More news in brief
A man who arrived in Ireland with four passports and cocaine valued at €315,000 has been jailed for five years at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Daniel Nwaozor (26), with an address at 7th Avenue, Festac, Nigeria, was detained on arrival at Dublin airport from Amsterdam on May 11th last year.
Nwaozor told the court that he was pressurised into doing the drugs-run by a man from whom he had borrowed a lot of money to try to gain a master's degree in business administration and to pay his chronic alcohol debts.
Decision on legal costs reserved
The High Court has reserved its decision on who must pay the legal costs of an unsuccessful attempt by President Mary McAleese's protocol officer to secure an injunction halting a disciplinary inquiry against her.
Bridget Conway, a senior civil servant from Oakleigh, Clane Road, Celbridge, Co Kildare, had sought the injunction pending the outcome of her full action against the State.
The State yesterday applied for its costs of the two-day injunction hearing - likely to exceed €30,000. Ms Conway was in the High Court for the application before Mr Justice Kevin Feeney. He said costs would be decided at the end of the full action.
Delay cited in abuse case appeal
The Court of Criminal Appeal has reserved judgment on an appeal by former pirate radio station founder Eamon Cooke against his conviction and 10-year jail sentence for the sexual assaults of children.
Moving Cooke's appeal yesterday, Patrick Gageby SC said his main grounds of appeal related to the nature of the charge to the jury delivered by the trial judge, Mr Justice John Quirke, and especially how the trial judge dealt with the issue of the delay in making the complaints and the effect of that delay.
Counsel said the sexual assault counts related, in the case of two girls, to dates between 1974 and 1978 and in the case of the other two girls, to dates between 1987 and 1989.
Mr Gageby said Cooke's counsel at the trial had failed through simple inadvertence to give a warning to the jury of the difficulties arising from old cases.
Owner challenges sale of 150 cattle
The High Court has further adjourned proceedings by Co Tipperary farmer John Hanrahan aimed at restraining the sale of 150 cattle removed from his farm by Department of Agriculture officials in March.
The case arises after department officials visited Mr Hanrahan's farm at Ballydine, Carrick-on-Suir, and removed 391 cows, calves and heifers on grounds of animal welfare concerns.
The officials later brought some feedstuffs to the farm and agreed to allow Mr Hanrahan retain his milking herd of some 120 animals.
Mr Hanrahan subsequently brought an appeal to the District Court against the removal of the other animals but these proceedings had been settled on confidential terms and the appeal was struck out.
However, a dispute between Mr Hanrahan and the department over settlement terms later arose and that has led to the High Court proceedings.