John Delaney, pictured arriving for an Oireachtas Committee meeting in April. John Delaney, pictured arriving for an Oireachtas Committee meeting in April. FORMER CEO of the FAI John Delaney has not been granted complimentary tickets to Irish home internationals as part of his settlement with the Association.  Former officials at the FAI are usually entitled to tickets after they leave the Association, but that tradition has not been extended to Delaney, who instead left with a severance package of €462,000.  FAI Accounts published on Friday revealed that, in 2014, Delaney had entered into two contracts with the FAI of which some board members were unaware. The contracts, nonetheless approved

THE JUDGE WHO sentenced two sons of Independent TD Michael Healy-Rae handed back a character reference presented to him during sentencing yesterday.  Judge David Waters tore off one of the typewritten sheets and said it was not a character reference. Handing it back to defence solicitor Padraig O'Connell, the judge said: A character reference should be just that. This is a request to deal with the matter in a certain way, and I'm handing that back.   The exchange took place in Kenmare District Court yesterday where brothers Jackie Healy-Rae, 24, and Kevin Healy-Rae, 22, both of Sandymount, Kilgarvan, were given suspended jail sentences of eight months and seven months respectively. They were

As world leaders gather in Madrid for the COP25 to discuss ways to halt catastrophic warming caused by human-driven greenhouse gas emissions, southern Africa is already suffering some of its worst effects ― with taps running dry and some 45 million people in need of food aid amid crop failures. Zimbabwe and Zambia have suffered power cuts as they are heavily reliant on hydropower from plants at the Kariba Dam which is on the Zambezi river upstream of the waterfalls. Data from the Zambezi River Authority shows water flow at its lowest since 1995, and well under the long term average. Zambian president Edgar Lungu has called it “a stark reminder of what climate change is doing to our environment”.

The Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) has served the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection with an enforcement notice regarding the stated illegality of the public services card. The notice, which legally compels the department to comply with the findings of a two-year investigation, was delivered yesterday. Graham Doyle, head of communications with the DPC, confirmed the issuance of the notice. “We have this evening sent an enforcement order to the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection,” he said. Such a move on the part of DPC Helen Dixon has been expected since September 3, when the Government officially stated its intention to challenge her findings, in court

OVER 30 MOTORISTS suspected of breaking road traffic laws walked free from court yesterday without any sanction after a judge struck out all of their cases. At Ennis District Court, Judge Patrick Durcan struck out a total of 34 Garda prosecutions against motorists as a result of a recent High Court ruling which found that a section of the Road Traffic Act concerning defences to fixed charge notices is unconstitutional. Of the 34 cases struck out by Judge Durcan, 21 were prosecutions against motorists summoned to court over not paying their fines for speeding. If convicted yesterday, the offending motorists would have received five penalty points on their licence for speeding along with whatever

At this stage, Dubliners don't need a raft. They need a lifeboat. Last week, it was determined that Dublin City Council would invest €22million in bringing a white water rafting centre to George's Dock, near the quays. That was unexpected. At the risk of boring you, I won't talk about how what Dublin really needs is homes. That's a fact, to be sure, but we can all appreciate the need for amenities too. Homes aren't much without green spaces, swimming pools, sporting facilities, places where people can go to enjoy the life that exists outside of their four walls. In that spirit, it is not ours to criticise a local authority for investing big money in some sector other than housing. Indeed, it's

Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho (file pic). Tottenham Hotspur manager Jose Mourinho (file pic). JOSE MOURINHO said he reacted to Tottenham's midweek defeat at Manchester United by sleeping at the club's training ground. Mourinho's 100% record since taking over at Spurs came to an end in a 2-1 loss against his former club at Old Trafford. However, he said he refused to wallow in pity and instead started planning for Saturday's home game against Burnley. “I slept in here (the training ground), I stayed here, I didn't go home, so the next morning at eight o'clock I was here doing what? Burnley,” Mourinho explained on Friday. “Analysing Burnley, trying to organise the training session, trying