In Short

A round-up of today's other stories in brief.

A round-up of today's other stories in brief.

Roscommon man (24) killed in car crash

A Roscommon man was killed when the car in which he was travelling hit a wall and a pole just outside the town yesterday morning.

Paul Mulryan (24), Lisnamult, Roscommon, was a back-seat passenger in the car when it careered out of control outside Roscommon town on the Galway road.

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Gardaí are also investigating a fatal crash on the Drogheda to Baltray Road yesterday in which a male pedestrian in his 70s was fatally injured when struck by a car.

Woman dies in Mayo house fire

An elderly woman died in a fire which destroyed her home near Foxford, Co Mayo, on Saturday morning. Nora McNulty (81), from Barhalla, Foxford, lived alone in a pre-fabricated home provided by Mayo County Council.

A passerby raised the alarm just after 3am. Fire brigades from Ballina and Swinford fought the fire.

The body was removed to Mayo General Hospital where a postmortem was held on Saturday. Authorities believe the fire started accidentally.

Lightening may have killed climber

Mountain rescue workers believe a man found dead in the Mourne Mountains may have been killed by a lightening strike. The climber, thought to be in his 30s, was found covered in snow at the 860m summit of Slieve Donard on Saturday.

The body was discovered near the entrance to a stone monument on the mountain top at a junction on the Mourne wall. He is understood to have been climbing alone and was well-equipped and carrying sufficient food. It is believed he body may have lain there for up to 48 hours.

Kildare man convicted of rape

A Kildare man (24) has been convicted by a jury at the Central Criminal Court of raping a then teenage woman, his sister's best friend, in a GAA grounds two years ago.

Mr Justice Paul Carney certified the man as a sex offender and remanded him for sentence at a later date. He also directed the preparation of a victim impact report.

The jury of two women and 10 men returned its 10-2 majority verdict on the eighth day of the trial. The man was charged with raping the then 18-year old woman on March 7th, 2004, at St Brigid's Park in Kildare.

The victim claimed that he threatened "to snap" her neck unless she stopped resisting him.

Armed raid foiled in Balbriggan

Four men have appeared before Dublin District Court on firearms charges in relation to what gardaí believe was a foiled armed raid in Balbriggan, Co Dublin, last Thursday.

The men were arrested in a convoy of two cars and a van in Balbriggan. A firearm was found in the van.

Éamon Murphy (38), St Attracta Road, Cabra; David Mulvey (23), Berryfield Drive, Finglas; Derek Devoye (23), Balbutcher Drive, Ballymun, and William Hynes (39), Drumheath Gardens, Blanchardstown, were arrested under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and were detained at Garda stations in Santry, Balbriggan and Drogheda.

They were brought before a special sitting of Dublin District Court on Saturday night where they were charged in relation to the possession of a firearm and ammunition.