http://www.ireland.com The Irish Times' Irish Top Stories en-ie Copyright 2008, ireland.com. The Irish Times 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 daily 2 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/ http://www.ireland.com/feeds/rss/rss_logo.gif Search for articles on ireland.com QUERY00 http://www.ireland.com/cgi-bin/dialogserver http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276384144.html IN POSSIBLY the biggest operation of its kind in the history of the State, more than 250 gardaí searched 150 premises in the midwest yesterday as part of an investigation into Limerick criminal gangs. The offices of a number of accountants and solicitors were also visited. Ireland 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276384214.html DEPUTY FIRST Minister Martin McGuinness proclaimed what may prove to be the end of the Northern Ireland troubles when he told an investment conference in Belfast yesterday: “The old days are gone, the old days will never return.” Ireland 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276384003.html A SIGNIFICANT stained-glass work by the renowned Irish artist Harry Clarke is to return to his native Dublin after it was acquired by the National Museum of Ireland yesterday. Ireland 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276383994.html THE EXPECTED row within Aosdána, arising from the controversial documentary about poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh, was defused yesterday when the annual general assembly agreed to a motion endorsing the Arts Council’s child welfare protection policy. Ireland 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210247408669.html FORMER TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern has won his High Court challenge to the handling by the Mahon tribunal of aspects of its inquiries into lodgements to Mr Ahern’s accounts when he was minister for finance in 1993 and 1994. Ahern Judgment 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210247408678.html THERE WAS a sense of vindication evident in former taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s brief reaction to winning his High Court challenge against rulings made by the Mahon tribunal. Ahern Judgment 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210247408682.html ANALYSIS: The High Court has re-stated people's rights before tribunals, writes Carol Coulter, Legal Affairs Editor Ahern Judgment 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210247408693.html BERTIE AHERN "may be judged by the court of public opinion" over the accuracy or otherwise of Dáil statements about his financial affairs but not by the Mahon tribunal, the High Court ruled. Ahern Judgment 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210286024764.html FINE GAEL has called on new Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern to clarify the “limbo” status of the Privacy Bill, as the Defamation Bill was introduced in the Dáil. In the Dáil 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210286024779.html THE GOVERNMENT is to publish legislation during the current Dáil session regulating management companies in apartment complexes, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern told the House. In the Dáil 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210286024770.html TÁNAISTE MARY Coughlan defended the timing of the publication of the Morris tribunal report into the conduct of some gardaí in Donegal. In the Dáil 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210286024783.html MINISTER FOR Transport Noel Dempsey has rejected Labour Party claims of inadequate preparation for and information about traffic and business disruption in Dublin while major infrastructural projects are under construction. In the Dáil 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210286024781.html SEANAD REPORT: WARNING THAT the Lisbon Treaty referendum would be defeated if the farming community and rural dwellers did not support it, Denis O’Donovan (FF) said he had been disappointed with the turnout at meetings that had been held in his constituency to promote a positive result. A debate on agriculture and the World Trade Organisation talks was needed to enable voters to make up their minds on Lisbon, he stressed. In the Dáil 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210286024777.html RURAL LIFE is being destroyed by people buying “drink and drugs for little or nothing” and then being killed on the roads, the Dáil has heard. In the Dáil 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210286024775.html LABOUR’S FOREIGN affairs spokesman, Michael D Higgins, called for a Dáil debate on the situation in Burma. In the Dáil 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210286024768.html DÁIL SKETCH: IT WAS a special occasion indeed - for more than one reason. Surprisingly Taoiseach Brian Cowen graced the Dáil with his presence on a Thursday, having indicated he would stick to his predecessor's practice of only attending on two Dáil days. In the Dáil 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276384022.html THE HIGH Court has granted judgment for €1.7 million to Tom Roche, the chairman of National Toll Roads, against former business partner and former brother-in-law Michael Wymes, in proceedings arising from the collapse of Bula Mines 25 years ago. In the Courts 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276384016.html THE HIGH Court has declared that a provision of the Housing Acts is incompatible with Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights. In the Courts 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276384029.html THE COOMBE Women’s Hospital in Dublin is facing a costs bill of over €1 million for its successful High Court action for declarations that it was entitled to administer a necessary blood transfusion to a female member of the Jehovah’s Witness faith against her wishes. In the Courts 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276384040.html A MAN who daubed a gable wall on his property in Howth, Co Dublin, with allegedly defamatory statements about his neighbours and statements claiming corruption in the planning process has been ordered by the High Court to remove the