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Limerick solicitor Brian O’Donnell leaves €6m mansion
AN EMBATTLED solicitor and property developer from Limerick has left his Killiney mansion and is due to appear before the Four Courts today in relation to trespassing at the €6m property. The High Court has refused an attempt by the family of Brian O’Donnell, originally from the Ennis Road in Limerick, to stop receivers repossessing the family home, which he insists is in his children’s names. Mr O’Donnell, who attended the Crescent College Comprehensive, was known as a talented rugby player in the city, while his brothers Hugh, Richard and Robin still live locally.
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Ferguson report reveals shocking set of racist emails sent by law enforcement
A shocking set of racist emails sent by senior Ferguson law enforcement officials depict Barack Obama as a chimpanzee and characterise Michelle Obama as a bare-chested African woman, inside a damning federal investigation into civil rights violations committed by the police force. Extracts from seven emails sent by Ferguson police supervisors, published in a long- awaited US justice department report released on Tuesday, were seized upon by investigators as illustrative of the “unequivocally derogatory, dehumanising” array of communications obtained in the investigation that were “demonstrative of impermissible bias”.
The Irish Times q -
Ireland one of least Muslim-friendly countries – report
Ireland is considered to be one of the least friendly places for Muslims to visit, according to the Global Muslim Travel Index, which has just been published. The report evaluates countries in terms of their attentiveness to the needs of Muslim travellers, including the presence and accessibility of “halal” restaurants with food prepared to Islamic standards, and the provision of prayer rooms at airports, shopping centres and hotels. The index compiled by travel firm CrescentRating and MasterCard suggests that Mexico is the least Muslim-friendly country in a list of 25 countries where Islam is not the predominant religion with Ireland finishing in second-last place. The United Kingdom finished in sixth place, while the US was said to be the 14th most welcoming countries for Muslims.
The Irish Times q -
Slowly it dawns that you no longer fit in in Ireland, after 18 years gone
I laughed hysterically the first time somebody called me Frau Murphy, but that is who I have become. To be an emigrant is to be an enigma, shrouded in mystery and, in my case, wrapped in a conundrum of shamrocks and sauerkraut. Emigration changes every ounce of your being, over and over again.
The Irish Times q -
Norris criticises ‘savage cuts’ to salaries of Leinster House ushers
Independent Senator David Norris has criticised what he called a “surreptitious attempt” to make “savage cuts” of 5.6 per cent to the salaries of Leinster House ushers. Mr Norris described the move as an “absolute outrage” and said that ushers were on salaries ranging from €24,000 to €34,000 while there were Oireachtas members “who live in County Dublin but get €25,000 in travelling expenses”.
The Irish Times q -
Indonesia rejects prisoner swap as executions loom
Citizens of France, Brazil, the Philippines, Ghana, Nigeria and Indonesia also face death penalty
The Irish Times q -
Sixteen foot python found in canal
The grim discovery of the giant snake floating in a canal in Lancashire was made by walkers on Sunday. A reptile expert went to the scene at Norden Bridge, Rishton, and recovered the python, which measured at over 16ft 5ins and is believed to have been around 12 to 15 years old. Lancashire Police are now investigating how the python got there and are appealing for anyone with any information to come forward. Ribble Valley wildlife crime officer Pc Carl Chew said: “Experts believe that a python of this size could have been capable of attacking a person so it is fortunate that no one came to any serious harm.
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Enda Kenny: HSE staff must repay any misspent cash
Any money misspent by HSE staff must be repaid to the State, Taoiseach Enda Kenny has insisted. The rebuke follows a damning report by the Comptroller & Auditor General which listed lavish spending on luxury hotels by the HSE. The State’s financial watchdog revealed that €500 a night was spent on a Milan hotel, with €300 a night paid for Dublin’s upmarket Merrion Hotel at a time when the health service is facing a funding crisis. Mr Kenny expressed concerns at the contents of the probe which stated that there was an overspend of millions.
Irish Examiner q -
12 things that look a bit like Kim Kardashian's new blonde hairdo
We’re sure we’ve seen those platinum blonde locks on someone else…
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VIDEO: Plane skids off New York runway; LaGuardia Airport closed
Delta Airlines flight 1086 has skidded off a runway while landing at LaGuardia Airport in New York. No injuries have been reported as yet, the fire department of New York said. The MD-80 went off the runway at around 11.10am local time, said port authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo.
