In Short

A round up of today's other stories in brief...

A round up of today's other stories in brief...

Man to face freezer murder trial

A Galway city man has been sent forward for trial to the Central Criminal Court charged with the murder of a Dubliner whose frozen body was found in a freezer behind a fishmonger's shop in Galway city last June.

Edward Griffin(44), Cimín Mór, Cappagh Road, Salthill, is charged with the murder of Patrick McCormack (52), between June 1st and September 30th, 2002.

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Judge Aeneus McCarthy remanded Mr Griffin on bail on his own surety of €10,000. His father, Edward Griffin snr, and his aunt provided two independent sureties of €10,000 each with €3,000 of each to be lodged in court.

Staff at a fishmonger's shop in Henry Street, Galway, discovered the body in a freezer room at the rear of the premises on June 13th last year.

McCormack had been reported missing in 2003.

Drogheda inquest adjourned

Gardaí found the body of a man in a pool of blood when they entered an apartment in Drogheda, an inquest heard yesterday.

Colm Donlon (28) was from Dundalk, Co Louth. Later this year his brother Aidan is due to stand trial in connection with his death.

The inquest into his death was opened at Drogheda Coroner's Court yesterday and then adjourned as criminal proceedings have begun. A postmortem by State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy found that he died from a stab wound to the trunk.

Man died from gunshots

A man believed to be a significant player in the drugs trade in Cork died from gunshot wounds to the head and neck, an inquest heard yesterday.

The body of David Brett (34), Charleville, Co Cork, was found in a pool of blood outside a country school near Ballydesmond on the Cork- Kerry border in May 2007.

The inquest into the death of the father of three was opened at Mallow Coroner's Court yesterday, but adjourned for a year at the request of Insp Senan Ryan while criminal proceedings are being considered.

Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster told the inquest that the cause of death was a combination of haemorrhage and shock and cerebral trauma due to gunshot wounds to the head and neck.

Ennis-Limerick line to reopen

Iarnród Éireann says it expects the Ennis-Limerick rail line will reopen today. Following a final track inspection this morning, the line should be open for passenger services starting with the 9.20am service. It has been closed since February 6th due to flooding near Ballycar.

While train services will operate as normal from today, planned track improvement works at Ennis Junction mean that train services will be replaced by bus transfers from 6pm on Saturday to 10am on Sunday.

Dog owners warned on sheep

Dog owners have been warned that farmers have a right to shoot marauding dogs which threaten their sheep flocks, writes Seán MacConnell.

The warning came at peak lambing time from the Irish Farmers Association's sheep committee chairman, Henry Burns. He was appealing to owners to keep their dogs under complete control and called for a public relations campaign to promote responsible dog ownership. Uncontrolled dogs, he said, could inflict horrific damage on sheep, especially at lambing time.

Under the Control of Dogs Act, owners can be held liable for the financial damage inflicted on a flock from an attack by their dog.