The other news stories of the day in short.
Man remanded in custody over Galway assault
A 23-year-old man appeared before a special court sitting in Galway yesterday charged in connection with an assault in the city in the early hours of Monday morning.
Dean O’Brien, Drom Chaoin, Bishop O’Donnell Road, Galway, was charged with assaulting Barry Mannion (28), causing him harm at Dominick Street, Galway, on December 28th.
Det Garda Tom Doyle told Judge Geoffrey Browne that the accused man had made no reply when the charge was put to him at Galway Garda station yesterday morning.
Insp Sean Glynn applied to the court to have the accused remanded in custody.
Defence solicitor Susan McLoughlin said her client was consenting to the Garda application.
Judge Browne remanded Mr O’Brien in custody to appear before Galway District Court next Monday, January 4th, and also granted an application for legal aid.
Mr Mannion is receiving treatment at Beaumont Hospital for head injuries sustained during the assault near a taxi rank.
Van Morrison (64) becomes father again
Music legend Van Morrison has become a father again just a year shy of being eligible for the old-age pension.
George Ivan Morrison III is Morrison’s fourth child.
Van junior’s mother is Gigi Lee, who was the executive producer on Morrison’s US tour to promote the 40th
anniversary last year of the release of his masterpiece, Astral Weeks. Morrison (64) has a daughter Shana (39) from his marriage to Janet Minto and he has two young children with former partner Michelle Rocca.
His latest addition was announced on his website. The statement described “little Van” as “the spitting image of his daddy”.
Transition students urged to stay in Ireland
Fáilte Ireland is urging transition-year students and their teachers to plan school trips in Ireland, not overseas.
The tourism body launched a brochure yesterday detailing attractions, activities and sample itineraries for educational trips, which is being sent to secondary schools.
It is hoped that this initiative will help boost Irish tourism, which has seen a drop of almost one-fifth in overseas visitors travelling here in 2009, and a loss of about 12,000 jobs.
The brochure was developed in response to the Ideas Campaign, a website that received more than 5,000 submissions from the public on how economic recovery could be improved. During the summer, the Government adopted a number of suggestions, this being one of them.
Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe said: “Almost 30,000 students take part in the transition-year programme each year. By opting for Irish locations for educational tours, schools will add value to students’ appreciation of our indigenous landscape, heritage and culture as well as strengthening the domestic tourism market and helping our economic recovery.”
Greater action call on tobacco smuggling
Heavier penalties should be imposed on those caught illegally smuggling cigarettes and tobacco into the country, anti-smoking lobby group Ash Ireland has said.
The group said there was "irrefutable evidence" that large amounts of cigarettes were being smuggled in, by both criminals and residents returning from countries where tobacco was cheaper.
Cut hospital parking fees for elderly - call
A special senior citizens’ parking rate should be introduced at hospitals across Dublin, Friends of the Elderly said yesterday.
The group said seniors were among the most regular visitors to hospitals, and it was not fair to expect them to pay “exorbitant” rates of €2.40 an hour or €11.40 a day.
Dermot Kirwan of the group said seniors were spending as much as 25 per cent of their pension on parking and this was unfair, as the majority did not have a reliable form of public transport as an alternative.
Ash Ireland said the availability of cheap tobacco was increasing the prevalence of smoking among young people.