, have been adjourned to give lawyers a chance to consider full implications of the complex 58 page judgement.
News of the ruling failed to dent the group’s share price which was up 2·5% on the day. Analysts suspected this was due to expectations that George W Bush would win the Presidential election campaign and because the market would need more time to digest the ruling.
Pfizer has three business segments; healthcare, animal health and consumer healthcare, with products available in more than 150 countries.
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Government accused of protecting builders in housing row
by Katie Hannon
Political Correspondent
THE Government is putting the interests of builders and the concrete industry ahead of the interests of Irish home buyers, a Dáil committee was told yesterday.
The Oireachtas Committee on the Environment and Local Government was presented with evidence that the Department of the Environment is deliberately dragging its feet on plans to introduce tougher regulations to force builders to build energy efficient houses.
The committee was shown a confidential note advising Housing Minister Bobby Molloy that building regulations would have to be reviewed sooner than planned to meet CO2 emission targets set by the Kyoto Convention.
As reported in yesterday’s Irish Examiner, the note continued: “However we don’t want to signal this to the outside world just yet because the next leap in building standard insulation will probably make it difficult for hollow block construction used widely in the Dublin area to survive.”
This had implications for the manufacturers of hollow blocks, builders and for the cost of new houses, it was noted.
Fine Gael’s Nora Owen pointed out that six months after this memo was prepared Environment Minister Noel Dempsey told the Dáil he was unaware of any such advice from officials.
Gerard McCaughey, chief executive of Century Homes which manufactures timber frames for the housing industry, said the hollow block method of house construction was far less energy efficient than the timber frame method. Mr McCaughey showed the committee a box full of correspondence he has engaged in with the Department of the Environment.
He claimed every document written by the Department is out to knock timber frames and he accused it of adopting clandestine methods to prevent the timber frame industry from taking on the concrete industry.
He said it was unfair to the house buying public of Ireland to stall the implementation of superior insulated homes until 2002 and then improve then again in 2005, as the Department planned.
However, Donal Dempsey of the Irish Concrete Federation insisted hollow block construction was not inferior and could meet energy efficient standards with proper insulation. Mr Dempsey said all three homes he had lived in had been built using hallow blocks.
“We used to live in mud huts too but we’ve moved on,” replied Nora Owen.
Mr Dempsey said the Irish Concrete Federation would have no problem meeting the new standards set out by the Kyoto convention although he was not in a position to give that assurance for the construction industry as a whole.
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Drink laden holiday pair apologise for disrupting long haul flight
by Fionnuala Quinlan
AN Irish ex pat on his first holiday home in three years was greeted with a £400fine yesterday after an air rage incident over drink.
Patrick Joe Prendergast, 39, who is Irish but now lives in the US, became abusive along with his friend after Aer Lingus staff refused to serve them more drinks during a flight from Boston to Dublin.
Mr Prendergast and British national Darrell O’Brien, 34, had both been drinking for two hours when they were refused more drink.
They were arrested by gardaí shortly after the flight touched down at 6.10am yesterday.
The two are self employed painters in the US and were travelling to Ireland for a holiday. Crew on the plane alerted security upon landing at Dublin airport and the two men were arrested and taken to Santry garda station.
They were charged with causing a nuisance under section two of the Air Traffic and Navigation Act.
At Dublin District Court yesterday, the two men pleaded guilty to the incident.
The court heard the men had been drinking on the plane but were refused further alcohol after two hours, prompting them to become aggressive and abusive.
Arresting gardaí said the men had not interfered with the flight itself, but were a nuisance and a cause of general anxiety to the cabin crew and passengers.
After sobering up, both men apologised to the gardaí and to Aer Lingus. The men’s solicitor, Terry Lyons, suggested that they donate money to a home for underprivileged children in the Santry area of Dublin.
However, Judge Gerard Haughton deemed that a conviction was necessary and fined Mr O’Brien £200 and Mr Prendergast £400.
The pair, who work as self-employed painters in Massachusetts, were beginning a three-week holiday in Ireland.
Darrell O’Brien has lived in America for the past seven years, while Prendergast has been a resident for 20 years. Both men hold green cards.
“We do not tolerate any disruptive behaviour aboard our flights. We always take a very strong line,” a spokesperson for Aer Lingus said. However, she declined to comment specifically on the case.
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Back to school driving testers will improve poor pass rate
by Conor Keane
WHO IS to blame for the 85,000 people waiting to have their driving test? The driving school instructors.
That’s according to IMPACT, the union which represents the State’s 100 driving testers.
Impact says the instructors need to go back to school themselves to undergo rigorous tests to improve driving test pass rates. The union also wants:
A mandatory basic driving theory test which must be successfully completed before the actual driving test. More State testers to examine standards among driving school instructors. Increased driving test fees to deter applicants who have not prepared properly for the test.
Improved licensing procedures that will eliminate the requirement of provisional licence holders to sit tests simply to ensure they can get a third or fourth provisional licence.
“We need more driving testers to test driving school instructors on their car handling, instruction abilities and road use theory,” Impact official Louise O’Donnell said.
Impact yesterday made a detailed submission to consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers, who have been hired by the Environment Department to deliver a strategy to reduce waiting list times.
Ms O’Donnell says a basic syllabus for use by instructors and applicants is also required. She points out that driving testers do not have any formal guidelines to go on at present.
“These measures could get us out of a vicious circle. Long waiting lists encourage people to apply for tests before they are really ready, and this contributes to long waiting lists. Driver testers will welcome any change that will reduce waiting times while improving road safety,” said Ms O’Donnell.
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Students will face lockouts if teachers’ claim is not settled
by Neans McSweeney
Education Correspondent
STUDENTS will face lengthy lockouts from schools unless teachers’ pay and conditions are improved, a school management boss warned yesterday.
A resolution must be found before the Christmas break under the terms of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, if widespread chaos is to be averted, Irish Vocational Education Association general secretary, Michael Moriarty said.
Hundreds of schools will close next Wednesday as Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland members strike in pursuit of their 30% claim.
Their action will also impact on 35 vocational, community and comprehensive schools where teachers are members of the striking union and the Teachers Union of Ireland.
“From looking at the anger that has built up among teachers, I believe things will come to a head a lot earlier than the state exams.
“The problem is not going to go away and will result in heartache for the Government, for school management, for teachers and parents if it is not resolved now,” Mr Moriarty said ahead of his address last night to the Association of Principals of Vocational Schools and Community Colleges annual seminar and conference..
”Nobody wants to lose. We’re now looking at a long, rocky road of discontent and a battle of wits. It is ultimately the pupils who will lose,” he added.
The Department of Education and Science said the Minister is maintaining his position on teacher pay and no imminent announcement about any change in the terms of the PPF is expected.
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Thieves escape in Merc after armed raid
By Conor Keane
THOUSANDS of pounds in cash and jewellery were stolen by armed robbers who tied up a couple at their Co. Meath home.
The raid by the balaclava clad gang took place on Tuesday night when the raiders broke in through the back of the house in Dunshaughlin. One of the robbers was brandishing a handgun gardaí said.
The gang members threatened the terrified pair, tied them up and fled in the couples Mercedes car.
The couple, who later freed themselves to raise the alarm, were not injured in the raid.
The stolen car was later recovered at Castle Lawn, Castleknock, Dublin and is being examined by garda forensic experts.
The robber carrying the gun was described as 5ft 10in, stocky, wearing a green waxed jacket, dark jeans and Nike trainers. He had a Dublin accent.
Another raider was described as 5ft 8in, of a lighter build, wore white trainers with red stripes and also had a Dublin accent.
The third robber is thought to be in his early 20s, slim and wore a green waxed jacket and trainers.
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Gardaí restraint praised after attack by man wielding slashhook
A JUDGE has praised gardaí for their restraint after they successfully arrested a crazed man who repeatedly charged at them with a slashhook during a five hour cross country chase.
Judge Michael Pattwell commended gardaí for the manner in which they arrested Patrick O'Driscoll (32) after the chase, which also involved air support from the Garda helicopter.
Detectives had to pull their firearms three times and warn O'Driscoll back when he came for them with the slashhook and threatened to chop off their heads near Cahir in Co. Tipperary.
