A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Charges in Harney paint incident
A Dublin city councillor who threw red paint over Minister for Health Mary Harney has been charged with assault.
Louise Minihan threw the paint on November 1st as Ms Harney attended an event to turn the sod for a new mental health facility in Ballyfermot, Dublin.
A Garda spokesman said Ms Minihan had been charged with assault, damage to property and causing a breach of the peace.
She was arrested at her home by three uniformed gardaí at 9.30am yesterday, and was taken to Ballyfermot Garda station, where she was formally charged.
She will appear in court on December 13th.
Fine Gael’s Galway East TD not to contest next general election
Fine Gael’s Galway East TD Paul Connaughton has announced he will not contest the next general election.
Mr Connaughton (66) was first elected to the Seanad in 1977 and has held his Dáil seat since 1981. He said it was time “the torch should be passed on to a new generation”. Mr Connaughton was a minister of state at the Department of Agriculture in the Fine Gael-Labour coalition from 1982-1987.
“It was an absolute pleasure and a privilege to be involved in the political life of the country over such a long period, but I feel saddened that the country has been allowed to drift into a terrible position where so many ordinary people are now hurt and humiliated,” he said.
Yesterday’s announcement brings the number of TDs planning to retire at the next general election to 10.
Gormley admits to sovereignty erosion
Green Party leader John Gormley has said that negotiations with the IMF and the EU will involve an “unpalatable erosion of our sovereignty”.
However, Mr Gormley said that Ireland had already pooled sovereignty in a wide range of areas, including currency and in the environment sector. He said that the bulk of legislation being drafted in the Department of the Environment was transposing EU directives into Irish law.
Speaking on TV3 on Monday night, the Greens’ leader agreed that being forced into relinquishing sovereignty was not was desired by him or his party but there was little choice.