More news in brief
Cocaine and champagne were consumed by New Year's Eve revellers the night a man was killed at Jurys Inn Hotel, Croke Park, a court has heard.
Karl Breen (27) has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his friend Martin McLaughlin but admitted stabbing him three times during a row in the early hours of January 1st, 2006.
McLaughlin (21), who was from Clondalkin, was celebrating with Mr Breen, who has an address at Kearns Court, Kilmainham, their girlfriends and three other couples. McLaughlin died in the Mater hospital on January 2nd.
The Central Criminal Court heard that a row broke out among the group, several of whom had consumed cocaine. The trial resumes on Monday.
Garda investigate three fires
Gardaí in Galway are investigating three separate fires that occurred this week, including a serious fire at a tyre depot in Ballybane.
A 15-year-old boy was released yesterday after being detained for questioning over the blaze on Thursday night in the Ballybane Industrial Estate, which caused considerable smoke pollution and traffic disruption in the city.
Gardaí say a file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The other serious incident was two separate fire outbreaks in an unoccupied house in St Grellan's Terrace, Ballinasloe, the first on Wednesday night and the second yesterday. The fires are believed to have been started deliberately.
Remand on child porn charges
A 30-year-old man has been remanded on bail after being charged with two child pornography offences in Co Cork.
The man, a Hungarian national, was accused in Bandon District Court of having child pornography between September 29th and 30th and again on October 5th at a location in Kinsale.
Declawing of crabs condemned
A Belfast-based university biologist has questioned the ethics of declawing edible sea crabs and then casting them back into the water in the hope that their claws would regenerate.
Prof Bob Elwood, of the school of biological sciences of Queen's University Belfast, suggested the practice could damage the crab fishing business. He said he believed declawed crabs had a very low chance of survival after they were returned to the sea.
Call to halt landfill excavation works
Residents of Ballyogan in south Dublin have called for a end to excavation work at a landfill site in the area, after Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council revealed that it had recently discovered medical waste there.
Among the items found by workers on the site, which is due to be converted to parkland, are syringes and needles mixed with clay and other general waste.
A council spokesman said it had stopped excavation on the site pending risk assessment studies. It believes the waste may have been deposited up to 20 years ago.
However Nicola Curry, chairwoman of the Ballyogan environment group, called for work on the site to be halted permanently.