A High Court order issued last Friday which restrained works on a construction site for 23 houses in Co Tipperary was varied yesterday to allow remedial work to be carried out. On Friday, Mr Justice Kelly said he was satisfied that conditions at the Kilkishen Homes site at Monroe, near Nenagh, were unsafe and in breach of statutory regulations. He made an order, returnable to yesterday, prohibiting any work at the site.
Yesterday Mr Fergal Foley, for the National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health, which had sought the order, said there had been meetings between the sides and there was agreement for remedial work to be done.
He was consenting to a variation of the order to allow the remedial work to be carried out. It would appear that the problems were now being addressed.
Mr Justice Kelly said he would vary the order to permit the remedial works. He adjourned the case until Friday when, he said, he wanted the personal attendance of the directors in court.
Clare strike affects psychiatric patients
The Mid Western Health Board last night refused to rule out the possibility that relatives and friends of psychiatric patients could be requested to care for and feed patients as a SIPTU strike in the Clare Mental Health Service continues.
On the second day of the strike, the head of health services in Clare, Mr Séamus McNulty, said 50 elderly psychiatric patients at Cappahard in Ennis had been left unfed for a time yesterday morning as a result of the strike action. He repeated his claim that the striking SIPTU members were not providing adequate emergency cover.
The dispute, which last night showed no sign of ending, could worsen if SIPTU's colleagues in the Psychiatric Nurses Association decide to support it. Last night its general secretary, Mr Des Kavanagh, said his members were to ballot in the next week on whether they would support the SIPTU action in some way.
The strike is affecting 341 patients at several centres throughout the county.
Move against late-night clamping
Galway city councillors want clamping of cars parked in designated disc-parking zones around the city to stop at 8 p.m. every night instead of midnight. In the last two years, almost 7,500 cars have been clamped. Four separate tenders have been submitted to Galway City Council for the new clamping contract for the next two years.
Many councillors have condemned the practice of clamping drivers who leave their cars in disc-parking places for a few minutes over time, especially as parking notices and discs for 2002 failed to indicate that a driver could be clamped for exceeding the time.
Some members of the council have called for the scheme to be operated by the local authority instead of a private company.
Gorey seeks views on traffic plan
Gorey Town Council has employed a firm of consultants to produce a traffic-management plan for the town where a bypass is not now expected to be completed until 2007 at the earliest.
The chairman, Mr Malcolm Byrne (FF), is calling on the public and the town's business community to submit their views and proposals to the consultants.
"Those - and there are many - who have been stuck in traffic jams in the town and who think they may have a contribution to make on solving the traffic problems now have an opportunity to submit their views and influence the process from within," he said.
Waterford warning on bag-snatchers
Shoppers in Waterford have been warned to be extra-vigilant after a spate of handbag snatches in the city centre. Seven have been stolen in the past week. Gardaí say they are treating the rise in street robberies seriously and are asking shoppers to be cautious in the run-up to Christmas.
Additional street patrols are also being mounted.
Sgt Padraig Dunne said thieves were taking advantage of shoppers who left their handbags unattended.