Former RUC head warns against early movement on Patten report

Saturday/Sunday

Saturday/Sunday

A rally in Belfast against the reform of the RUC proposed by the Patten report was addressed by a former chief constable of the force, Sir John Hermon. He warned against pushing the report's recommendations through the British parliament before the Northern Ireland Assembly was properly in place.

The dissident republican group, the 32-County Sovereignty Movement, opened a branch in Derry saying it plans to build "the strongest republican opposition ever to British rule".

The Kilkenny hurling star, P.J. Delaney, was in a critical condition in Cork Regional Hospital after being seriously assaulted early on Sunday morning outside a hotel in Thurles.

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Monday

Mr Richie Green, vice-chairman of the Irish National Organisation of the Unemployed, and his daughter, Christina, were killed in a car crash. They were travelling to a contract cleaning job when a stolen car rammed into them early in the morning in Townsend Street, Dublin.

The Fine Gael spokesman on finance, Mr Michael Noonan, launched a tax plan which promises an exemption from tax of the first £170 of weekly income for all workers. It proposes to extend the standard tax band taking many taxpayers off the top rate and creating a new rate of 35 per cent.

Tuesday

The Flood tribunal on planning irregularities resumed business this week after the summer recess. The tribunal was dealing with payments made to the former assistant Dublin city and county manager, Mr George Redmond. It was found Mr Redmond's bank lodgments during 1988 alone amounted to more than he earned in net income between 1980 and 1989.

Health boards are to set up registers of children at risk of abuse under new guidelines published by the Minister of State for Children, Mr Frank Fahey. The guidelines are not legally binding on professional or voluntary bodies but leave no room for doubt as to what should be done when there is reason to suspect a child is being neglected or abused.

The Fine Gael TD Mr Bernard Durkan, who is taking part in the Public Accounts Committee DIRT hearings, was found to have had interest payments of £20,000 written off on a debt in ACCBank in 1991. Mr McCreevy, the present Minister for Finance, acted as Mr Durkan's accountant in the negotiations at the time.

Wednesday

More than half the directors of Cement Roadstone Holdings, one of the State's largest companies, held money in the secretive Ansbacher accounts now being investigated by High Court inspectors. It was disclosed that the activities of Ansbacher (Cayman) Ltd in Ireland may have been much greater than previously thought.

Trade union leaders reacted angrily to warnings from the Central Bank that pay moderation is needed to prevent the economy from overheating. The vice-president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Mr Joe O'Toole, said the calls were hypocritical and would not deflect trade unionists from seeking significant pay claims on any new national agreement.

New mental health tribunals to review the legality of detaining patients admitted to psychiatric centres against their will is to be introduced under a new Mental Health Bill. The tribunals are to operate under the auspices of a new mental health commission.

Thursday

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, in his first direct intervention in the current public sector pay disputes, warned that the Government will stand firm against the latest pay demand by the State's 28,000 nurses. In an earlier development more than 90 per cent of the members of the four nursing unions rejected the Labour Court's pay offer of £100 million. Nurses are expected to take strike action next month and all hospitals, health centres and services provided by public health nurses will be affected.

The ESB will introduce a "green tariff" which will enable it to generate more power using renewable energy, such as wind and hydroelectricity. Customers will be asked to pay a small extra amount on their bills. For every unit of electricity purchased under the scheme there will be an extra unit generated from renewable energy.

Seven people questioned by gardai in Co Tipperary in relation to the assault on the Kilkenny hurler, P.J. Delaney, were released without charge. A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.