More news in brief.
O'Flynn voted back in as Siptu chief
Joe O'Flynn has been re-elected general secretary of Siptu, the country's largest trade union.
Mr O'Flynn, who secured 45,216 votes, defeated the only other candidate, Kieran Allen of the union's education branch, who received 12,455 votes. There were 460 spoiled votes.
Mr O'Flynn is credited with achieving the union's highest ever membership, which now stands at 276,000.
He said he regarded the result "as an emphatic endorsement of my work on behalf of Siptu over the past six years and it gives me a strong mandate for the next six."
70 jobs to go as Symantec moves
Software maker Symantec is to move its manufacturing centre from Dublin to the Czech Republic, with the loss of about 70 jobs from the firm's Ballycoolin site.
A Symantec spokesman said the vast majority of its 1,190 employees will not be affected by the move.
He said: "Ireland continues to be a very important hub for Symantec, especially in high-value roles such as research and development."
The firm also announced it expects to create 43 jobs in Ireland by contracting its telephone sales to a Dublin-based company, ServiceSource.
Ammunition and drugs seized
Drugs and a "substantial quantity" of ammunition was seized after Garda raids on 11 houses in south Dublin city centre early on Wednesday morning.
The Garda press office confirmed last night that a 24-year-old man was arrested and later released, with a file to be sent to the DPP.
The raids were part of an ongoing operation targeting serious crime in the Dublin region.
Harney wants data on ageing
Minister for Health Mary Harney has said the accumulation of data on ageing in Ireland is essential as it will help put the State's increasingly aged population at the centre of health policy.
Ireland is one of the OECD nations with the fewest people aged over 65 at present, 11 per cent, but this figure will triple by 2056 and researchers are attempting to draw up a strategy to address this changing demographic.
Ms Harney said policymakers must look to the future rather than to the past. The Minister was addressing a conference on ageing yesterday at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin.
Tenders sought for concert hall
The Government has called for tenders for the redevelopment of the National Concert Hall site.
Developers are being sought to build a new 2,050-seat hall, a smaller 500-seat venue, and redevelop the existing 1200-seat hall into a slightly smaller 1000-seat venue.
The new venues will be built under a PPP (Public Private Partnership) arrangement.
The existing hall will continue to operate while the newer venues are built on the Earlsfort Terrace site.
The contract notice for the site has been published in the official journal of the European Union.
Council to pay boy damages
An 11-year-old schoolboy, whose right knee was torn by jagged concrete as he played football, has been awarded €17,500 damages against Dublin City Council.
Counsel for Patrick Morgan, of Swiftsgrove, Clonshaugh, Dublin, told the Circuit Civil Court yesterday that Patrick had been playing football near his home in July 2005 and had fallen as he was chasing the ball.
Meanwhile, another child, injured by a jagged edge in a swimming pool, was awarded €13,500 against Dublin holiday firm Panorama Holiday Group Ltd, Trading as Airtours Holidays, Beckett Way, Nangor Road, Dublin.