A round-up of today's other regional stories in brief...
Woman admits killing man in Galway
A Galway woman admitted killing a man in the city in December 2006 at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin yesterday. Una Black (26), Droim Chaoin, Bishop O'Donnell Road, formerly of Walter Macken flats, Mervue, pleaded not guilty to the murder, but guilty to the manslaughter of John Malone at Walter Macken flats, Galway on or about December 3rd, 2006.
Aileen Donnelly SC said the plea was acceptable to the State. Mr Justice Paul Carney directed that a victim impact statement be prepared and remanded Black in custody for sentence on July 28th.
Black, who is seven months pregnant, had been due to go on trial in Galway last month but absconded to Wales the day before the trial was due to start. She was arrested at Rosslare and returned for trial to Dublin.
Principal injured in bike accident
The principal of Kilkenny College, Kilkenny city was in a critical condition in hospital yesterday following a cycling accident. Philip Gray (57) was injured after he fell off his racing bike on Sunday.
He had been cycling on his own near Ballyfoyle, Co Kilkenny, when the accident occurred at about 10am. He was admitted to St Luke's hospital and later transferred to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin where his condition was described last night as critical but stable.
Gardaí have appealed to anyone who may have witnessed the incident to contact them.
Tributes paid to Kerry councillor
Tributes were paid yesterday to the former three-times chairman of Kerry County Council, and director of elections for Fianna Fáil for Kerry South, PJ Cronin. Dáil Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue was among the first to pay tributes to Mr Cronin (74) who died on Sunday evening and a minute's silence was held at a meeting of Kerry County Council.
Mr O'Donoghue said Mr Cronin "had represented the best interests of rural Ireland and its people".
Mr Cronin was elected a Fianna Fáil councillor in the late 1970s but left the party in the Haughey era. He joined the PDs briefly but won an Independent seat in 1991.
Atlantic boat donated to UL
A rowing boat used by Eamonn and Peter Kavanagh, the first Irish team to row an ocean when they crossed the Atlantic in 1997 and later used by Limerick man Paul Gleeson and Tori Holmes in 2005 has been donated to the University of Limerick.
The Christina was bought by Irish Life Investment Managers and given to the university yesterday.
The rowers were in the university to watch the Christina being hoisted to its display position, suspended from the roof over the indoor running track.
Radon 26 times safe level
A house in north Kerry has been found to have nearly 26 times the acceptable level of radon gas, the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) said yesterday.
Radon is a class one carcinogen responsible for 200 lung cancer deaths a year. At these levels the radiation dose to the householder would be equivalent to receiving more than 6,000 chest X-rays a year, the institute said.
It is believed likely that other houses in the area have similarly high radon levels. The home, located between Castleisland and Tralee, had a measurement of over 5,000 becquerels of radon per cubic metre. Extraordinary radon levels have already been recorded in this area and a number of deaths have been attributed to the gas. The occupants were not showing any signs of illness.