The drama began when Gardai called to O'Driscoll's caravan on 8 September last to question him about an incident in Fermoy and O'Driscoll came out swinging a slashhook at them.
Garda Tony Crockett told Fermoy District Court that O'Driscoll narrowly missed him with the slashhook and threatened to kill him and three other Gardai if they came near him.
"Patrick O'Driscoll swung the slashhook at me and just missed me he told us if we followed him, he'd kill us. His eyes were bulging and he was stone mad," he said.
Garda Pascal O'Dwyer told how O'Driscoll stood back and raised the slash hook over his head and warned them off: "Stand back, you fuckers or I'll kill one of ye."
Det Garda Tom Ryan said he was threatened on several occasions during the chase. "He said 'I'll chop your head off. I know where you live. I'll get your family and I'll kill you.''
And Sgt Peter Butler said O'Driscoll threatened to cut his head off and also took out a penknife and threatened to cut his own throat, saying that gardaí would be blamed.
O'Driscoll finally dropped the slashhook and gave himself up when Gardai surrounded him at Rosegreen some five miles from where they first tried to arrest him.
O'Driscoll from Glenville, Co Cork denied charges of assaulting Gardai, obstructing gardaí, possessing a slash hook with intent to intimidate and threatening to kill or harm Det Garda Ryan.
He said that when the gardaí arrived at his caravan he didn't know who was outside. He claimed that he was hit on the hand by a baton as he opened the door and he panicked and ran.
O'Driscoll denied making any threats to gardaí and said he had used the slashhook to defend himself. "I was just blocking them off they would have hit me only for the slashhook,'' he said.
But Judge Pattwell convicted O'Driscoll of assaulting Garda Crockett, Sgt Butler, Det Garda McNamara, Garda Pascal O'Dwyer, and Det Garda Colman Murphy.
And he also convicted him of twice assaulting Det Garda Tom Ryan and of threatening to kill or seriously harm him and sentenced him to a total of two years in jail.
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Competition Authority to investigate supermarket prices
by John Downing
Chief Political Correspondent
THE COMPETITION Authority has been asked to examine apparent anti competitive practices in the supermarket business.
Consumer Affairs Director, Carmel Foley, said yesterday that the big three supermarkets, Dunnes, Superquinn and Tesco charge remarkably similar prices on groceries. Three other chains of shops, Spar, Centra and Supervalu, appeared somewhat dearer than the big operators but charged similar prices.
Ms Foley was commenting on a survey conducted at supermarkets and large and medium sized shops in nine different centres around the country.
This showed that Tesco, Dunnes, and Superquinn charge very similar prices for staple grocery items in their shops around the country.
The survey covered a total of 50 shops in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Dundalk, Galway, Athlone, Sligo, and Carlow/Kilkenny.
Of the other stores surveyed, Spar and Centra and Supervalu had prices which tended to be a little higher than in the bigger shops and over more items.
Ms Foley said the overall variation was not great. “I am concerned at the lack of competition in the prices between the larger stores and indeed the general level of price similarity across the broad spectrum of shopping basket items,” she said. “Shoppers deserve to know why supermarkets are not competing with each other on these popular grocery items.
“The supermarkets, in particular the larger outlets, have a case to answer in respect of this very close price convergence,” Ms Foley said.
The consumer director said there appears to be a very close price regime across most of the outlets surveyed.
“This means there may be underlying anti-competitive elements in supermarket retailing and therefore I am forwarding the results of the surveys to date to the Competition Authority for their consideration,” she said.
The monitoring of prices will continue in November and December.
The survey found prices at Dunnes Stores and Tesco match so closely that in many areas there was no variation at all, especially on staple food items.
Superquinn was slightly more expensive generally but in case of staples, prices were similar.
SuperValu prices tended to hover between prices at Dunnes Stores and Tesco and prices in convenience style stores.
Spar, Centra and Londis stores matched the others closely on certain items such as butter and sausages, but were more expensive for milk, bread, dry grocery goods, baby and bathroom products, and other items like cans of Coca-Cola.
Products were less available in the convenience-style stores Spar, Centra and Londis particularly in the case of bathroom items.
Some products in these stores were on sale but not priced. Non availability was more of a problem outside Dublin and Cork.
Tesco corporate affairs director, Dermot Breen, last night welcomed the survey results.
He said they showed the intensity of competition between the supermarket groups to keep profit margins to the minimum.
He also said it showed Tesco were every bit as cheap as Dunnes.
“Supermarkets track each others’ prices on a weekly if not daily basis. “There is no question of any collusion as competition is fierce,” Mr Breen said.
He said the survey was focused on a narrow range of mainly food items. If it was expanded to more than 100 items it would show a considerable variation.
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Kathryn Calvert is Ford’s chosen one for 2000
by P. J. Gibbons
WHEN 18 year old Belfast girl Kathryn Calvert took a year out of school to pursue a career in modelling, little did she realise that she would instantly become one of the country’s most recognised faces.
Best known as the Peter Mark poster girl and the leggy blond in the current TV Surf commercial, Calvert has now achieved the fashion industry’s ultimate accolade by being selected as the Irish representative at the World Supermodel Competition.
The Irish heat, which was judged by talent scout Jack Maiden of the internationally renowned Ford Model Agency, featured entrants from four of Ireland’s top model agencies, with 16 girls competing for the top spot.
The blue eyed blond, favoured by fashion editor’s and ad agencies for her striking features and bubbly personality, will now go on to represent Ireland at the World finals to be held in Puerto Rico on December 5. The overall winner of the competition will be awarded a £200,000 modelling contract with the famed Ford agency in New York.
Calvert, who has been in the business less than a year, is signed with the Dublin based, Morgan Brand Agency, who have also represented international supermodel Pamela Branagan.
“I was incredibly surprised, I was ready to cheer someone else on. I haven’t a clue why I was so different from the other girls but I’m definitely ready for it. The first thing I did after I heard I won was to call my parents in Belfast. They were over the moon,” she smiled.
Maiden was struck by her poise and her will to succeed as a supermodel.
“A lot has to do with the individual. I chose Kathryn for her figure and personality. She has it in every way. If she has that extra factor to take her beyond the crowd then she could succeed as a serious supermodel,” he commented.
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Ahern wary as he juggles with politics of the jar
by John Downing
Chief Political Correspondent
A PUBLICAN’S tendency to frequently whine in public just might be linked to drinkers’ perennial moaning about the price of drink and the vintners’ profit mark up.
Doubtless there are few remedies for this. But Bertie Ahern has knocked back enough pints of Bass and spent long enough in pubs to educate himself about the politics of the jar.
On Monday, Mr Ahern was sticking rigorously to his teetotal November policy as he launched a study by the drinks business at the Jameson Distillery in Dublin, Survey of Licensed Premises in Ireland 1999. It reveals a host of statistics about many people’s favourite hobby, which is also a thriving business worth £2.2bn per year generating 80,000 jobs. (See separate panel for summary).
The study by TCD economist, Dr Yvonne Scott, also identifies some of the political issues and contradictions with which the Government must juggle.
Consumers want an end to the alcohol sales cartel; publicans will use their considerable muscle to ensure the current price freeze is not renewed when it expires on January 14; health and social campaigners will continue to lobby for curbs on drink sales. Mr Ahern used the occasion to fire two shots across the bows of everybody involved in the business. Firstly, he made it clear that he expected them to keep the three month deadline set by Justice Minister John O’Donoghue for a report on liberalising the £130m per year off licence business.
Secondly, he reminded everybody concerned that extended opening hours introduced during the summer, and generally welcomed by the trade, carried an implicit understanding that there would be an accompanying increased clampdown on underage drinking. The Taoiseach said everywhere he goes, on his increasingly widespread travels around Ireland, he is reminded that youth alcohol abuse is a huge concern.
It is the balance that needs to be struck at all times — no government mention can be made of liberalising drink laws without citing the importance of tackling alcohol abuse, especially among those under 18 years of age.
Mr Ahern said he was determined to continue those ever so slow moves to ease restrictions on sales by making it easier for bigger shops and supermarkets to sell the full range of drinks.
