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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.
Limerick Leader 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 -
Ricky Gervais has posted a video of him weightlifting... and Michelle Obama could be the reason why
Actor Ricky Gervais is the latest celeb to join a fitness craze which echoes last summer’s ice bucket challenge. As part of the Gimme Five challenge, the British comedian donned his gym clothes and trainers and went on a workout spree after being nominated by Aussie actor Hugh Jackman. He posted a selfie video that shows him weight lifting. “Hi I am Ricky Gervais and I accept Hugh Jackman’s challenge,” he told his followers on Facebook.
BreakingNews.ie q -
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 -
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.
BreakingNews.ie 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 -
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 -
IS 'bulldozed' ancienct archaelogical site
Islamic State (IS) militants have “bulldozed” the renowned archaeological site of the ancient city of Nimrud near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul using heavy military vehicles, the government said. A statement from Iraq’s ministry of tourism and antiquities did not elaborate on the extent of the damage, saying only that the group continues to “defy the will of the world and the feelings of humanity”. The latest act follows an attack on the Mosul museum just days earlier. The destruction of the site of one of ancient Mesopotamia’s greatest cities recalled the Taliban’s annihilation of large Buddha statues in Afghanistan more than a dozen years ago, experts said.
BreakingNews.ie q -
Joe Schmidt's home burgled day after England victory
Joe Schmidt’s home was broken into on Monday afternoon, 24 hours after Schmidt led Ireland to Six Nations victory against England in the Aviva Stadium. The The Sun reports that Rathfarnham Gardaí are investigating a break-in at Schmidt’s home in the southside of Dublin. The thieves are believed to have gone through the hose and left with a sum of foreign money. Schmidt was not at home at the time.
BreakingNews.ie q -
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 -
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 -
Brockwell escape was aided by four people, say gardaí
Gardaí now suspect four people were involved in the escape of Derek Brockwell from custody at Tallaght Hospital two weeks ago. Further details of the escape emerged yesterday after detectives questioned an inmate in Portlaoise Prison and arrested his parents, both aged in their 60s, at their home in Co Meath. Investigating officers believe a fourth — as yet unidentified — person was also involved in the escape on February 17. This person drove the motorbike that picked up Brockwell, 53, at the hospital after he assaulted his two prison officers — slicing open one of their stomachs — and fled.
Irish Examiner q -
High-profile mixed-use corner building near Grafton Street for €1.4m
The continuing demand from private investors for well located city-centre retail properties in Dublin is to trigger yet another sale, this time just 100m from Grafton Street. The latest investment, a high profile corner building at the junction of South William Street and Wicklow Street, is for sale through agents Knight Frank at €1.4 million. The ground floor and basement are let to Cassidor Ltd, which trades at Meet and Meat, a New York-style deli/cafe. A roof- mounted antenna produces a further €5,000 a year from Vodafone under a five-year lease from March 2010.
The Irish Times q -
8 celebrity break-ups equally as devastating as David Walliams and Lara Stone's 'split'
Say it’s not true!
BreakingNews.ie q -
Evening Echo — Van Gaal says no rift with Giggs
Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal says he is angered by questions about his working relationship with assistant manager Ryan Giggs. Giggs' lack of reaction to United's winner at Newcastle was captured on television - while by contrast Van Gaal shouted and gesticulated in celebration. United have been stuttering in the league and Van Gaal does not need the distraction over Giggs.
Evening Echo q -
Caught at rear of Port pub on Good Friday
A Dublin man who was seen entering the premises of a closed public house in Portarlington on Good Friday was convicted and fined at last week’s sitting of the Portlaoise District Court. John Stokes, with an address at Sandyford, Dublin 18, committed the offence at O’Deas Pub, Main Street, Portarlington, on April 18 last year. Inspector Aidan Farrelly gave evidence that it was Good Friday and two males were seen entering the rear of the premises. Stokes fled the scene, but he was later apprehended a short distance from the pub.
Leinster Express - News Feed 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 -
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…
BreakingNews.ie q -
Protests due as banks seek repossession of 219 homes in Limerick
PROTESTS are expected at Limerick’s Circuit Court complex this Friday, where over 200 cases to repossess homes will be heard as fury mounts at the number of cases sought by the banks now that property prices are increasing. In all, a total of 219 applications to repossess homes in Limerick city and county have been entered for hearing, and are being taken by the many of the major lending banks, including Ulster Bank, EBS, AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, and KBC. Solicitor Ger O’Neill, on Glentworth Street, said he is representing a number of clients facing home repossessions - some of whom have had their work hours cut, are struggling to pay their mortgages, and one lady has had a nervous breakdown due to the financial pressure she’s under.
Limerick Leader q -
Defer water bills until EU ruling on accepting Irish Water - FF
A call has been made for the Government to defer the issuing of water charge bills until there is an EU ruling to accept Irish Water as an independent commercial semi-State company. Fianna Fáil public expenditure and reform spokesman Sean Fleming said the Government should ensure “people do not receive water bills from an entity whose right to exist is not yet determined”. Mr Fleming said the Taoiseach had confirmed in writing that it would be “at least June” before a decision is made at EU level, when it had been expected this month.
The Irish Times q
