Other stories in brief...
Manslaughter trial is adjourned
The trial of a Galway city man charged with the manslaughter of a man whose body was found in the back of a burned-out car last March has been adjourned to January 23rd to allow a pathologist to examine medical evidence on behalf of the defence. Tom McDonagh (26), Lios na Rún, Ballybane, Galway, is charged with the unlawful killing of Joseph Sweeney, on March 27th last at Rocklands Avenue, Ballybane, Galway.
He is also charged with dangerous driving and with reckless disregard for the safety of his passenger, Joseph Sweeney, in that he did not ensure that Mr Sweeney had safely left the vehicle before he set it alight.
Concern over priests' security
The attack on the parish priest of Ballymacelligott may be a wake-up call for security for priests in the Kerry diocese as the majority of parish clergy there lived alone, a diocesan spokesman said yesterday, writes Anne Lucey.
Precautions such as alarms might be put in place but priests cannot live in fear because of one incident, Fr Gearóid Godley stressed.
There had been break-ins, but never before had any member of the clergy been hurt during these burglaries. People living alone, and many were elderly, had expressed their fear because of Sunday night's attack on Fr Michael O'Leary (68), and this was a sad effect of the incident, he said. Fr Godley added he had every confidence the gardaí would find the culprit.
Fr O'Leary remains in a comfortable condition at Kerry General Hospital, according to a hospital spokesman. Gardaí are interviewing hundreds of people who attended the bazaar on Sunday after which Fr O'Leary was assaulted.
Woman tells of rape after row
A Limerick woman has told a Central Criminal Court jury that a man raped her in a car park after he stopped her in the city when he saw she was crying because of an earlier row with her boyfriend.
The 26-year-old married man has pleaded not guilty to raping the then 20-year-old woman in the early hours of December 27th, 2004, at Punches Cross in the west of the city.
The woman told the court she left an apartment after having a row with her partner and was walking through the city crying when the accused grabbed her by the hand, turned her around and asked her why she was crying.
She kept walking and he continued to follow her. When they reached Punches Cross he turned her into a car park where he threw her on to the ground and raped her. She rejected a suggestion from defence counsel that she had consensual sex with the accused.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul Carney and a jury of seven men and five women.
Galway gets park and ride service
A park and ride service to be introduced in Galway next month is expected to reduce journey times by up to half an hour at peak periods. From December 1st to 24th next, road users approaching the city from the east and north can leave their vehicles at the Galway Racecourse and take a bus into the city centre every 15 minutes throughout the day.