A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Mortgage company told not to evict mother and daughter
A woman who says she cares for her ill and elderly mother has secured an interim High Court order preventing a mortgage lender evicting them from their family home today.
The injunction granted to businesswoman Eileen Veronica Tynan restrains Start Mortgages acting on an order for possession which would have resulted in the county sheriff evicting her and her mother from their home in Kilkenny city.
In an affidavit, Ms Tynan, a former events manager at Citywest Hotel who later established her own event management business, Destination Kilkenny, said the house has been the family home for 37 years.
If evicted, they would be homeless, which could aggravate her mother’s condition, she said.
Ms Tynan claims the decision by Start to effect the eviction is “entirely unwarranted, unfair and unnecessary” and comes after she got into mortgage arrears as a result of taking time off work to care for her mother.
The interim injunction was granted by Ms Justice Mary Laffoy on an ex parte (one side only) basis and the matter will come back before the High Court next week.
Soldier’s appeal will not proceed
An appeal by a soldier against a reprimand and fine imposed on her after turning up late for duty at her military base during heavy winter weather last year is not proceeding, a court heard yesterday.
Pte Paula Staunton (34), based at Collins Barracks in Cork city, received a €300 fine and formal rebuke at a court martial hearing. She arrived at the barracks an hour late on January 14th, 2010, during a period of severe weather.
She said she had alerted her base at 8.15am when she realised she would not arrive at 8.30am. When she arrived at 9.30am, she had been marked absent without leave (AWOL), the hearing was told last April.
Acting commanding officer on the day Sgt Pat O’Regan told the hearing he did not receive a phone call from her to explain where she was. He said this was not a first offence and the late arrival had disrupted barrack duties.
The military court found, given previous reprimands, Pte Staunton was a “habitual offender” for going AWOL and imposed the rebuke and fine. She brought an appeal before the Courts Martial Appeal Court, which was due to hear the matter next week.
Curfew for boy (16) over street crime
A 16-year-old schoolboy has been ordered to obey a curfew and banned from being with two of his cousins to stop him getting involved in street crime.
The teenager appeared at the Children’s Court yesterday charged with breaking into a car, on Dublin’s Northumberland Road, on a date last month.
Prosecuting garda Peter Hughes said there had been a problem with cars being broken into in that area.
He said that the teenager was hanging around with a gang of youths. The court heard that they included two of his cousins.
Judge Clare Leonard ordered the teenager to obey a 9pm to 8am curfew.