ireland.com - The Irish Times

Decision on Ahern payments complaints due soon
The Standards in Public Office Commission has said it will decide shortly on two complaints made about Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's acceptance of payments from businessmen in 1993 and 1994. p

Taoiseach tells of £50,000 kept in a safe for years
The Taoiseach has revealed that he kept £50,000 in cash in a safe in the late 1980s and early 1990s, during the early years of his marriage separation, when he was a government minister. p

Paisley chose powersharing over 'destruction of union'
Ian Paisley has said he decided to share power with Sinn Féin at Stormont rather than have "the union destroyed and [ the] setting up of a joint government by the South of Ireland". p

New vaccines to be offered to children
An expert committee is set to recommend significant changes to the Republic's childhood immunisation scheme, The Irish Times has learned. p

Other Stories

INO threatens to spread action to private hospitals
The industrial action by nurses in all public hospitals will be extended to private hospitals "within days" unless they too agree to improve nurses' pay and conditions, it was confirmed yesterday. p
DISPUTE: how regions are coping
Non urgent inpatient elective surgery has been deferred at Waterford Regional Hospital. However, clinics in the hospital are running as normal. p
Roche again offers Army or Civil Defence water tankers to Galway
Minister for the Environment Dick Roche renewed the Government's offer to provide State transport to supply water to Galway. p
Glowing forecast for the holiday weekend
Met Éireann has forecast dry and settled weather for the holiday weekend and expects temperatures across the country to rise into the high teens. p
Two men killed in single vehicle collisions
Two men in their 20s have been killed in single vehicle collisions. p
Irish sculpture to adorn Fatima
An enormous sculpture of Christ on the Cross, by Catherine Greene, is being transported from Kildare to Portugal today where it will be the centrepiece of a new 8,000-seat basilica at Fatima that will open in October. p
Carbon emissions an election issue, say Greens
Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour must show voters before the general election how they will cut Ireland's carbon emissions, the Green Party has said. p
Church condemns bookie's plan as 'reprehensible'
The Catholic Church has said a plan by the country's largest bookmaker to take bets on a televised Easter Sunday sermon is "reprehensible". p
Council uses cameras to track traffic patterns for useful data
South Dublin County Council has been keeping a beady eye on motorists, with 28 automatic cameras on the N4, N7 and N81 snapping their registration plates to find out where they're coming from and going to every day. p
Defence Minister to act on bullying of females
Some 27 per cent of female members who responded to a major Defence Forces survey said they had been bullied or harassed over the past year. p
Charities reform Bill faces delay
The Government has approved legislation to regulate charities and impose new controls on fundraising. p
Senior civil servant to head agency
A former secretary general of two Government departments, Kevin Bonner, is to be the chairman of the Government's new National Traveller Monitoring and Advisory Committee (NTMAC). p
FBI chief rejects MI5 as US model, citing 'painful' NI role
The British domestic security agency MI5 has had a "long and painful history" of underhand operations in Northern Ireland that should not be copied in the US, former FBI director Louis Freeh has warned. p
Priest denies he knew where body was hidden
An Irish-born Catholic priest who has admitted having a sexual relationship with a murder victim was yesterday accused of knowing where her body was when police were investigating her disappearance. p
Congressmen hail deal as triumph for US
The deal between Sinn Féin and the DUP marks a significant triumph for US foreign policy, senior congressmen said in Belfast yesterday. p
Fresh crisis in talks on doctors' contract
Ironically, on the day that health service management and medical representative bodies finally got around to talking about salary levels for a new consultant contract, the entire process has, quite suddenly, been thrown once more into potential crisis. p
Ahern to back tax cut for NI, says Paisley
The Rev Ian Paisley said yesterday the Irish Government has indicated its support for the campaign to reduce corporation tax in the North in line with the Republic's rate of 12.5 per cent. p
Hanafin intervenes in UCD Old Irish dispute
The Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, has intervened in the dispute about the downgrading of Old Irish in UCD. p
Couple accused of $1m fraud face extradition
US prosecutors are seeking the extradition of a Leitrim-based couple accused of defrauding one of America's most prestigious design schools of more than $1 million. p
New USI head alerts politicians
The new president of the Union of Students of Ireland (USI) has vowed to "hold every elected politician to their election campaign promises" when he takes up his post in July. p
Charity calls for laws on children's rights
The charity Barnardos has said that children's rights should be central to any future government's policy. p
Public service faces new review
The Taoiseach has announced that Government departments and offices will undergo a new kind of comprehensive review which he termed "a full organisational health check". p
Proposals for new urban quarter on Poolbeg peninsula gain approval
Proposals to build a high-density new urban quarter located on Dublin's Poolbeg peninsula were formally approved by the Oireachtas Committee on the Environment yesterday. p
No bombings cover-up - Tánaiste
Tánaiste Michael McDowell has rejected any suggestion that State agencies are trying to hide the truth about the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. p
So see you after the Easter recess ... or perhaps not
Dail Sketch: The misery, and mystery, goes on and on ... and on . . . The long election-campaign-in-all-but-name continues until at least April 24th, before the election "proper" begins. Or so it would seem. p
Crime Bill's link to fishermen rejected
Opposition claims that the Criminal Justice Bill was criminalising commercial fishermen were rejected by Minister for Justice Michael McDowell. p
Nordic battle group motion approved
The Dáil approved a Government motion relating to Ireland's participation in the Nordic battle group. Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea said that representatives from his department, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Defence Forces had met their Swedish counterparts on a number of occasions to discuss possible participation by the Defence Forces in the group. p
Call to find new way to help bomb victims
Seanad report: Rather than delude the families of those who had died in the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings that the truth about those dreadful events could be ascertained, it might be better to look at other ways to help them to bear the cross that they had to carry, Maurice Hayes (Ind) said. p
Councillor to be jailed has heart operation
Galway councillor Michael "Stroke" Fahy, who was due to begin a 12-month jail sentence earlier this week, underwent a cardiac procedure in hospital yesterday. p
More time for justice Bill debate
The decision of the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell to agree to demands for more time to debate the Criminal Justice Bill in the Dáil after the Easter recess has been welcomed by the Opposition. p
Fine Gael and Labour defer joint manifesto
Fine Gael and Labour have deferred plans to launch their joint economic manifesto for the general election until after Easter. p
Kilternan villagers contest rezonings
Residents of the south Co Dublin village Kilternan have called for the rejection of a plan which would increase its population from 900 to 15,000 people. p
InShort
More news in brief p

Regional News

Shannon airport workers endorse €36m survival plan
Five hundred and fifty workers at Shannon airport yesterday overwhelmingly endorsed a €36 million survival plan for the airport. p
'Bigger' Limerick seen as key to rejuvenation
Limerick's city boundary should be extended to incorporate the portion of Co Limerick lying north of the Shannon to facilitate the regeneration of Moyross, according to former Dublin city manager John Fitzgerald. p
Bee colonies may be under threat
As beekeepers across Europe have reported massive losses of colonies, the Department of Agriculture has appealed to beekeepers here to contact them if they they are having similar losses. p
Kerry GAA in talks to sell county ground
Kerry GAA County Board is negotiating the sale of its Austin Stack Park grounds in the centre of Tralee to a local business consortium in exchange for a 15,000-seat stadium in the town as part of a €100 million project. p
Water samples free of bug, council says
The samples being taken at the old waterworks in Terryland in Galway city have been clear of contamination for the last two days, it emerged yesterday. p
Body of missing Meath man (79) found
The body of an elderly Meath man who disappeared from his home five days ago was recovered in the river Boyne yesterday following a four-day search. p

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