slogans. In the Courts 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276384042.html A CRECHE owner bit a three-year-old child on the arm to teach him a lesson about biting other children, a judge heard yesterday. In the Courts 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276384020.html Other court stories in brief In the Courts 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210284170800.html FIANNA FÁIL TDs are expecting across-the-board changes in the junior ranks when the Cabinet decides on the composition of the second-tier Ministers on Tuesday. Other Stories 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210284926607.html THE DATA Protection Commissioner has warned of an increasing erosion of civil liberties through the introduction of security measures that infringe on the right to privacy of citizens. Other Stories 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276384177.html INO ANNUAL CONFERENCE: DELEGATES AT the Irish Nurses’ Organisation (INO) annual conference yesterday voted to ballot the union’s 40,000 members on a fresh campaign of industrial action. Other Stories 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276384165.html BREAST CANCER misdiagnosis victim Rebecca O’Malley has strongly criticised the chief executive of the HSE, Prof Brendan Drumm, and reiterated her belief that he should consider his position. Other Stories 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276384154.html PATIENTS AT Dublin’s Central Mental Hospital were locked in their rooms yesterday morning because of a staff shortage linked to the lengthy psychiatric nurses’ dispute. Other Stories 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276384012.html CAMPAIGNERS opposing Dublin Port Company’s 21-hectare expansion into Dublin Bay have described a company proposal to give up its lands on Bull Island, if it gets planning permission for expansion, as desperate and “bizarre”. Other Stories 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276383985.html THE TENTS and tepees used by motorway protesters on the lower slopes of the Hill of Tara were dismantled yesterday morning by the Office of Public Works. Other Stories 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210284926596.html PROSPECTIVE FIANNA Fáil general election candidates in Dublin South will start jockeying for position shortly, following local TD, Tom Kitt’s decision not to run again. Other Stories 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210284926601.html TÁNAISTE MARY Coughlan has denied that the decision to publish the sixth report of the Morris tribunal on the day the new Government was formed was designed to overshadow the damaging report. Other Stories 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276384038.html MINISTER FOR Health Mary Harney has rejected criticism that the Cabinet reshuffle was not radical enough and said Taoiseach Brian Cowen had made “lots of significant changes”. Other Stories 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210284926628.html THE "MUTUAL assistance" clause in the Lisbon Treaty will allow Ireland to make its own decisions on whether, if and how to come to another member state's assistance in the event of armed aggression, Pat Cox, former president of the EU said yesterday. Other Stories 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210284926622.html STUDENTS FROM Ennis, Co Clare, have been named Young Social Innovators of the Year for their anti-bullying project. Other Stories 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276384036.html AMBULANCE CREWS have renewed a threat of all-out industrial action in a row over the use of private ambulance services. Other Stories 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210284926632.html ONE IN three airline and travel websites mislead consumers, according to a report from the European Commission. Other Stories 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276384018.html STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS with higher education bodies in developing countries can help tackle the problems of the world’s poorest and least-achieving nations, President Mary McAleese told a conference in Dublin yesterday. Other Stories 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276384184.html AN BORD Pleanála has rejected plans for the retention of a private marina on the shore of Lough Derg in Co Tipperary. Other Stories 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276384150.html A round-up of today's other stories in brief Other Stories 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276379297.html A WICKLOW businessman has been fined €1 million for putting the drinking water in Blessington at risk of contamination by illegally dumping industrial waste. Regional News 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276379945.html A HIGH Court judge has described the circumstances of a multimillion land deal in Co Offaly, in which €7 million lent by a bank has gone missing, as the “most dishonest transaction” he has ever encountered as a serving judge. Regional News 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276379905.html A FATHER of three died yesterday from serious head injuries sustained when he was struck by a heavy rope on a fishing vessel off the coast of Cork. Regional News 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276379914.html THE RETAIL giant Marks Spencer will open its flagship Kerry store in Killarney later this morning in a move that is seen as a feather in the tourist town's cap over its larger neighbour, Tralee. "MS Killarney" will be the company's 18th shop in the Republic and its 35th on the island. Regional News 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276379947.html AN OPEN verdict was recorded at an inquest into the death of a 47-year-old woman after a heavy fall. Breda Ryan, Kilnap Place, Farranree, Cork, died at Cork University Hospital on March 12th, 2007, after she fell in her partner's home while intoxicated. Regional News 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00 http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0509/1210276379911.html A round-up of other stories in brief Regional News 2008-05-09T12:15:06+00:00