Essentially, the Government appears to be belatedly conceding supermarkets’ demands that they should not have to buy a full licence to be allowed sell off licence drink. Mr Ahern said he wants the Government to be in a position to consider legislation by Easter.
But those involved in the business have other concerns. Frank Fell, who heads the Dublin publicans’ representative group, the Licensed Vintners’ Association, pointed to evidence in theß
report of dwindling profit margins.
Mr Fell made it clear that his members expected to see the six month drinks price freeze, introduced on July 14, die a natural death when it expires on January 14. He argued that his members have conceded significant wage increases and still they cannot get enough staff to keep their bars operating.
“We’re only one of 10 components in the Consumer Price Index you know. We come in for some rather undue consideration,” Mr Fell said.
Publicans have some political muscle and this report, highlighting jobs and the level of investment, will not harm their cause.
At the same time, the organisation NOFFLA, representing half the off ß
licences, has made clear its reluctance to see more shops move into the business. NOFFLA executive member Richard Barry argues that the numbers are already increasing due to two small measures introduced last summer by Mr O’Donoghue. He stressed that his members are extremely active in efforts to curb under age drinking, and said their biggest enemy is would be respectable adults actually buying drink for youngsters. He argued that more off licences could lead to diminished controls.
The work of Commission on Liquor Licensing will be followed with some interest.
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Residential child care staff quit jobs over inadequate pay
by Linda McGrory
THE controversy surrounding the State’s provision of accommodation for disturbed teenagers is set to escalate as staff in secure units quit their jobs over low pay.
IMPACT trade union warned that some high support residences for children with behavioural problems face closure if the haemorrhage of residential care staff is not halted.
“Our residential child care system faces complete collapse because health employers are not giving this (staff problem) the priority it deserves,” IMPACT national secretary, Kevin Callinan said.
“Morale is low and staff are leaving because of low pay and poor training which is key to higher standards and improved staff recruitment and retention,” he said.
Judge Peter Kelly last month threatened to hold three Government ministers in contempt of court if they did not find a secure unit for a disturbed 17 year old runaway girl.
The girl subsequently spent her first night back in care in a garda cell because care workers were not available to staff a £250,000 newly refurbished secure accommodation.
Lawyers for an out of control 14 year old boy living on a roof in Dublin’s north inner city, recently applied for a court order compelling the State to provide appropriate accommodation for him.
There are four high support secure homes in Dublin with 56 residences in total to house children with varying degrees of problems in the eastern region.
A new independent board to co ordinate places for disruptive children is soon to be set up by the Government under the Children’s Bill.
It is expected to advocate that services in this area be centralised, overseen by a new Special Residential Services Board.
IMPACT meanwhile, is in talks with the Eastern Regional Health Authority about improvements for care staff in Dublin’s secure units.
A house parent with responsibility for 8 10 care workers, earns between £18,000 and £24,000 a year before tax.
Assistant house parents, who make up the majority of care workers earn between £17,000 and £21,800.
Staff in a new residential child protection unit in Ballydowd, Co Dublin recently won a special care allowance worth £1,000 a year.
But their union warned improved allowances alone would have limited effect on the staffing crisis unless there was a radical hike in pay and professional recognition for workers.
“Services are suffering because residential childcare workers cannot afford to work for the money on offer,” said IMPACT assistant general secretary, Sean McHugh.
“Most children in these units have suffered sexual or physical abuse and dedicated young workers frequently have to deal with violent outbursts, suicide attempts, self mutilation and other kinds of destructive behaviour,” he added.
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Brennan to whip Dáil into shape with 15 minutes free speech
by Mary Dundon
CHIEF whip Seamus Brennan is the architect of a major reform package for the Dáil and Seanad to be presented to Cabinet next Tuesday.
If the package gets the go ahead, Ministers will face questioning four days a week for 15 minutes about current issues affecting their Departments.
And the Taoiseach’s question time would be reduced from five times a week to just one major session.
The Taoiseach currently comes into the Dáil to answer questions three times during the Order of Business and twice during Taoiseach’s questions.
But the chief whip claims his proposed major reduction in this time would not make the Taoiseach less accountable to the Dáil.
“The present Order of Business is just a fiction it is supposed to be just about what is on the Dáil agenda for that day but it ends up with people asking questions about what is topical that day.
“So let’s be more honest about it and change the system to allow people ask topical questions for 15 minutes a day,” Junior Minister Brennan said.
Under the new system Ministers would be subject to questioning for 15 minutes every morning four days a week and the Taoiseach would no longer have the advantage of reading out prepared replies during his question time.
This would be very similar to the UK system where Prime Minister Tony Blair has only one question time a week but has to be prepared to field anything.
If the new reform package gets the go ahead, TDs will work an extra day a week with the Dáil sitting four days a week.
It also proposes introducing electronic voting; a new code of conduct for civil servants and the setting up of an independent Oireachtas commission to oversee and control the funding, staffing and organisation of both the Dáil and Seanad.
This commission would be under the direction of the Ceann Comhairle and have its own budget.
“It would be a great improvement on the current system where the Minister for Finance controls the parliament’s budget,” the chief whip said.
The work of Dáil Committees would also get a higher profile under the new package because one week of the Oireachtas timetable would be dedicated specifically to their work and the Dail would only sit for three weeks a month.
And plans to invest an extra £2 million in improving and extending the Oireachtas coverage would also give the Committee’s work a higher public profile.
As the chairman of the Dáil’s sub committee on Procedures and Privileges, Junior Minister Brennan was the main architect behind the current committee system and the powers they have to compel witnesses.
“I felt the best way to streamline the system was to have a committee shadowing each department, but they need more resources and independent legal advice,” the chief whip said.
Most of the reforms are procedural, but they do not include any plans to ban corporate funding of political parties.
The chief whip has failed to secure cross party support for his reforms but they are expected to be endorsed by the Cabinet next week.
Junior Minister Brennan does not favour Fine Gael’s proposal for a special Judicial and High Office Committee to interview candidates for high office and judicial appointments.
While he would favour committees being consulted on judicial and other higher appointments, the chief whip does not believe they should have any right to veto an appointment.
“I would be nervous of going down this political road. It would only politicise judicial appointments,” the chief whip said.
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Advertising revenue cap put RTE´ on road to ruin
BY Vivion Kilfeather
RTE´ would have gone bust if Communications Minister Ray Burke’s capping of RTE´ advertising revenue had not been repealed in 1993.
Chief financial officer Gerry O’Brien told the Flood tribunal yesterday that the national station would have lost more than £186m in recent years and gone out of business if the broadcastingß
legislation, brought in by the Ministerß
in 1990, was not changed three yearsß
later.
In that period RTE´ lost just under £18m which they had to hand over to the Government as their advertising revenue exceeded limits which were imposed on it.
And if the capping had not been lifted in 1993 RTE´ would have lost £20m in 1994; £25m in 1995; £28m in 1996; £29m in 1997; £30m in 1998 and £36m last year.
Instead this money went into their own coffers.
Mr O’Brien said the losses would have been so large that RTE´ would not have been able to remain in business.
Vincent Finn, Director General of RTE´ from 1985 to 1992, began his evidence yesterday and spoke of the shock, disbelief and rage when they heard of Minister’s Burke’s directive to RTE´ in March of 1989 compelling RTE´ to reduce its transmission charges to Century Radio from £614,000 to about £375,000.
Mr Finn said RTE´ had already reduced its charges from £692,000 to £614,000 and that was the rockbottom situation for RTE´.
Mr Finn said he had no knowledge that a directive was even being prepared and there had been no consultation with RTE´ about it.
Despite legal advice that RTE´ had a case it was decided not to contest the Minister’s action.
This was because RTE´ could have been seen as adopting a “dog in the manger” stance by trying to stop competition, Mr Finn said.
Subsequently the Authority had a tense meeting with the Minister but found he was showing no flexibilityß
on the matter and had his mind madeß
up.
Recalling the time of the Century debacle, Mr Finn said he found at the time that everything RTE´ said was taken as irrational and illogical while anything emanating from the Century side was fair and reasonable. In all his life he had never experienced negotiations like it before.
