Today's other stories in brief
Man (53) dies in house fire in Longford
A 53-year-old man died in a house fire at Terlicken near Ballymahon in Co Longford last evening.
The man is understood to have been the only occupant of the house at the time.
Gardaí said it was too early to say what caused the blaze.
Four injured in road pile-up
Four people were treated in hospital yesterday after a multi-vehicle road crash in Co Meath.
The incident took place shortly after 9.30am on the north side of Slane village. The crash involved up to nine vehicles, including two lorries.
It is understood one of the lorries lost control on the approach to the village, crashing into a number of cars. Four people were taken to hospital, but their injuries are not thought to be life- threatening.
Attack on Orange halls condemned
The Orange Order has condemned a series of attacks on Orange halls that took place in different parts of Northern Ireland since St Patrick’s Day.
A 24-year-old man was arrested following an attempted arson attack on Ballykelly Orange hall in Co Derry on Sunday. Republican graffiti were also painted last week on three halls in the Glenavy and Lisburn area of Co Antrim.
A order spokesman said he was extremely saddened at the attacks and the intimidation involved. “These halls are important buildings in their local communities and are used by a wide range of groups which include the Orange Order, local bands, church organisations and other cultural and community groups,” he said.
Website check on car mileage
A website which allows motorists check the history of cars will soon be able to provide details of the mileage on more than one million vehicles on Irish roads.
Motorcheck.ie announced yesterday it had teamed up with the Vehicle Leasing Association of Ireland, which would allow another 500,000 audited odometer readings to be added to its site.
The move, it said, should help reduce the ongoing impact that “clocking” cars – tampering with their odometer readings – was having on the second-hand car market here.
Road Safety Authority chief executive Noel Brett welcomed the development.
Council withdraws Eirgrid challenge
The Monaghan county manager has told the Commercial Court he will not be opposing a challenge by Eirgrid to Monaghan County Council’s ban on the location of high-voltage power lines close to schools, workplaces and homes as part of a €184 million cross-Border energy- sharing project.
The council had decided on January 5th last to vary the Monaghan development plan to prevent the location of high density overhead power lines within 100 metres of any house, school, sports field or place of work.
On the advice on the county manager, the council has decided not to oppose Eirgrid’s challenge to the ban.
Sentence due on building site death
A construction company faces sentence at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court under the Health and Safety Act arising out of the death of a man on a building site in 2005.
Edmund Christopher Meridith (23), a carpet fitter, was killed when he was struck by a steel L-shaped angle that fell like “a spear or javelin” from the sixth storey of an apartment block off Dublin’s Pearse Street.
Damien Fulton, Ridgewood Close, Swords, pleaded guilty on behalf of Pierse Contracting Ltd, Mulhuddart, to three breaches of section seven of the Health and Safety Act at Gallery Quay, Pearse Street, on March 14th, 2005.