Liverpool-born Mgr Paul Gallagher was yesterday appointed the new Papal Nuncio to Burundi, thus replacing Archbishop Michael Courtney, the Tipperary-born Nuncio killed in an ambush near the Burundi capital, Bujumbura, on December 28th.
Mgr Gallagher, who has been a Vatican diplomat for the last 20 years, is currently the Holy See's permanent representative at the European Council in Strasbourg, a post that had also been held by the late Archbishop Courtney, prior to becoming Nuncio in Burundi.
The new Nuncio moves into a difficult job in a country beset by a fratricidal war between Tutsis and Hutus and in which more than 50 priests and religious workers have been killed in the last decade.
Carrickmines ruling next week
The Supreme Court will give its decision on Tuesday on a bid by a Co Kerry man to bring a further legal challenge to the building of a roundabout over medieval remains on the M50 road extension at Carrickmines Castle.
Mr Michael Mulcreevy yesterday appealed to the three-judge court against the High Court's decision refusing him leave to take judicial review proceedings challenging the development.
The High Court ruled earlier this month that he had not established sufficient grounds to bring the action.
Defence contracts investigated
Police officers from the PSNI Fraud Squad and the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) are questioning civil servants and contractors in a large-scale investigation.
Some 100 police officers from the MoD and a further 70 from the PSNI conducted searches in Belfast, Lisburn, Portadown, Hillsborough and Coleraine. There have been no arrests so far.
The MoD said it was investigating a suspected fraud concerning money spent on public works contracts, including the supply of construction materials and surveillance equipment at British army posts.
FG protests over DART closure
Young Fine Gael intends to mount protests at a number of DART stations today over the closure of the service at weekends.
"The DART is the one piece of transport infrastructure that is vital to the east coast, even at weekends. The valuable connection to Dún Laoghaire port is lost," a spokesman said.
Appeal for missing garda
Gardaí have appealed for help in trying to trace a serving member of the force who has been missing from his Dublin home for over a week.
Sgt Oliver Windsor, who is based in Terenure, was last seen in the Christ Church area at midday on Thursday, January 15th.
The 43-year-old is 5 feet 10 inches, of medium build, with short, dark hair greying at the temples. He has blue eyes.
When last seen he was wearing a blue shirt, black hip-length jacket, beige corduroy trousers and navy deck shoes with beige soles. Contact Terenure Garda station on (01) 6666400.