By early 1991 it was clear that Century was in serious financial trouble and was not seen as a serious competitor of RTE´. The station had missed the boat as there were many up and coming new local radio stations coming on stream at the time, he said.
Mr Finn resumes his evidence this morning.
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Raise miserly grants and let us live in dignity, say protesting students
BY Neans McSweeney
Education Correspondent
A STUDENT’S educational opportunities should not be determined by the amount of money in his or her pocket.
As thousands of students marched through the streets of Dublin yesterday, the Student Union of Ireland has warned that grant levels must be increased to a realistic level to allow students to meet the spiralling cost of going to college.
The protest march was bigger than recent demonstrations in Athlone, Sligo and Letterkenny and is just the beginning of a nationwide campaign.
Protesters believe that the current level of student grants, and, specifically, the maximum payment of £49 per week, is inadequate and should be increased to social welfare levels.
Union President, Julian de Spáinn said students were protesting for two groups of people.
“First of all, we are here to fight for those members of society who want to go to college but simply can not afford to. Education is more than just a right. It is a passport to a better future.
“A good education opens the door to a better job and a better life. And yet, this Government refuses to take the steps necessary to make education available to all.”
A maximum student grant of £49 per week puts college out of the reach of many in our society.
A maximum grant of £49 per week ensures that the marginalised continue to be marginalised, he said. Enough is enough. It’s time to stop the discrimination and give genuine free access to education.
“We are also here today to fight for those who are struggling to survive in college. We have taken to the streets to fight for those who are working long hours in part time jobs to enable them to continue their studies. We know that the pressures of part time work and course work will prove too much for many students and that they will drop out of their courses without getting their qualifications.” It is not their fault, he said.
“It is the fault of a government that is too short sighted to see that by refusing to support students they are failing to invest in the future economic prosperity of this country. USI believes that the time has come to invest in the future.
“The budget surplus will be close to £3 billion this year. What does the Government plan to do with that money? We demand that the Government invest in the future of the country and let students live in dignity.”
Campaigns co ordinator with USI Cian O’Callaghan said the fourth student protest march in as many weeks shows the level of discontent among those at college.
“We have to decide what kind of country we want to build for the future. Do we want an Ireland where your chance of going to college is directly related to the amount of money in your pocket? Or do we want an Ireland where those with potential are given the necessary support to realise that potential?”
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Employee presumed dead accepted award two years ago
BY Evelyn Ring
A FORMER Blood Transfusion Service Board official, wrongly presumed dead by the board, yesterday told how he accepted an award from the chief executive of the now named Irish Blood Transfusion Service, Martin Hynes, two years ago.
Edward Ryan, 71, an accountant and personnel officer with the BTSB during the 70s and 80s, was very much alive yesterday when he appeared before the Lindsay Tribunal. “I can only quote Oscar Wilde who said: ‘A face once seen and never remembered,’” he told Judge Alison Lindsay.
Mr Ryan retired in 1988 but has kept in touch with the board. About two years ago he got an award for donating plasma at a ceremony at Dublin Castle.
Replying to counsel for the Irish Haemophilia Society, Martin Hayden BL, Mr Ryan said he met Mr Hynes when he arrived at the tribunal on Tuesday. “I met him at Dublin Castle when I got the award but he did not know who I was. I was just a name at that stage.”
He agreed with Mr Hayden that the BTSB should have had no difficulty finding out that he was still alive. “If they were sending me a pension I think they should have known all that.”
Mr Ryan said he was particularly anxious to contact the tribunal after the BTSB’s former chief executive officer, Ted Keyes, gave evidence concerning his investigation in 1991 of the involvement of the board’s former technical officer Sean Hanratty in a company called Accu Science.
The inquiry was held after it was alleged that Mr Hanratty, now deceased, was a beneficial shareholder with the company that was doing business with Pelican House.
Mr Ryan said Mr Keyes was of the impression this was the first investigation of the relationship between Mr Hanratty and Accu Science but he had in fact made an initial statement to the board of the BTSB about the issue years earlier.
He first discovered Accu Science had a director called James Hanratty when making an internal audit in 1985. Mr Ryan said the director appeared to be Sean Hanratty, or JJ Hanratty as he sometimes signed himself.
Mr Ryan said he was obliged under the 1983 Companies’ Act to alert the board that Mr Hanratty might have a 30% interest in the company. He did it in good faith and had only now learned that Mr Hanratty resigned from the company in 1983.
Mr Ryan said he had a short conversation with Mr Hanratty around Christmas 1985 who told him he had been able to satisfactorily answer questions put to him by the board. He did not ask for any more details from Mr Hanratty as he had understood from a board member that the matter had been resolved.
The retired accountant said he first contacted the offices of financial expert John McStay, hired by the BTSB to give evidence based on his examination of available documentation last September, because he wanted to mention Mr Hanratty’s involvement in Accu Science. He did not know the solicitors representing the BTSB who eventually contacted him.
Asked by counsel for the tribunal, Gerry Durcan SC if he agreed with Mr McStay’s view that the BTSB’s financial situation in the early 1980s was disastrous, Mr Ryan said it was worse than disastrous. “Money was scarce at the time, very scarce,” he said.
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Suspended sentences for halting site gun men
by Michael Doyle
Two men who were involved in a gunfight between rival Traveller factions in which a man was killed have been given four years suspended sentences by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.James Hanrahan, 27, and William Cawley, 23, both formerly of St Bernadette’s Park, Ballycoolin, Dublin 15, pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm on March 23, 1999.The man who died in the gunfight at the St Bernadette’s Park halting site on that occasion was Matthew Hand. He was with two other men, Larry Power and Ronald Wilde, who have been jailed for five years and seven years, respectively, for their roles in the shooting.Defence counsel, Mr Padraig Dwyer BL claimed Power, Wilde and Hand were the aggressors and described them as criminals who all had a number of previous convictions.Judge Elizabeth Dunne described the use of firearms to solve arguments as deplorable and dangerous. She gave both men credit for their co operation with gardaí.Detective Garda Maurice Downey told Mr Dominic McGinn BL, prosecuting, that the row was over halting site facilities.Hanrahan and Cawley were approached by Hand, Power and Wilde who left after an angry exchange of words. As they drove away Hanrahan fired two shots into the air.Det Garda Downey said the three men returned the next day withshotguns. Shots were fired in an ensuing gunfight, including the two that killed Hand.Mr Dwyer said both men had suffered since the incident.They had to move because they were in fear for their lives. He said they had the guns to protect themselves and their families.
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Mental illness with auditory hallucinations drove man to kill
by Suzanne Mac Manus
A PSYCHIATRIST treating a man accused of murder told a jury in the Central Criminal Court yesterday the killing was “illness driven”.
Derek Gibbons, 37, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his neighbour Gerard ‘Redser’ Doyle, 40, on December 21, 1996. Both men were residents of Markievicz House, Townsend St, off Pearse Street at the time of the killing.
Registered Medical Practitioner and Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Brian McCaffrey of the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, told the court his client, the accused in this case, had suffered from a “major form of mental illness, probably back to 1993.”
The condition manifested audible hallucinations including voices shouting very loudly at him “You’re a queer, you’re a queer” and a small whispering voice telling him to “do it, do it”, Dr McCaffrey said.
The accused believed he was threatened by youths who lived in his area and “as far as he was concerned it was real. He went to the Garda Station and to his solicitor to complain.”
Combined with an intellectual disability, the accused’s actions were illness driven, responding to a severe form of mental illness with auditory hallucinations and could not have stopped himself from acting, Dr McCaffrey said. The accused, at the time of the killing had “no control ... his illness takes over,” he said.
The accused is now residing in the Central Mental Hospital and is on medication for psychosis and depression but is progressing well, he said.
Dr Charles Smith, of the Central Mental Hospital, told the court he had “no doubt” the accused suffered from a “paranoid psychosis” around the time of the killings which led him to “misinterpret reality leading to the growth of delusions, hallucinations and the like.”
In his direct evidence, father of the accused, Vincent Gibbons, of Mellows Court, Finglas, said that his son Derek was “very slow and backward” all his life. He agreed that special schooling had been recommended for his son but that he had “slipped through the net” and had spent some 23 years “effectively hanging around”.
