Today's other stories in brief.
Relatives to receive report on Stardust
Relatives of the Stardust fire victims are to receive a report on the fire this afternoon. They will be presented with a copy of the file at Government Buildings.
The report by Paul Coffey SC looks at the State’s examination of a case for a reopened inquiry into the disaster. Forty-eight young people died in the 1981 Stardust nightclub inferno in north Dublin.
The report was given to the Government on December 16th and referred to the Attorney General for legal advice.
Four relatives held a three- day sit-in at Government Buildings last week in order to get a date for the release. They had expected to be given a copy before Christmas and wanted it before the 28th anniversary of the fire on February 14th.
Antoinette Keegan, a spokeswoman for the Stardust Victims Committee who lost her sisters Martina and Mary in the blaze, told The Irish Timesshe was "relieved".
Dublin Transport Authority this year
The Dublin Transport Authority is likely to be fully established and functional by the middle of this year, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said last night.
The department has placed an advertisement in newspapers this morning seeking a chief executive for the authority.
The setting up of the authority has been long- mooted, but the most significant move towards setting it up came when the Act establishing the transport authority was passed by the Oireachtas earlier this year.
Mr Dempsey told The Irish Timeslast night that the authority being set up would lead to the overdue reform of the 1932 Transport Act.
“I expect to have it up and operational by the middle of this year, once this chief executive is in place. It has the capacity and the potential to transform the provision of transport in the greater Dublin area.”
Art goes on show around Dublin
A movement called Free Art Friday will see more than 200 pieces of art distributed around Dublin today.
The pieces which include oil paintings, screen prints, sculptures, photographs and embroidered cushions have been donated by more than 100 artists. The piece can be picked up by anyone and claimed as their own, with the finder encouraged to email the artist telling them how and where they found it.
Aer Lingus flight to Bucharest diverted
A flight bound for Bucharest was forced to divert to Manchester on Tuesday after a disturbance broke out. An Aer Lingus spokeswoman confirmed an incident had taken place on the flight from Dublin, but declined to give details, saying it was a matter for the British authorities.
She said the disturbance involved two passengers and that Aer Lingus operated a zero tolerance policy on “disruptive behaviour” on its flights.
Reports on aviation websites said the crew of flight EI 672 was forced to declare an emergency at 35,000 feet when a row broke out between two Romanian passengers. They were removed from the aircraft on its arrival in Manchester. The flight reached Bucharest 3½ hours late.
Greens select Euro candidate in North
The Green Party in the North has unveiled its candidate to contest June’s European Parliament elections. Steven Agnew (29), a researcher for the sole Green Assembly Member at Stormont Brian Wilson, stood unsuccessfully as a Green candidate in the 2007 Assembly elections.
The Green Party across the European Union has 43 MEPs. The North elects three members to the European Parliament. At present they are Jim Nicholson of the Ulster Unionists, Bairbre de Brún of Sinn Féin and Jim Allister of the Traditional Unionist Voice.