The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission has accused gardaí of delaying its investigation into the case of Kieran Boylan, a convicted drug dealer against whom further drugs charges were dropped in July 2008.
The public interest inquiry examined the nature of the gardaí's relationship with the drug dealer.
A file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, who directed that nobody should face prosecution.
The Ombudsman has also decided that no gardaí should face disciplinary action.
The report took the Ombudsman over four years to complete. The DPP took four months to dismiss the report as insufficient to sustain a criminal prosecution.
The commission's investigation focused on whether or not gardaí colluded with Boylan in the movement and supply of drugs.
The convicted drug dealer faced six charges in connection with the seizure of €1.7m worth of cocaine and heroin at a transport yard in Co Louth in October 2005.
He was on bail at the time after he had been caught with €700,000 worth of cocaine and heroin in Dublin and Louth, for which he was subsequently sentenced to five years in prison.
However, on the last day of the court sittings in July 2008, the 2005 drugs charges against Boylan were dropped without explanation.
The Ombudsman's investigation into why those charges were dropped also examined the nature of Boylan's relationship with gardaí.
It sought to establish whether or not he was acting as an informant for gardaí, registered or not.
The Ombudsman investigated whether or not any gardaí knew he was dealing drugs while acting as an informant; if he supplied drugs to other drug dealers and then gave information about those drugs to the gardaí; and whether or not a conviction secured on the basis of such information is now unsafe.
However, the DPP directed that no gardaí should face prosecution and that there was not sufficient evidence to support claims that convictions connected to Boylan were unsafe.
Today the Ombudsman accused gardaí of repeated delay and debate and not supplying all the information within the 30-day agreed time frame.
However, it acknowledged that it got all but one of the documents it sought.
Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan today rejected the Ombudsman's criticisms and said he regrets the publication of details from the report.
The Ombudsman has also sent what it called "a special report" to the Minister for Justice outlining its concerns about the delays and the garda informant handling procedures, which are ultimately expected to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.
The Supreme Court has declared Registered Employment Agreements, which set pay rates for certain sectors, unconstitutional.
In a significant judgment affecting several employment sectors, the court ruled such agreements delegated law-making powers beyond the Oireachtas.
The court said the agreements "passed unmistakably into the field of legislation which was the sole preserve of the Oireachtas".
The challenge to the REAs was taken by electrical contractors, who have welcomed the decision.
The electricians' union the TEEU has said the decision does not overturn existing pay rates and conditions.
However the electrical contractors group, the NECI, said the judgment means all current agreements "are cancelled".
The five-judge Supreme Court ruled the Industrial Relations Act of 1946, which made provision for the agreements, raised serious issues of incompatibility with the Constitution.
It allowed parties to such agreements to make any law they wish in relation to employment, the judgment said.
The court said there was no obligation on the Labour Court or the parties to the agreements to consider the interests of those who would be bound by them and who are not parties to them.
Furthermore, while the agreement once registered is binding on everyone in the sector it may only be varied on the application of the original parties.
The Labour Court could not itself initiate any process of variation, the court noted.
There was a "wholesale grant, indeed abdication of law making power to private persons unidentified and unidentifiable at the time of grant to make law in respect of a broad and important area of human activity and subject only to a limited power of veto by a subordinate body", the judgment said.
The court said the act allowed the parties to an employment agreement "to make any law they wish in relation to employment so long as the Labour Court considers them to be substantially representative of workers and employers in the sector".
Eamon Devoy of the TEEU said certain employers were looking for a loophole in the law and they had found one today.
Speaking on RTÉ's News At One, Mr Devoy said that while the ruling meant that REAs were no longer constitutional, other contracts of employment could not be unilaterally altered without agreement.
Mr Devoy said that contractual rights and conditions could only be altered by the agreement of the parties involved and that as a result any terms agreed between employers and workers were not affected.
However, he said the removal of the minimum pay rates set by REAs would allow contractors to undercut the current rates paid to technical workers covered by the 70 REAs registered with the Labour Court.