In his summing up for the jury defence counsel Mr Hugh Harnett SC said five separate psychiatrists had all given their “unshaken view” that the accused was “so psychotic, so out of contact with reality, so distressed, so mentally ill, that he could not re frain from committing the act of killing Mr Doyle.
Summing up for the prosecution and defence concluded in the afternoon and Mr Justice Paul Carney will conclude his charge today.
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Chefs encouraged to use regional recipes
by Fionnán Sheahan
TRADITIONAL regional differences in Irish food are threatened by foreign influences, according to a leading independent good food guide.
Despite improving standards across the country, Georgina Campbell’s Jameson Guide 2001 says it would prefer to see more food with a sense of place on the menu to put an Irish stamp on cooking in restaurants. Encouraging chefs to look to their roots, the guide says they should avoid global food fashions.
“Exciting dishes inspired by traditional Irish themes are a joy and both the Irish language and the provenance of ingredients enrich menus,” the guide says.
Accompanying the launch of the guide yesterday were the presentation of the Bord Bia Awards of Excellence.
The top award of Jameson Hotel of the Year went to Tinakilly House in Co Wicklow. Chapter One in Dublin won Jameson Restaurant of the Year and Kehoe’s in Kilmore Quay took the Jameson Pub of the Year Award.
The accolade of Chef of the Year was claimed by Michael Deane based at his own name restaurant in Belfast.
The establishment also enjoyed an elevation in its ranking as it joined Thornton’s of Rathmines, Dublin in the top two star category.
The guide also granted a record number of new recommendations, many in areas not previously renowned for gastronomy.
“New hotels and restaurants opening daily throughout the country provide a bewildering amount of choice, both for visitors and Irish people who travel and dine out regularly,” the guide says.
Trends identified by the guide include the arrival of café bars, juice bars and modern pubs, growing interest in health, the origin of food and the increasing influence of organic foods.
The guide also says eating out has become the norm.
“It seems that a nation previously nervous of dining out, except on special occasions, is now reluctant to stay at home for dinner.”
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Irish truckers oppose British lorry tax
IRISH truckers were yesterday paying more attention to the preview of the British budget than the US presidential race, given the likelihood of a tax being imposed on Irish lorries driving across Britain.
To avert a repeat of September’s fuel blockade Chancellor Gordon Brown yesterday delivered prudence by the bucket-load in his pre-Budget statement.
Mr Brown announced plans for a Brit Disc for foreign lorries operating in the UK - though he gave no figure for the cost - and cuts in vehicle excise duty for lorries, worth between £1,000 and £4,000 per truck.
Mr Brown will be hoping his move will take the sting out of the fuel protest movement, which has so far received widespread public support.
Yesterday, the president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, Gerry McMahon, said the proposed tax on foreign lorries was unworkable and would prove to be a further burden for hauliers servicing the UK and Europe.
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Father denies 33 counts of sexual abuse of daughter
by Patsy McArdle
A FORMER leading Republican with an address in Belfast who cannot be named for legal reasons pleaded not guilty at Monaghan Circuit Court yesterday to a total of 33 charges of indecently and sexually assaulting his daughter over a period of eight years.
The offences were alleged to have taken place in the border town of Monaghan between 1985 and 1993.
The Court heard that during the period the accused resided with the victim, her mother and three children.
The girl, now 18, told the court that her father sexually assaulted her on several occasions.
She said how her father took her from her bed on one occasion into his room while her mother was out of the house and attempted to have anal sex.
She said she was also forced to have oral sex. She said she was hurt by the accused and suffered a “burning sensation”.
She described being assaulted during Halloween and Christmas periods at the family residence and on one occasion she alleged her father had masturbated her.
She said that when her father was away from the house for periods he would return at weekends and abuse her.
She said that after the last assault her father told her he would not hurt her again and apologised for what had happened.
The witness she was reluctant at first to report all the details of the assaults to a social worker as it took her some time to establish rapport with the counsellor.
She disagreed that her version of events had differed now from what actually happened then and she said she used a “play back movie” form of regression from memory recall.
The trial continues today.
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Murder trial adjourned as accused is sick
by Suzanne Mac Manus
THE trial of a man accused of murdering both his parents was adjourned at the Central Criminal Court yesterday because the accused is ill.
Martin Doherty, 27, of St Lelia Street, Limerick has denied that on the 21 September 1998 he murdered retired garda William Doherty, 58, and his wife Teresa, 50, at their home in Monadreen, Thurles.
Adjourning the trial, Mr Justice Roderick Murphy told the jury proceedings would need to be postponed because the defendant is ill and his doctors recommended he takes his leave until next Monday.
No criminal trial may proceed in the absence of the accused.
The accused was remanded in custody in the Central Mental Hospital.
Previously the court heard that Mr and Mrs Doherty had been living in their bungalow in Thurles with one of their three sons when they were stabbed.
The accused was no longer living at home and on the day of the killings he had travelled to Limerick and back where he had purchased a large kitchen knife.
Prosecution counsel Mr Patrick Gageby SC had said the accused stabbed his father who was in Martin’s old room at the time and when his mother came into the room, he stabbed her as well. Mr Gageby said the accused had told gardaí he had “stabbed (his father) in the arms and belly and anywhere I could get him. (When Mrs Doherty came into the room) I stabbed her in the belly and anywhere I could get her.”
“ It was the best night of my life and I’m glad I did it,” one statement read.
The statement said that after killing both parents, the accused washed, changed his clothes, had a cup of tea and a cheese sandwich and later inflicted further injuries on the now most probably dead couple.
The trial before Mr Justice Roderick Murphy and a jury of six men and six women continues on Monday next.
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Diver likens garda questioning to tactics used by ‘the Gestapo’
by Rita O’Reilly
Murder accused John Diver broke down in the witness box yesterday as he took the stand to deny a charge of murdering his wife.
He denied saying he could not remember what he went out for on the night his wife was strangled or saying that he must have done it.
He also pointed at gardaí in court and made serious allegations about their treatment of him in custody, equating them to the Gestapo. He claimed he had eight or nine angina attacks while he was being interrogated. Garda witnesses have already denied the allegations during their evidence in the trial.
Dressed in charcoal grey suit, white shirt and black silk sheen tie, Mr Diver wept during part of his evidence, which came when the defence case opened four weeks into the Central Criminal Court trial.
John Diver (60) has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his 42 year old wife, who was found strangled in her car outside Buckley’s builders’ providers on Robinhood Road, Clondalkin on 2nd December 1996. The couple had lived with their two children, a boy then aged nine and a girl then aged 13, at Kilnamanagh Road, Walkinstown, Dublin.
Mr Diver told his counsel that he loved his wife. Mr White asked him how much. Was it a deep love or a shallow love, he asked. At this, the accused broke down.
Crying, he replied, “I’d have done anything for her.”
The jury heard that by the time she was killed, Geraldine Diver had stopped sleeping upstairs with her husband in mid November 1996 and had spent the night before her death on a downstairs couch.
The couple married in 1976, Mr Diver 14 years her senior. Asked about his marriage, he said: “We had a normal relationship as a married couple. I suppose we had our ups and downs from time to time but nothing we didn’t resolve at the end of the day.”
He told the trial he had been dismissed from his job at the Coombe Women’s hospital, where his wife also worked, but an appeals commissioner had ruled it was an unfair dismissal and recommended he be reinstated on full pay.
On the advice of a trade union official, he accepted a redundancy package involving £300 a month pension, and a lump sum payment of £20,000, which arrived the day his wife was killed.
He said he supposed he got somewhat depressed after his dismissal and that he and Geraldine “just got on each other’s nerves.” But he said he was not happy with her plans to seek a judicial separation.
“I wasn’t happy about it. I didn’t see the need”, he said. He offered to go to a counsellor, but Geraldine didn’t want anything to do with that.
He said he and Geraldine had an understanding about a separation agreement, and he had never seen and did not know about a second draft she prepared with her solicitor.
