A round-up of other stories in brief
Court rejects appear by murderer
The Court of Criminal Appeal has dismissed an appeal by a Cork man against his conviction for murdering a man with an axe in 2002.
Mark Allingham (27), Fr Murphy Place, Cork, was found guilty at the Central Criminal Court in 2004 of murdering Gerard Hackett (49), of Cork Simon Community, on a date between October 16th and 21st, 2002. He was jailed for life.
Allingham had denied the charge and claimed he had "snapped" when the deceased had tried to sexually assault him.
Rejecting the appeal, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns said the summing up to the jury by the late Mr Justice Diarmuid O'Donovan on the defence of provocation was "a model of its kind" and the court could find "absolutely no criticism with it".
Oral hearing on Blasket plan
An oral hearing is to take place into plans to develop new buildings on the Great Blasket Island off the coast of Co Kerry.
Last year Kerry County Council granted permission for a cafe and services building to the company that owns property on the island, An Blascaod Mór Teo.
However, the decision was appealed to An Bord Pleanála last December and a decision was deferred recently.
A spokesman for An Bord Pleanála yesterday said it had now been decided to hold an oral hearing first, but no date for the hearing had been set.
Drowning victim laid to rest
Weeping schoolmates of drowned teenager Brian McDaid formed a guard of honour yesterday as his coffin was carried to his funeral just yards from his home in Ardnameala, St Johnston, Co Donegal.
Parish priest Msgr Dan Carr, who presided at the funeral Mass, recalled that the 13-year-old who drowned in a freak accident in the Foyle river, was a "lovely, outgoing, chirpy, young boy who was carefree and carried no grudges".
More than 1,200 mourners attended the service at St Baithin's Church.
Man charged with assault
Aydin Gangor (49), Henrietta Street, Waterford, originally from Turkey, appeared at the District Court in Waterford yesterday charged with assault causing harm to Mahmoud Farhan on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old Kurdish man was stabbed a number of times outside a city bar on Tuesday afternoon, following a dispute between a number of men.
Another Turkish male, aged 36, was detained for questioning but has since been released.
Mr Farhan is in a "stable" condition at Waterford Regional Hospital.
Judge Liz McGrath granted the accused bail on conditions.
Woman released after air incident
A 36-year-old Canadian woman arrested on Wednesday evening after the flight on which she had been travelling diverted to Shannon airport, has been released without charge.
She had been travelling from Rome to Montreal on a Zoom Airlines flight when air traffic controllers at Shannon were contacted by the captain and advised that he required to land as a passenger had "lost control".
The woman was removed from the aircraft and taken to Shannon Garda station.
Gardaí say they are treating the matter as an "air rage incident" and said the woman was released but was not permitted to continue her flight.
It is understood she had been on medication and suffered an adverse reaction when she consumed alcohol.