Today's other news stories in brief
13 to stand trial for 'sham' weddings
Two Nigerian men, one with an address in Dublin and the other with an address in Derry, are among a group of 10 women and three men who are to stand trial charged with 54 offences of taking part in sham weddings with Chinese and Nigerian immigrants.
A jury was yesterday sworn to hear the trial at the Crown Court in Derry but the trial will take place in Coleraine.
Prosecution barrister David McDowell said the principal witnesses would be from registry of marriages offices in Donegal and in Northern Ireland as well as from the Home Office, the Immigration Office and from the Garda National Immigration Bureau.
"This is a case that relates to the arranging of sham weddings between people who did not know each other and between people who certainly were not in love," he said.
Concern over Mass cards
Mass cards on sale in hundreds of newsagents across the country are not officially endorsed or signed by members of the church, a Catholic newspaper has claimed.
The Irish Catholic said the Church is extremely concerned about the sale of the cards, which contribute nothing to church funds and generate profits for local shops and distributors only.
"The public are not told this, rather they are given the impression that . . . the full amount goes to the celebrant of the Mass," Fr Patrick Courtney said.
Men jailed in cocaine case
Three men were sentenced to a total of 40 years at Portlaoise Circuit Court yesterday on charges relating to a cocaine-mixing operation worth more than €1.1 million.
Padraig Lewis (32), Rossvale Court, John Troy (32), Ballynocken, and Gerard Daly (27), Woodgrove, Ballyfin Road, all Portlaoise, were arrested at a house in Ballynocken in July 2005.
Lewis and Troy were each given 15-year jail sentences and Daly a 10-year sentence.
Pre-1916 posters show
A selection of reward notice posters that survived the destruction of the GPO in Dublin during the 1916 Rising has gone on show at the National Print Museum.
The notices span the period 1820-1870. They came to light again in recent years and have been restored to their former glory. The Robbery on the Road exhibition is at the National Print Museum, Haddington Road, Dublin, until May 18th.
Feud flares at confirmation
A confirmation ceremony descended into chaos yesterday when trouble broke out between two feuding families at the church.
Gardaí were called and made several arrests at the grounds of the Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, Drimnagh, Dublin, as the confirmation Mass was about to begin. The trouble erupted as part of an ongoing feud between two Traveller families.
A brother and sister in their mid-teens were charged with Public Order Act offences. They were then brought before the Dublin Children's Court yesterday afternoon and granted bail with strict terms.