The jury has heard that in the second draft, Mrs Diver proposed selling the family home and splitting the proceeds, and was proposing that the children left with her, rather than in the original proposal, where Mr Diver would stay in the house and the children could remain with him if they wished.
Asked about the attitude of the interrogating detectives in the first interview, Detective Garda James Bernie Hanley and Detective Sergeant Dominick Hayes, he compared them to “the Gestapo”.
“They were threatening one would threaten me and the other could be as sweet as pie and suggest things to me”, he alleged. “One would threaten me, not physically at that stage.”
He went on to allege that suggestions made by Det Hayes were written down in interview notes as having been said by himself. “I did not say that I couldn’t remember”, he told counsel.
Mr White read out the replies allegedly made by the accused to the gardaí.
The accused denied that he said he must have been in the back of the car as his wife drove out of their estate on the night of the killing if somebody said he was. “I did not say that, that’s rubbish,” he told the jury.
He alleged that in another interview Detective Garda Gerry Healy and Detective Garda John Clancy were writing things down but had torn up the paper and thrown it in a wastebin “when I wasn’t giving the answers they wanted.”
He alleged that Det Gda Hanley shoved a grey tie in his face that he had never seen before and screamed into his face that he had killed his wife before storming out of the interview room. During their evidence, Det Gda Hanley and the other detectives have already denied all the allegations put to them by the defence.
He also alleged that Det Garda Healy made suggestions about what his children would end up doing when he was “hosed down and put in a cell in Mountjoy”.
Asked did he see his wife again after she left for work that afternoon, he replied, “I didn’t.” Asked did he kill her, he again cried and said, “I didn’t”.
Cross examination of Mr Diver began shortly before the court adjourned. It continues in the Central Criminal Court before Mr Justice Patrick Smith today.
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EU expansion set for 2003
by Mark Hennessy
Europe Editor
Brussels
ENLARGEMENT of the European Union could take place as early as January, 2003, the European Commission declared yesterday in its annual review of negotiations.
In one of the most bullish forecasts yet, the Commission said talks with the most advanced Central and Eastern Europe and Mediterranean countries could end on time by December 2002.
If honoured, this timetable would put pressure on the existing EU 15 to let some of them in as quickly as possible after that.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament warned that it could block enlargement unless member states face up to the challenges ahead when they meet in Nice in December next month. In particular, EU leaders will have to accept the virtual end of national vetoes and greater use of majority voting, said German MEP Elmar Brok.
Speaking to MEPs, EU Enlargement Commissioner Gunther Verheugen said many of the candidates have made great strides in the last year. Dividing up the talks agenda, the Commission said the most sensitive issues, such as outstanding agriculture issues, will be left for the final six months of talks.
Talks began in 1998 with the so called front ranking candidates, Poland, Hungary, Cyprus, Estonia, Slovenia and The Czech Republic. Early this year, however, the EU decided to extend the list to include Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia and Romania. Meanwhile, Turkey was formally listed as a candidate country.
Following the keenly awaited Commission investigation, Cyprus is now the first to join though some deal between Turkey and Greece will be vital before they can get in.
The 40 million strong Poles are doing well economically, though spending and inflation are too high. In addition, privatisation has slowed, while agriculture remains a problem. Hungary’s inflation rate is a problem, though economic and social reforms are continuing apace.
More will have to be done to help the gypsy community there. The Czech Republic has learnt from the rap on the knuckles it got from Brussels last year. This time, the economy is doing better and Prague is doing well to implement EU laws. Latvia should in time to cope with the rigours of EU membership, though it must do much more to bring itself into line with EU environmental and social standards.
Another Baltic State, Lithuania has a functioning market economy one of the basic requirements for membership, though it must curb spending. Slovakia and Estonia were singled out for criticism about corruption.
Romania remains the laggard. Discrimination against gypsies is rife, while the police badly needs reform. Corruption is endemic. Though exports are rising, there is no proper economy.
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Finucane denies rift with gardaí led to her leaving Crimeline programme
RTE´ BROADCASTER Marian Finucane has decided to leave the Crimeline programme but not because of a rumoured communications breakdown between her and the gardaí.
Neither had her decision to leave the programme anything to do with the conviction of a former Crimeline garda of seeking sex with a 13-year-old girl in a Limerick brothel.
“I told RTE´ in June that I was going to finish on Crimeline. They asked me to do it up until Christmas and I said I would. The particular reason I wanted to do this was that there have been things floated in the newspapers about Crimeline that weren’t actually true,” she said in an RTE´ Guide interview.
“I had been doing Crimeline for long enough. OK, it has very good audiences and the punters like it apparently, but it’s time for Marian to move on and do something else,” she stated. She was not sure what her next TV vehicle would be but it wouldn’t be a chat show as “There’s enough of those about.”
Her big break in RTE´ broadcasting came with Liveline, which pioneered public access radio. After doing that slot for 13 years, she changed over, in 1998, to a morning slot on radio.
The Joint National Listenership Research/MRBI figures released last August showed the radio morning programme to be the station’s second most popular radio programme with an audience of 389,000.
Finucane lives on a farm near Naas in Kildare with her partner, John Clarke.
Her first marriage ended after five years in the late ‘70s. In 1989 Sinéad, the couple’s first child, died of leukaemia just before her ninth birthday.
Finucane began her career with RTE´ in 1974 as a continuity announcer. In 1979 she won the Prix Italia for her TV documentary Abortion: The Lonely Crisis.
The Crimeline anchor will be taken over by long-running RTE news reader Anne Doyle. This will be her first vehicle outside of news.
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Vaccine trials on children in care carried out at request of health board, researcher claims
by Katie Hannon
Political Correspondent
A DRUGS company used children in care as guinea pigs for vaccine trials because the Eastern Health Board was concerned about adverse reactions to the three in one vaccine, a report to be published later today suggests.
The long awaited report into the use of children in care in three separate vaccine trials for Wellcome details a claim by the drugs company that the third trial was carried out at the request of the Eastern Health Board after an apparent increase in adverse reactions to the Trivax vaccine. While documentation casts doubt on this, the UCD researcher who carried out the trials confirmed that this was the case.
The report has been described as a Pandora’s Box which threatens to throw open one of the most serious public health scandals in the history of the State.
Fine Gael’s Denis Naughten has called on the Minister for Health to come clean on the background to the controversial vaccine trials and carry out a full investigation into the incidences of brain damage suffered by children who were given the Trivax vaccine in the late 1960s and early ’70s.
Kenneth Best, who was brain damaged by the vaccine in 1969, has successfully sued Glaxo Wellcome. Summing up, Mr Justice Liam Hamilton described the Glaxo Wellcome as negligent and criticised the company’s quality control procedures.
The vaccine batch which was administered to Kenneth was also administered to at least 243 other Irish children in 1968 and 1969.
Sixteen children, including Kenneth Best, were offered a once off ex gratia payment of £10,000 by then Health Minister Dr Michael Woods in 1982 due to the probability that their brain damage was caused by this vaccine. Some accepted the offer and others opted to pursue a claim through the courts.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Eastern Health Board noted an increase in reports of severe reactions among children and wrote to Wellcome expressing their concerns.
While records are poor for this period, they show that three batches of vaccine triggered at least 73 adverse reactions in the Eastern Health Board region, some of which required hospitalisation.
Fine Gael’s spokesman on health Gay Mitchell has criticised the Minister’s decision to refer the vaccine trials report to the Laffoy Commission, established to inquire into allegations of child abuse in State institutions.
Mr Mitchell wants the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children to investigate the matter.
“It isn’t in the same category as anything being considered by the Laffoy Commission,” he said. “If the Committee was given the powers to compel witness to appear before it, we could deal with this matter speedily,” he said.
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Fraud squad to investigate alleged Dutch wine scam
by Mary Dundon
THE Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation is to probe claims by Irish consumers that they have been ripped off by a bogus wine investment company.
The RTE´ Liveline programme was inundated with calls yesterday from consumers claiming they had lost up to £2,000 by investing with a Dutch firm, Vintage Wines.
The callers told how they had been lured into buying cases of vintage wine by promises of huge returns of up to 30% a month. But it turned out that bottles they paid up to £160 for without seeing, could be bought for just £14 from wine merchants.
