More news in brief.
Conference to honour theologian
A special one-day conference to honour Ireland's most distinguished and widely respected Roman Catholic theologian will take place in his home county, Mayo, on Saturday, October 13th, writes Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent.
Fr Enda McDonagh was professor of moral theology at St Patrick's College Maynooth, from 1958 until 1995, when he retired from full-time teaching.
He has also taught at Cambridge University in England and Notre Dame University in the US. A former member of the senate of the National University of Ireland and former chancellor of University College Cork, he has written 15 books, the latest of which, Immersed in Mystery: En Route to Theology, was published recently.
Last month he made history when he became the first Catholic priest to be appointed an ecumenical canon of the chapter of St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin.
The conference in his honour, on the theme of "Beauty, Love and Truth", will take place at the McWilliam Park hotel in Claremorris, Co Mayo, not far from his home village of Bekan.
Speakers will include former taoiseach Garret FitzGerald, former secretary general at the Department of Foreign Affairs Dr Noel Dorr, the director of joint-programme for Mediterranean and Near Eastern studies at Trinity College Dublin Prof Seán Freyne, the professor of theology at the Irish School of Ecumenics Dr Linda Hogan, and Sr Stanislaus Kennedy.
Details at www.gmit.ie/ castlebar/conference.html
SF commitment on illegal drugs
In Dublin, Sinn Féin yesterday pledged to use the joint policing committees to fight the distribution of illegal drugs and anti-social behaviour.
Cllr Larry O'Toole, vice-chairman of the Dublin joint policing committee, said his party would reach out to communities affected by drugs and crime.
"It is essential that the communities give their account of the problems in their areas and offer their views on the best way to address those problems," he said.