More news in brief.
Woman (72) in Mayo car hijack ordeal
A man suspected of stealing a car and driving off with a 72-year-old female passenger in the front seat after hijacking the vehicle at a petrol station, was arrested by gardaí in Castlebar, Co Mayo yesterday.
The car theft occurred after a couple pulled up at a petrol forecourt in Balla.
When the driver left the car to get petrol, the raider jumped into the vehicle and sped off with the woman.
She was ordered out of the car about a mile from Balla.
The stolen vehicle was later recovered at the Tesco car park in Castlebar and a suspect arrested.
A man was detained yesterday at Castlebar Garda Station under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act for the unauthorised taking of a vehicle.
He is expected to appear in court later in connection with the incident.
Motorcycle crash victim named
A motorcyclist who was killed following a crash in Co Waterford on Sunday has been named as John Fitzpatrick.
A 35-year-old married father-of-two, Mr Fitzpatrick of Lisronagh in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, died after his motorcycle crashed into a ditch at a bend in Monvoy, Tramore shortly after 3.30pm.
Mr Fitzpatrick was taken to Waterford Regional Hospital and a postmortem examination was carried out there yesterday.
According to gardaí at Tramore, the bend where Mr Fitzpatrick was killed has been the scene of a number of serious crashes in recent years.
Group calls for improved access
As Heritage Week got under way yesterday, the inability of people with disabilities to access most National Heritage Council historical sites has been condemned by the People with Disabilities Ireland (PwDI) group.
PwDi chief executive Michael Ringrose said that under section 29 of the Disability Act 2005 there was an obligation on local authorities to ensure that heritage sites, in their ownership, management
and control, were accessible to people with disabilities on the same basis as everyone else.
"Yet, over three years after the passing of this Act, very little is being done and, in some cases, no progress at all has been made," Mr Ringrose said.
He recalled that Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly had recently found that public servants had a serious lack of knowledge of their responsibilities under the 2005 Act.
"We are calling on the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, John Gormley, to redress this situation immediately," he said.
Mr Ringrose said the onus was on Ministers and the Government to ensure that the National Disability Strategy is implemented.
Baggage workers strike at Stansted
More than 30 baggage screeners began 24-hour strike action at London's Stansted airport yesterday in a dispute over pay.
The Airfield Services workers, who screen baggage for Ryanair and Easyjet, rejected a 1.5 per cent pay offer.
Stephen McNamara, head of communications at Ryanair, said the industrial action had caused no disruption to Ryanair flights.
This was the second time in two years that the trade union members have tried to disrupt aircraft passengers on the busy August bank holiday weekend, Mr McNamara said.
He accused the unions of trying to blackmail passengers, saying "it is irresponsible to hold passengers to ransom".
The industrial action came just days after strike action involving Manchester, Gatwick and other
Stansted workers was averted, preventing widespread disruption to passengers.