A round-up of today's other home news in brief.
New Cork blood facility welcomed
The Board of the Irish Blood Transfusion Service yesterday welcomed the announcement by the Government that the development of a new €17 million facility for the IBTS in Cork is to go ahead. This decision, it said, recognised the important role the Cork centre played in the provision of the national transfusion service and it was supported by an extremely loyal regional donor base.
The redevelopment of the Cork centre was a top priority for the IBTS board for many years said chairwoman Maura McGrath. Chief executive Andrew Kelly said the investment was very welcome at a time of pressure on public finances.
Stabbed robber's file to go to DPP
A file is being prepared for the DPP on the death of a man who was stabbed in the chest as he tried to flee the scene of a robbery he had just carried out.
Paul Howe (22) Glenshane Crescent, Tallaght, Dublin, was leaving Supervalu Howth Road, Killester, on October 8th when he was fatally injured. He was one of two men who entered the shop just before 8.30pm armed with knives and demanded money.
The two were chased by staff, customers and some members of the public as they made their getaway and Mr Howe was stabbed in the chest. A postmortem by State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy found that Mr Howe died as a result of a single stab wound to the chest. The coroner adjourned the inquest until May 2009.
Men tried to lure girl into car
Gardaí in Cork are appealing for help in tracing the occupants of a car who tried to lure a young girl into their vehicle. The dark coloured car or van was seen in a residential area of Mayfield Cork city at about 6.30pm on Monday. There were two male occupants in the vehicle.
Gardaí in Mayfield are investigating an allegation that one of these men made an "unwarranted approach" to a young girl in the Ard na Gréine estate. Nobody was injured in this incident.
This is the second such incident in the Mayfield area in the past few weeks and the third incident in the city in three months. Gardaí do not yet know if the same men were involved in all three incidents.
Inquiry into man's shooting ongoing
The Garda investigation is continuing into the shooting dead of a 21-year-old man on Sheriff Street in Dublin's north inner city last October. Gavin McCarthy, Lr Oriel Street, Dublin, was shot in the neck outside a pub on Sheriff Street on October 19th by an assailant who made his getaway on a bicycle.
Insp Kevin Dolan of Store Street Garda station told the opening of the inquest at Dublin City Coroner's Court yesterday that the Garda investigation into the death is active and he applied for an adjournment of the inquest under Section 25.1 of the Coroner's Act 1962A, which Dr Farrell granted.
Trawler skipper fined 1,000
The Spanish skipper of a UK-registered trawler was yesterday fined €1,000 for underdeclaring the size of a catch of hake at Killybegs, Co Donegal. Donegal Circuit Court also heard that the owners of the John-Loren automatically forfeited the catch and fishing gear worth a total of €35,000.
Roberto Viquiera, the 51-year-old skipper from Oleiros A Corunna in Spain, admitted the offence - a breach of Irish and EU regulations - which was discovered when his vessel was boarded at Killybegs by Sea Fisheries Protection officer Paddy Gallagher last Saturday week. The court heard the John-Loren regularly dropped off fish at Killybegs. It was then sent to Spain for sale. On this occasion checks showed the catch weighed 1,000kg more than was registered in the log. The excess catch was worth €1,600.