Several callers to Liveline said they had been contacted by Vintage Wines sales people who said they were operating from a Dublin office. Many said they were Eircom shareholders and wondered if the Dutch company had targeted them specifically.
A Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation (GBFI) spokesman said last night that anyone who felt they had been defrauded by the Dutch company could make a complaint to them.
“We will investigate all complaints, but there may be a difficulty in pursuing the case depending on where the offence took place,” the spokesman said.
If the actual offence took place here, the gardaí will be able to pursue it. But if it took place in Holland or the UK, then they have no jurisdiction over it.
“Our message to all consumers is buyer beware do not invest in any unsolicited product without being able to check it out properly,” the GBFI spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Peter Dunne, of Mitchell’s Wine importers said he has been contacted by several people asking if they should invest in the Dutch firm. Mr Dunne said they had advised people to beware of buying anything they could not examine beforehand.
“The problem is that many people buying this wine do not know a lot about the product and do not in fact realise that any wine over the age of a year is technically a vintage wine,” Mr Dunne said.
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French BSE linked to bonemeal
by Mark Hennessy
MEAT and bonemeal illegally fed to cattle was blamed yesterday by Ireland’s European Health Commissioner David Byrne for France’s recent BSE cases.
Urging calm, Mr. Byrne said just eight cases of BSE have been found in cattle born after the 1996 meat and bonemeal was introduced in the wake of the link between the disease and CJD in Britain.
“Three of those were in the UK, two were in Ireland, two in France and one in Denmark,” said Mr. Byrne, as he published legislation to set up the European Food Authority.
Today, the Commissioner will meet leading French politicians in Paris, where opinion has turned dramatically against beef in recent days. Questioned about the ban on French beef imposed by the Poles and Hungarians, he replied: ”There is no EU ban in place. It would not seem to me to be justified.”
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Nine out of 10 road speed boxs are phonies
by Katie Hannon
Political Correspondent
WHAT do traffic gardaí and hill farmers who use cardboard cut outs of sheep in order to get bigger ewe premium cheques got in common?
They’re fakers that’s what.
Just when you thought it was no longer safe to gun your NCT shy, back yard modified Escort at F1 speeds along your nearest stretch of primary motorway comes the news that, yes, you can give it all the wellie in the world.
Nine out of 10 speed cameras are fakes, phoney, as effective as a mud flap on a pig’s backside, in fact.
The Department of Justice has revealed the gardaí have just two fixed cameras in operation between twenty fixed camera sites in Dublin, Louth and Meath.
The odds are strongly in favour of the speed merchants with 18 out of 20 grey boxes harmlessly empty.
Justice Minister John O’Donoghue outlined the extent of the camera con in response to a parliamentary question from FG’s Denis Naughten.
Mr O’Donoghue said that the National Roads Authority and the gardaí are jointly monitoring the operation of the fixed camera system and in the light of experience will extend fixed speed cameras to other parts of the national network.
In response to a further question from Deputy Naughten, Mr O’Donoghue said that there is a total of six mobile speed detection units in operation throughout the State since June 1998 and a further unit is expected to be operational shortly.
He added that the Gardai also possess laser speed detection guns, in car camera systems and unmarked motorcyles with in built camera systems.
Denis Naughten said the revelation showed the Government has no real commitment to reducing speeding and the number of deaths on our roads.
“Over 50pc of vehicles on the roads are breaking the speed limit but unless the public believe there is a chance they will be caught, then the plan to reduce road deaths will fail.”
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Judge says he felt angered and demeaned by article
A JUDGE who is suing the Sunday Independent for libel told the High Court yesterday when he read an article describing him and another judge as “mobile phone freaks” after his phone rang when he was presiding at a District Court he felt it meant he was “some sort of weirdo an eccentric person”.
Judge Joseph Mangan, 55, said he felt greatly embarrassed, upset, demeaned and denigrated by the article by Gene Kerrigan on the front page of the newspaper on March 22, 1998. He was angered by the article which, he said, asserted that he was bringing the court into disrepute, and which, as he saw it, meant he was not fit to hold office.
The judge claims his was libelled by the article which referred to his mobile phone ringing while he presided at a court sitting in Tallow, Co Waterford on March 13, 1998.
The defence admits it published the article and pleads the words were fair comment on a matter of public interest, namely the discharge by members of the judiciary of their judicial functions and their conduct in court. It is denied Judge Mangan had been damaged in his character or that he had suffered distress or embarrassment as alleged or at all.
Mr Garret Cooney SC, for Judge Mangan read the article which said the “two mobile phone freaks (Terry Finn and Joe Mangan) may well have brought the courts into disrepute, but its not entirely their fault.”
The article stated: “As for Judge Finn throwing a journalist into a cell because the poor hack’s mobile phone rang and Judge Mangan, on the same day in a different court, leaving his mobile phone switched on so that he could take a call in mid case, it is obvious that a little consistency is called for.”
The article also stated: “We suggest that mobile phones be banned from courts. Given the kind of dodgy characters you get in courtrooms, allowing the use of mobile phones could soon result in drug deals being arranged by mobile phones, right there in front of the judge. It is far preferable that barristers make their cocaine purchases in the usual places (a lane off Leeson Street and a car park not unadjacent to the Law Library)”.
Mr Cooney said the article was intended to be humorous but the newspaper was not entitled to drag his client into it and attack his character in the way it did.
In evidence, Judge Mangan said the accommodation at Tallow court was “frugal” with no secretarial back up and no phones. His district court clerk had informed him five or 10 minutes before the court that the health board was requesting a special court sitting which he (judge) suspected might concern an emergency order (relating to child welfare).
Judge Mangan said he had a mobile phone, issued to him by the Department for use for this very purpose. Before the court started he rang the district court clerk’s office in Clonmel but the clerk was not available and he asked that his call be returned at the earliest opportunity. He took his mobile phone into court, and switched it on.
The judge said that shortly after the court sat his mobile phone rang. He adjourned the court for five minutes, left the court with the district court clerk, took the call and arranged for a special court sitting in Cahir later that day to deal with a health board application.
The hearing continues today.
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Mental illness with auditory hallucinations drove man to kill
by Suzanne Mac Manus
A PSYCHIATRIST treating a man accused of murder told a jury in the Central Criminal Court yesterday the killing was “illness driven”. Derek Gibbons, 37, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his neighbour Gerard ‘Redser’ Doyle, 40, on December 21, 1996. Both men were residents of Markievicz House, Townsend St, off Pearse Street at the time of the killing.
Registered Medical Practitioner and Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Brian McCaffrey of the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, told the court his client, the accused in this case, had suffered from a “major form of mental illness, probably back to 1993.”
The condition manifested audible hallucinations including voices shouting very loudly at him “You’re a queer, you’re a queer” and a small whispering voice telling him to “do it, do it”, Dr McCaffrey said.
The accused believed he was threatened by youths who lived in his area and “as far as he was concerned it was real. He went to the Garda Station and to his solicitor to complain.”
Combined with an intellectual disability, the accused’s actions were illness driven, responding to a severe form of mental illness with auditory hallucinations and could not have stopped himself from acting, Dr McCaffrey said. The accused, at the time of the killing had “no control ... his illness takes over,” he said.
The accused is now residing in the Central Mental Hospital and is on medication for psychosis and depression but is progressing well, he said.
Dr Charles Smith, of the Central Mental Hospital, told the court he had “no doubt” the accused suffered from a “paranoid psychosis” around the time of the killings which led him to “misinterpret reality leading to the growth of delusions, hallucinations and the like.”
In his direct evidence, father of the accused, Vincent Gibbons, of Mellows Court, Finglas, said that his son Derek was “very slow and backward” all his life. He agreed that special schooling had been recommended for his son but that he had “slipped through the net” and had spent some 23 years “effectively hanging around”. In his summing up for the jury defence counsel Mr Hugh Harnett SC said five separate psychiatrists had all given their “unshaken view” that the accused was “so psychotic, so out of contact with reality, so distressed, so mentally ill, that he could not re frain from committing the act of killing Mr Doyle.
