A round-up of today's other home news in brief.
Taxi driver withdraws appeal
A Derry taxi driver caught driving with two passengers in the boot of her taxi yesterday withdrew her appeal against her conviction for the offence.
Ciara McLaughlin (33) , Altcar Park, was fined £400 and disqualified from driving for 12 months last October when she was convicted of dangerous driving arising out of the incident, in October 2007, as she drove mourners home from a funeral.
Two police officers said they saw the crowded Vauxhall Cavalier taxi stopping along the roadside and picking up a man who got into the boot. They said another man was already in the boot and when the taxi drove off one of the men pulled down the boot cover.
The dangerous driving charge was unsuccessfully contested by Ms McLaughlin at the Magistrate’s Court in Derry last October and yesterday Judge Patrick Lynch affirmed the fine and disqualification when Ms McLaughlin withdrew her appeal.
Protest at U2 tax residency status
A protest against U2's decision to move some of its tax affairs to the Netherlands is to be held outside the Department of Finance today.
The protest is being organised by the Debt and Development Coalition Ireland (DDCI) which campaigns on issues related to the developing world. The coalition contains such organisations as Concern Worldwide, Trócaire, Oxfam and various Catholic missionary orders.
DDCI co-ordinator Nessa ní Chasaíde said Bono, in particular, was guilty of “double standards” because of his public calls for rich countries to increase development aid . She said the protest would highlight the fact that U2’s tax avoidance deprives the exchequer of revenue that could be spent on development aid.
LRC intervenes over bus dispute
The Labour Relations Commission (LRC) has intervened in a row which is threatening to disrupt bus services in Dublin from this weekend.
The National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) said it would accept an invitation to attend talks at the LRC today. Dublin Bus also said it would take part in the talks. The NBRU is proposing to hold a one-day strike on Saturday in protest at cost-saving plans by the company to cut 290 jobs.
Governing body role for Gallagher
Former secretary general at the Department of Foreign affairs Dermot Gallagher has been appointed chairman of UCD’s governing authority.
He replaces former IDA chief Kieran McGowan, who chaired the authority since February 2004. A UCD graduate, Mr Gallagher was recently nominated by the Government to be chairman of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.
Examiner gets time over jobs
A High Court judge has given the examiner of a supermarket and hotel in Co Wexford, on which 55 jobs depend, until Friday to finalise an investment package necessary to secure their survival.
Mr Justice Peter Kelly was told yesterday that the survival of the Blackwater Lodge Hotel and Londis supermarket, associated businesses located in Blackwater, Co Wexford, is crucial to the local economy.
EPA gets no bids for waste storage
No waste firm has sought permission for additional storage for recyclable waste, despite claims from the waste industry that the international recycling market has collapsed, the Protection Agency (EPA) has said.
Irish waste firms last year appealed for permission to store waste they could no longer export due to a fall in the price of recyclable materials.
Minister for Environment John Gormley told companies they could apply to the EPA for licences to enable them to store additional waste but no applications were since made, the EPA told an Oireachtas environment committee.