A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Two men held after drugs seized
Two men arrested following the seizure of cocaine and cannabis herb and the discovery of a cocaine processing facility in a suburban apartment are expected to appear in court today.
The men, who are from Cork and Dublin, were arrested near Newlands Cross, Clondalkin, west Dublin.
Members of the Garda National Drugs Unit had one of the men under surveillance on Tuesday evening. When he met the other suspect in a car park detectives moved in.
In a follow-up operation, gardaí searched an apartment in Palmerstown, west Dublin, and found a further quantity of cannabis herb in both the apartment and a van parked outside. About 1kg of white powder, which is believed to be cocaine valued at €80,000, was also found.
The total value of the cocaine and cannabis herb seized was about €500,000.
Eight-minute rule for emergency calls
Life-threatening emergency calls should be responded to within eight minutes, according to new recommendations by the Health Information and Quality Authority.
It says the proposal is in keeping with international response times, and ambulance services should start using this guideline immediately. Service providers should begin reporting their response-time performance later this year.
Border diesel laundering plant raided
Customs officers have discovered a diesel laundering plant where bleaching earth, also known as fullers clay, was being used to remove the chemical markers of agricultural diesel , writes Elaine Keogh.
There were 12,000 litres of laundered fuel in a truck and a tank in the plant, which was discovered after Customs officers raided a farmyard near Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, yesterday morning.
The truck looked like a tipper truck but when the tarpaulin was pulled back it revealed a large holding tank which could hold 12,000 litres. The truck was used to bring the agricultural diesel into the plant and, after it was washed to remove the colour and chemicals, it would transport away the washed product.
The operation was carried out by Customs officers from Monaghan with assistance from Dundalk.
A man in his 40s was being questioned yesterday.
Two convicted of breaching peace
Two Éirígí activists have been convicted of breach of the peace for their role in a protest at Anglo Irish Bank headquarters in Dublin on May 15th of last year.
Pádraig Ó Meiscill (25), Grange, Dunmurray, Belfast, and John McCusker (33), Amcomri Street, Belfast, both denied the charge.
The Dublin District Court heard that both Mr Ó Meiscill and Mr McCusker obstructed a Garda van from leaving the premises.