A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Special collection for quake victims
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has asked parishes to hold a special collection tomorrow for victims of the earthquake in Pakistan. Dr Martin said parish pastoral councils and many individuals had written to him requesting that a special effort be made to help the quake victims.
An estimated three million people lost their homes in the earthquake last October and over 73,000 died.
Dr Martin described the humanitarian situation in the region as "disastrous" and said it was sad to note that internationally-pledged support was not reaching the relief effort.
He hoped the response to tomorrow's collection would be generous, despite the many demands made for disaster relief during the year. Last week people in the archdiocese were given details of how the €4 million they donated to the tsunami collection last January was allocated. Most of it helped projects involving children and education; 400,000 people have benefited to date.
Deliberation on deaths continues
The Director of Public Prosecution is still investigating the deaths of Colm Griffin (33) and Eric Hopkins (24), who were shot dead by gardaí in May as they carried out an armed raid on a post office in Lusk, Co Dublin.
No inquest into the two deaths can be heard until the DPP has finished deliberating, Dublin City Coroner's Court heard yesterday.
'Christmas survival guide'
A new helpline for one-parent families, aimed at easing the stress they can face during the Christmas holiday period, was launched by the One Family organisation yesterday. The organisation has also produced a "Christmas Survival Guide" for one-parent families.
This contains a number of "top tips" including negotiating access arrangements as early as possible, and avoiding the temptation to compete with the other parent when buying expensive presents for children. One Family director Karen Kiernan said, while Christmas can be a "wonderful time of celebration", it can also lead to "enormous stress" for one-parent families.
Christmas sit-out for charity
The vicar of St Ann's Church, Dawson Street, Dublin, Canon Tom Haskins, begins his annual Christmas sit-out for charity at 10am today, continuing until 5pm, and daily from Monday up to and including Christmas Eve, writes Patsy McGarry.
He will be assisted by his curate, the Rev Joyce Rankin, and many parishioners. It is the fourth year of this charity sit-out. Other participants on some days next week will be the choir of Loreto Convent on St Stephen's Green and the mixed race/age Discovery gospel choir.
Money raised goes towards the Pakistan Earthquake Appeal and the St Vincent de Paul Society.