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Two Germans to be caned and jailed in Singapore for graffiti
A Singapore court jailed two Germans for nine months and three strokes of the cane on Thursday after they pleaded guilty to spray-painting graffiti on a train. “This is the darkest episode of my entire life,” said Von Knorre. Singapore is well known for its cleanliness and its zero tolerance for crime. The two were accused of vandalism and trespass after they broke into one of Singapore’s train depots last November to spray-paint a carriage.
The Irish Times q -
Politicians 'masked' when bubble burst
It was Ireland’s “best kept secret” that the economic bubble burst in summer 2006 not 2008, but the situation was effectively masked by politicians focussed on the 2007 general election and vested interests who did not want to break the silence. Prof Alan Ahearne, the head of economics at NUI Galway and a recently appointed adviser to the IMF, made the claim at the latest meeting of the Oireachtas banking inquiry. Prof Ahearne said he and others could name 44 cases of property booms quickly turning into busts in 18 countries since the 1970s.
Irish Examiner q -
Israeli prime minister Benyamin Netanyahu overplays his hand in Washington
In two weeks’ time Ireland’s representatives will drop in for their annual White House bash/bonding ritual with the US President. Except, of course, Israel, for whom the welcome has traditionally been even more effusive, the politics even more closely in step. The White House hosts must not be taken for granted, their political support assumed, or be made to feel they are largely bit players in a domestic drama. Benyamin Netanyahu got it wrong on virtually every count – tone deaf to the diplomacy and politics, or cynically indifferent to the future of US/Israel relations?
The Irish Times q -
Rob Kearney: Joe Schmidt's done a huge amount for me
It was clearly said in jest, but it wouldn’t be difficult to imagine a few political parties’ antennae quivering at Rob Kearney’s assessment of the current Ireland coach. “It’s no secret how good he is as a coach,” Kearney said of Joe Schmidt. Two Heineken Cups followed in the immediate seasons after his appointment at Leinster and Ireland, on a run of 10 successive wins, will retain the Six Nations title if they win their final two away games. But if there is a sense of immortality building around this squad in a World Cup year in which if current form continues its upward trajectory there is a tantalisingly negotiable route to the final, for Kearney and a number of players of his generation, the reality beyond the career must be planned for.
Irish Examiner q -
Family face battle to free Dubai plane spotters
The families of two British men jailed after going plane spotting in Dubai are having to “beg and borrow” to raise desperately-needed cash for the legal battle to free them. Conrad Clitheroe, 53, and his friend Gary Cooper, 45, were arrested after being spotted by an off-duty policeman taking notes near Fujairah Airport, about 128km from Dubai. Mr Clitheroe’s wife Valerie, from Stockport Greater Manchester, said: “We are all sick with worry.
Irish Examiner q -
Me and my wardrobe: style icon Celia opens Limerick exhibition
MODEL agent Celia Holman Lee could hold an exhibition of her clothing 10 times over, but a collection of the garments she has worn over the decades have been carefully selected for more than just their fashion acumen. Many of designer items put on display this Wednesday night in the Hunt Museum - in the biggest personal show of her life - also have deep, sentimental connotations - including the ‘going away’ suit she wore the day after her wedding. The collection features some 29 key pieces from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and noughties, and she told the Limerick Leader “90% were manufactured in Limerick” or by designers with a connection to her beloved city. “The connection to Limerick is huge and it’s really special for me.
Limerick Leader q -
O’Sullivan warns Waterford IT over university status
Bill requiring merger of institutes seeking designation to be published after Easter
The Irish Times q -
David Walliams' marriage 'in trouble' - reports
David Walliams and Lara Stone are said to have separated. According to The Sun, the Britain’s Got Talent judge and Calvin Klein model are on a trial break. The newspaper said that David, 43, was “devastated” after agreeing to the separation. A source was quoted as saying: “David has been putting on a brave face.
BreakingNews.ie q -
Katie Taylor fears amateur boxing in danger of knockout blow
Katie Taylor has warned that the amateur boxing game is in danger of losing its identity and effectively becoming obsolete due to recent moves to minimise the differences between it and the professional fight game. The decision to remove headgear and singlets in the men’s game, changes to the scoring system and the adoption of avenues such as World Series of Boxing and APB Boxing have muddied the waters between the two worlds and maybe not for the better. Irish amateur boxing has already lost a number of top fighters to the professional game, Jason Quigley and John Joe Nevin among them, while Michael Conlan is another still contemplating a potential switch. “What they are trying to do is make the sport more spectator friendly,” said Taylor in Dublin yesterday.
Irish Examiner q -
Apple’s iPhone 6 photographers
Work from photographers from all over the world will be used in new Apple ads
The Irish Times q
