A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Support service set up to help single fathers
A support service for separated and single fathers was opened in Dublin yesterday, writes Fiona Gartland.
The service, at the Guinness Enterprise Centre, Dublin, will be run by Families, Fathers and Friends, the charity which aims to support and promote fatherhood. It will offer counselling, mediation, advice and information to fathers as well as seminars on emotional awareness.
The charity also has offices in Galway and Carlow.
The services address low self-esteem, personal development, anxiety, anger and depression around marriage and relationship breakdown, and suicide.
Counsellors advise clients of rights and responsibilities.
The office was opened yesterday by Minister for Equality, Integration and Human Rights Mary White.
Referring to the Law Reform Commission’s report on the legal aspects of family relationships, launched last month, Ms White said she hoped there would soon be equality between parents, regardless of gender or marital status.
Weather damage of €200m to roads
It will cost an estimated €200 million to repair damage to the country’s road network caused by the severe weather, an Oireachtas committee heard yesterday.
The Committee on Environment, Heritage and Local Government was also told it would take €100 million a year to replace just 1 per cent of the country’s 25,000km “dire” water network.
In a joint presentation, representatives of the County and City Managers’ Association yesterday outlined the responses of city and county councils to the effects of the weather.
Asked if more snow ploughs should be purchased by local authorities, Michael Walsh, Waterford city manager, said his council replaced a snow plough this year because of “antiquity”, but it had never been used.
Ryanair warns over boarding passes
Ryanair has warned a Spanish court ruling may lead it to stop reissuing boarding passes at airports.
The airline is appealing a Spanish court ruling that described fees for reissuing boarding passes as illegal.
If the decision is upheld on appeal, the airline says it will change its policy meaning would-be passengers who agreed to print out their own boarding passes but did not, would be unable to travel.
Ryanair yesterday confirmed it would vigorously contest last week’s decision of the Spanish court, which found it was wrong to impose “unfair” fees on passengers who failed to print out their own boarding cards.