Other regional news in brief
Boy (4) dies after falling from tractor
A four-year-old boy died yesterday after falling from a tractor near Abbeydorney, Co Kerry.
The accident occurred shortly before lunch time on the road at Derryrin, north of Abbeydorney.
Named locally as Johnny Nolan, he was the eldest of two children of Thomas and Aisling Nolan from nearby Lixnaw. Both parents teach at Causeway Comprehensive School.
Gardaí said the child had fallen from the tractor, which was travelling on the road
at 12.50pm. It is understood he was with his father at the time.
Man (75) passes driving test
A 75-year-old father of 12 from Cork was celebrating yesterday as he finally passed his driving test after 45 years on a provisional licence.
Kevin Daly, a retired docker from Farranree, Cork, passed his test on Monday at the Blackrock Test Centre after numerous attempts.
Mr Daly, who has 20 grandchildren and seven great grandchildren, said he was "over the moon" after so many years on a provisional licence. "I have done so many tests over the years. I don't even know how many. I am thrilled."
Shot fired during post office raid
A shot was fired in a raid yesterday on a post office in Raphoe, Co Donegal.
Staff and customers in Coyle's supermarket, in which the post office is based, fled when one of two masked raiders produced a gun.
Local councillor Jimmy Harte, who spoke to eyewitnesses shortly after the 9.30am raid, said he believed the shot was fired into the ceiling. Nobody was injured.
Gardaí were investigating claims that it involved a starting pistol. One of the men carried a sledge-hammer. A car believed to have been the getaway vehicle was found burned out almost 2km outside the town.
'Pere Charles' film wins award
An RTÉ documentary by the station's southeast correspondent, Damien Tiernan, about the sinking of the trawlers Pere Charlesand Honeydew IIwith the loss of seven lives has won an award at the WorldFest Houston Film Festival in the US.
Souls of the Seawon a Silver Remi Award at the festival for highlighting the dangers facing fishermen when they put to sea and how the bereaved have dealt with their loss when the trawlers sank off the Waterford coast in January 2007.
Tiernan dedicated the award to those who drowned and their families.
13th century pavement found
An ancient pavement, discovered by archaeologists at the Parade in Kilkenny on Monday, will be destroyed because it is in the way of drainpipes being laid for a street upgrade, writes Laura Keys.
Archaeologists exposed a large section of cobblestone pavement, near Kilkenny Castle. Thought to be part of the original surface of the castle's parade ground, it is along a drainage trench and will be dug up, back-filled and paved over in a matter of days.
Director of archaeology at the site, Patrick Neary, said early indications showed the pavement had origins in both the 13th and 17th centuries - when the parade ground was thought to be built.
"It's definitely the first surface that was here in the area."
The Parade gets its name because it was once a parade ground for the Duke of Ormonde's soldiers. Before the pavement is dug up, the find will be archaeologically recorded.