A round-up of some other news reports.
Irishman dies in road crash in Thailand
A young Irishman has died in a motorcycle crash in Thailand.
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the Irish consul in Bangkok was offering its assistance to the man's family.
Details on the collision were not available last night, though it is known the accident happened on Tuesday afternoon.
Sexual assault trial halted
The High Court has granted a 48-year-old man an order stopping his prosecution for the alleged rape and sexual assault of his two sisters when they were young girls.
The married man had applied to the High Court to stop his impending trial from taking place due to excessive delay between the alleged commission of the offences and the bringing of formal complaints. The court heard there was a delay of 18 years between the first alleged incident and the date the sisters first complained to gardaí.
It was alleged the offences occurred between December 1971 and May 1981 when the sisters were aged around 11 and seven.
Man jailed for taking machinery
A Co Monaghan man who pleaded guilty to charges of handling more than €41,000 worth of stolen machinery, was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment in the Circuit Criminal Court in Monaghan.
Geoffrey Russell (35), Emy, Emyvale, pleaded guilty to a series of charges relating to various items of stolen machinery valued at €41,817 which were recovered by gardaí during searches at his premises between September 9th and September 28th, 2004.
Judge John O'Hagan heard that machinery stolen south of the Border was taken as far north as Co Antrim, while property stolen in the Antrim area was sold in the midlands.
The judge said this type of crime had serious consequences for tradesmen, who might have taken a long time to build up their stocks of machinery and were then hit by substantial losses through theft. He described Russell's involvement in the machinery stealing racket as "despicable". He also refused leave to appeal the sentence.
Hotel objects to dance licence
An objection by a five-star hotel to the dance licence for a neighbouring nightclub was adjourned yesterday to January 20th.
The Fitzwilliam Hotel on St Stephen's Green, Dublin, is objecting to the Dandelion Club, one of a number of city entertainment venues owned by millionaire Liam O'Dwyer.
The hotel management is worried its international reputation among five-star hotels could be irreparably damaged because of the ongoing nuisance to its guests caused by rowdy patrons entering and leaving the club.
Mr O'Dwyer argues he has done everything possible to deal with the hotel's complaints and that the club is not the sole source of noise and nuisance in what is a busy city street.
Yesterday's adjournment in Dublin District Court was made at the request of the hotel.
Man remanded on bomb charge
A Dublin man charged in connection with the discovery of a bomb in a car at the Westlink toll bridge last month was remanded until March at the Special Criminal Court yesterday.
Martin O'Rourke (23), Sheepmore Grove, Blanchardstown, is charged with the unlawful possession of an improvised explosive device at the Westlink Toll Plaza, Castleknock, on December 8th.
He is also charged with membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the Irish Republican Army, otherwise Óglaigh na hÉireann, otherwise the IRA, on the same date.
He was remanded in custody until March 1st.
Inquiry opens into illegal
Galway dumpGalway County Council has begun an inquiry after an illegal dump was found in protected marshland close to Lough Corrib, near the city's main landfill site on the Headford Road.
Commercial and household waste has been dumped on small bog roads about three miles from the city centre and it is feared the illegal dump could create a pollution threat for Lough Corrib.
A spokesperson for Galway County Council said that last year the council had issued 335 fines for illegal dumping and that it had a good record for enforcing the law. But farmers in Curraghmore, where the illegal dumping has occurred, say it has been going on for a long time and that no action was taken. The farmers had erected gates to curb the activity but rubbish had still been dumped outside them.
Major finds at Mayo bypass site
Archaeologists working on the €63 million Charlestown bypass in Co Mayo have found a wealth of artefacts as well as evidence of a major Neolithic settlement.
A site near the present GAA pitch in Charlestown was apparently a settlement during the Neolithic period (4,000 BC) as well as during the early Christian (500-900 AD) periods.
A 15m-long souterrain or underground passage probably built for refuge during cattle raids, is one of the main features of the later enclosure at the site.
Items found along the 18km stretch of bypass include pottery, stone tools, pieces of flint; three bronze ringpins; lignite bracelets and a glass bead. Construction work on the bypass begins later this year.
New system for Galway city traffic
New traffic arrangements for Galway city centre aim to help complete the Eyre Square redevelopment. Galway City Council says work on the €9 million project will be finished by April, bringing to an end two years of misery for the city's business and shopping communities. SIAC Construction was appointed last autumn after the original developers, Samuel Kingston Construction, walked off the site in late June.
New one-way traffic systems began this week to aid the completion of work on the west side of the square where the road in front of the Skeffington Arms will be pedestrianised.
A council spokesman said work on the square's north and east sides was now finished.