Summing up for the prosecution and defence concluded in the afternoon and Mr Justice Paul Carney will conclude his charge today.
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Gardaí follow up murder clues provided by Crimeline callers.
by Niall Murray
CALLERS to the Crimeline television programme could have provided vital clues to the murder of Rachel Kiely in Cork two weeks ago.
The appeal which went out on RTE´ on Tuesday night yielded dozens of calls from the public, many of whom suggested names of possible suspects.
Gardaí began following up the information yesterday, after the reconstruction of the 22 year old’s last movements in Ballincollig’s Regional Park on the programme.
“There was a huge response, we were very happy with the volume of calls and more people rang the confidential line today,” a senior investigating garda said last night.
“The names of particular people they thought we should be looking at were mentioned by some of the callers, and there was a lot of other information that may be very beneficial,” the garda said.
It is unclear whether any individuals were named by a number of callers, but gardaí appear confident that the television reconstruction may have helped bring forward their investigation significantly.
They also believe the results of forensic evidence from the scene will be very helpful.
The tests on blood samples volunteered by a number of men are also expected to be completed soon.
Meanwhile, the drivers of two vehicles which were seen at the car park on the west side of the Regional Park on the evening of Rachel’s murder have also spoken to gardaí.
Anyone with further information should contact the gardaí at Gurranabraher, Cork, at 021 4395540 or any other garda station.
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Gardaí hunt gunman after village shooting leaves man wounded
by Sean McCarthaigh
GARDAI are continuing their hunt for a lone gunman who shot a Laois businessman on Tuesday night.
Anthony Maher, a trader from Clonaslee, Co Laois was lucky to survive the attack which occurred just after he closed up his business premises on the village’s main street.
Mr Maher, who runs a small agricultural co op store and petrol station in the north Laois village, was confronted by an assailant as he sat in his car.
During the attack, he was hit several times at close range.
He suffered serious injuries to his chest, shoulder and upper body.
Locals in Clonaslee said they were shocked by the brutal nature of the attack in the middle of the village.
Mr Maher was immediately rushed by ambulance to hospital in Portlaoise and later transferred to James Street hospital in Dublin.
Although his condition was described as serious by a hospital spokesperson last night, Mr Maher’s injuries are not thought to be life threatening.
Gardaí have declined to comment on a possible motive for the attack. No arrests have so far been made in relation to the incident.
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Building union plan strike
BY Conor Keane
THE construction industry is facing an industrial relations crisis as 8,000 blocklayers and carpenters prepare to ballot for a strike.
The workers are looking to double the standard craft rate from £8 to £16 an hour. They are also demanding better conditions and an early retirement scheme.
Members of the 8,000 strong Building and Allied Trades Union are angry the Construction Industry Federation has failed to respond to their demands for enhanced conditions.
The Construction Industry Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has also submitted claims for a 35 hour week and other improved conditions, SIPTU’s Construction Branch Secretary Eric Fleming confirmed last night.
BATU general secretary Paddy O’Shaughnessy said his members were determined to secure major concessions from building firms and were prepared for a major industrial relations battle on a number of fronts.
“The timing has never been better. The industry is awash with millions of pounds in profits, productivity has never been higher, and it is time the workers who made all this possible were properly looked after,” said Mr O’Shaughnessy.
The BATU leader said they would use whatever industrial relations tactics, including strikes and work stoppages, they deemed necessary.
Mr O’Shaughnessy said they were looking for a major increase in the standard common craft rate of £8 a hour which his members are entitled to under the industry’s registered employment agreement.
This rate did not reflect prices being paid in the market and they are demanding a rate of pay closer to £16 an hour. “We have come up with a model which will make setting the pay rates very straightforward,” he added.
Mr O’Shaughnessy said the lack of any response from the CIF was very disappointing.
The CIF’s industrial relations director Terry McEvoy could not be contacted for comment yesterday.
Mr O’Shaughnessy said one of the main issues of concern to blocklayers and carpenters was the urgent need for an early retirement scheme.
“Most of our members are quitting the industry in their 40s and 50s. Many of these started work in the industry at the age of 16 and after 35 years on the job they are leaving.
“We need a well funded early retirement or retraining scheme to look after these men,” he said.
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Miss World beauties storm the Dome
by Emma Hibbs
MISS Ireland joined 95 of the world’s most beautiful women for the Miss World 2000 in the Millennium Dome yesterday — but promptly declared her lack of interest.
Yvonne Ellard, 21, said she had no real interest in modelling before the competition and that she became Miss Ireland by accident.
The young trainee hotelier, from Tipperary town, told how she entered a local beauty competition because her boss said he would buy her a new dress if she won.
Although she didn’t win she did scoop first prize in a photographic competition next day and three days later went on to win Miss Ireland.
The Tipperary girl would, however, like to go on to establish and run her own international hotel chain.
The contestants met yesterday ahead of the November 30 date for the final of the competition, which will be hosted by US TV celebrity, Jerry Springer.
Northern Ireland’s first entrant in the competition, Julie Lee Ann Martin, 20, also joined the contestants. The dental nurse from Belfast said the contest had already seen her quizzed by girls from around the world about the situation in Northern Ireland.
‘‘Politics and religion is a long story,’’ she joked.
Last night the competitors in the 50th staging of the pageant jetted off to the Maldives for the swimming costume category.
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Deaths of two brothers and friend accidental
BY Cormac O’Keeffe
A YOUNG man fought back tears yesterday as he recalled the tragic deaths of three youths including two brothers with whom he was travelling with in a stolen car.
Daniel Garland, from Cherrywood Grove, Clondalkin, west Dublin, survived when the car, which was travelling at high speed, crashed into the Grand Canal at 5.15am on New Year’s Day 2000.
Emmet Finn, 17, and his brother Alan, 15, from 60 Rockfield Drive, Clondalkin, and Christopher McHugh, 21, from 58 Oakdowns, Greenpark, Clondalkin, died in the crash.
The tragedy happened when the car, which had previously been reported stolen, drove through the junction at Davitt Road and Dolphin Road, at Inchicore, before hitting Griffin Bridge and slamming into the Grand Canal.
Daniel Garland told Dublin City Coroner’s Court that he got into the car, a blue Ford Escort, when the Fynn brothers and Christopher McHugh pulled up beside him at around 3am or 4am on New Year’s Day and asked him if he wanted to go for a drive.
When asked by the solicitor for the Finn and McHugh families, Kieran Harte, was it not strange that he got into the car if he did not know them, he said: “I knew them by name, but we weren’t close friends. I had spoken to them a few times.”
Daniel said he had met them earlier at his brother’s girlfriend’s New Year’s Eve party in Greenpark, where a fight had broken out.
Daniel, was very subdued in court and desperately tried to fight back the tears, said he did not think the car was stolen because he had seen keys in the ignition.
Indeed, the Coroner stressed there was no conclusive proof that the youths had stolen the car or knew it was stolen, only that they were driving a car that had been reported stolen.
Daniel said they were driving pretty fast when they came to the junction of Davitt Road and Dolphin Road. He said two people ran out in front of them, forcing the driver to avoid them.
“He tried holding the steering wheel straight and then skidded to avoid hitting the bridge. I don’t remember anything until I woke up with water up to my neck.”
A nearby ambulance crew was alerted by a passing taxi. They managed to free three of the youths and, when they lifted the car with a crane, discovered a fourth body trapped in the driver’s seat.
The four were taken to the casualty department at St James’s Hospital, where the three were pronounced dead.
A post mortem revealed that Christopher McHugh suffered multiple injuries, with fractured limbs and a cut to his head. His death was due to drowning.
Emmet Finn’s post mortem revealed that he too died from drowning, but also suffered injuries.
Coroner Dr Brian Farrell told the grieving families, members of whom could not contain their sorrow at times, that all three youths were more than likely unconscious before drowning.
Emmet’s brother Alan suffered multiple injuries and severe damage to his heart, causing death. Dr Farrell again said that he would have died instantaneously.
The jury of three men and four women returned a verdict of accidental death. Dr Farrell said he found it difficult to find the words to express the tragedy that had befallen the families, particularly the Finn parents, who had lost two sons.
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©Irish Examiner, 2000
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