The Irish Meat Association has welcomed the two-week suspension of the Irish Farmers' Association protest, which it said had done severe damage to the industry over the past five weeks, writes Seán MacConnell.
The IFA, which called off the protests as a goodwill gesture, denied last night "as totally unfounded" that damage had been caused by its protest. In a statement, Mr John Dillon, IFA president, said the gesture had been prompted by an increase in prices being paid by the factories for some grades of cattle, including the AIBP plant at Cahir.
He warned the factories he would be monitoring the prices being paid over the next fortnight and that action would be taken against any factory trying to force down the prices being paid.
The chief executive of the Irish Meat Association, Mr John Smith, said the stand-down of the protests was welcome and allowed commonsense and normal market reality to take their rightful place in the business relationship between farmers and meat factories.
Man (17) killed in road accident
A young man was killed and three other people seriously injured in a road accident in Co Limerick yesterday evening.
The accident happened at Martinstown, Kilmallock at 2.20 p.m. and involved a collision between two cars. The dead man (17) was a passenger in one of the cars. All the injured were taken to Limerick Regional Hospital.
The Garda at Kilmallock (tel: 063-98018) have asked for witnesses to contact them.
Council repairs Dublin water main
Dublin City Council has repaired its large water main with a minimum number of cut-offs affecting homes at the extremities of the pipe's distribution network - in the Foxrock and Griffith Avenue areas of Dublin, writes Tim O'Brien.
The pipe, one of two which between them supply more than half of Dublin's drinking water, was discovered to be leaking during routine maintenance recently.
On Friday afternoon last, the city council began draining water from the pipe and by nightfall had discovered seven separate leaks. These were repaired on Friday night and Saturday by crews working inside the pipe. The pipe was resealed and refilled during Saturday night.
Ahern to make two new appointments
The Taoiseach is expected to appoint a chairman and vice-chairman of the Oireachtas Employment and Small Business committee this week.
Mr Ahern delayed a decision on the posts when he announced his appointments to other Oireachtas committees last week.
Backbenchers in contention for promotion are believed to include Mr Sean Haughey, Dublin North Central; Mr Ned O'Keeffe, Cork East; Mr Michael Collins, Limerick West; Mr Donie Cassidy, Westmeath.
PSNI seizes guns and ammunition
Police in Northern Ireland seized three guns and a quantity of ammunition after what is believed to have been a loyalist paramilitary show of strength in Co Antrim.
A sub-machine gun, two handguns and bullets were found in a holdall hidden in a hedge in the Grange Drive area of Ballyclare, Co Antrim. A police spokeswoman said officers made the discovery in a search yesterday, following reports of shots being fired in the area.
Last night, police recovered a number of pipe bombs during a search of a hedgerow near Antrim Technical Park in Muckamore. The search followed a report of suspicious activity in the area.