The Irish Refugee Council has been granted €101,580 by the Department of Justice, to assist in its work with "genuine" asylum-seekers.
The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, said he was sanctioning the grant, despite the difficult economic situation and the resources already expended by the State on the asylum process, because of the important work of the IRC in ensuring the "integrity" of that process.
"I am determined to do everything possible to strengthen the channels in place to ensure that those asylum-seekers who are in genuine fear of persecution receive protection more speedily," he said.
Lift strike in Ballymun over
A two-month old strike by lift engineers servicing the Ballymun flats complex in Dublin has ended.
Engineers returned to work after Pickerings Lifts and the TEEU trade union, agreed to accept binding arbitration in a dispute over a sacked worker. The arbitrator, Mr Phil Flynn, recommended that the worker be reinstated, with a reprimand.
Military police return from Bosnia
The last Irish contingent of military police to serve in Bosnia are returning home today after a six-month tour of duty.
The contingent, the eleventh from Ireland to serve with the Stabilisation Force in Sarajevo, comprised over 40 personnel from all parts of the Defence Forces. The group formed part of a multi-national military police company in Sarajevo.
The withdrawal will allow for an increased Defence Forces commitment to the Kosovo Force mission later this year.
Motorist arrested after €1m drug haul
Cocaine worth an estimated €1 million was seized from a man in Dublin by the National Drugs Unit yesterday. A motorist, aged 28, was stopped by gardaí on the Navan Road.
They recovered 9 kg of cocaine blocks from the vehicle and arrested the man who is being detained at Blanchardstown Garda station under the Drug Trafficking Act.
Pensioner dies in farm accident
A pensioner in north Cork died yesterday afternoon when he was knocked down by contractors carrying out work on a farm near his home.
He was named as Mr James Berrane (68), Kilbehany, Mitchelstown, Co Cork.Health and safety officials have been called in to examine the case. Anyone who may have witnessed the incident should contact gardaí in Mitchelstown on (025) 84833.
EU body to discuss taxi deregulation
A delegation from the European Petitions Committee will travel to Dublin in March to discuss the Government's implementation of taxi deregulation in 2000. This is the first time a European delegation from the committee will sit abroad.
The committee will meet the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Transport during their trip to Dublin. The committee is not opposed to deregulation but only "to the manner in which it has been implemented in Ireland, without either consultation or notice", according to a spokesman from the Dublin-based lobby group Families Advocate Immediate Redress (FAIR) last night.