He said this would leave the sector exposed to workers from overseas being hired by contractors at a rate no greater than the current minimum wage of €8.65 per hour, considerably less than the rate paid to many technical workers under the REA agreements.
Also speaking on News At One, Dave Butler of the National Electrical Contractors of Ireland welcomed the decision.
He said that all REAs are now unconstitutional and invalid.
Mr Butler said that up to today the NECI had been bound by REAs which it had no part in negotiating.
He said that REAs had been agreed by the larger employers and the unions, and the NECI "had been left outside the door".
Now that these REAs have been declared unconstitutional, Mr Butler said that its contractors intend to grow their business, and employ people in what he called "a realistic way".
However, he denied that this would lead to a race to the bottom, and said NECI arrangements would be "far from the minimum wage".
A statement from Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton said the Government intends to study the finding and get legal advice before commenting in detail.
He said: "The judgment has the effect of striking down Registered Employment Agreements put in place under the 1946 Industrial Relations Act."
He said the agreements which set pay and conditions for workers in five sectors including electrical contracting and construction are affected by today's judgment.
Existing contractual rights of workers in sectors covered by Registered Employment Agreement are unaffected by today's ruling, he added.
Ireland's bailout programme remains on track, the gradual recovery is continuing and there have been further improvements in market conditions for the sovereign and the banks.
The Troika made the conclusion in its tenth review of the Government's implementation of the bailout programme.
Staff teams from the European Commission, European Central Bank, and International Monetary Fund visited Dublin between 23 April and 2 May.
The teams noted that the authorities had made significant progress on financial sector repair and restoring sustainability to the public finances.
However, they pointed to remaining challenges which they said require "continuing policy efforts".
The Troika says further progress is required by the banks to resolve unsustainable SME debts, which it says will help bolster job creation.
It calls on the authorities to monitor the reduction in mortgage arrears by the banks, a process which it says got off to a disappointingly slow start.
However, it notes that a normalisation of the financial sector is gradually continuing with the smooth phase-out of the Eligible Liabilities Guarantee scheme.
The report calls for strict implementation of budget measures, including in the health sector, in order to meet the deficit ceiling of 7.5% of GDP.
It notes the progress that Ireland has made in recovering lost competitiveness in recent years. which it says should be continued through opening up competition in sheltered sectors such as legal services.
Concluding disposal of State assets can support job-creating investment projects, it says.
The conclusion of the review will see a further €2.5bn of funds disbursed to the Government.
The Taoiseach has once again ruled out reopening the Moriarty Tribunal to investigate the so-called Lowry Tapes.
Mr Kenny was answering questions about the work of his department before a Dáil sub-committee.
Labour TD Kevin Humphreys said there was "real concern" among the public about the contents of the tapes, and asked if the Tribunal could be asked to advise if there was information in the tapes which had not been made available to it.
Mr Kenny said he understood the gardaí were investigating the matter, and he could not comment on that.
He also said if someone out there had more information relevant to the tribunal, they should bring it to the authorities, and do so quickly.
A former school bus driver accused of kidnapping three young women and raping them during a decade of captivity has appeared in court in the US.
Bail for Ariel Castro, 52, was set at $8m (€6m) by Cleveland Municipal Court.
Judge Lauren Moore set the bond at $2m for each of the three women and a child who was born in captivity.
It was the first time Mr Castro was seen in public since his arrest on Monday following the women's escape from his house in a neighbourhood of Cleveland, Ohio.
Mr Castro was formally charged yesterday with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape.
His court-appointed lawyer, Kathleen DeMetz, said Mr Castro was unemployed. He was fired from his job driving school buses last November.
He is being kept on suicide watch, and his lawyer said she expected him to be kept in isolation in jail.
Officials said the three women were at times bound in chains or rope and endured starvation, beatings, sexual assaults and in the case of one of them, several miscarriages deliberately induced by their captor.
Their imprisonment came to an end on Monday after neighbours, drawn to the house by cries for help, broke through a door to rescue Amanda Berry.
The disappearance of Ms Berry in 2003, the day before her 17th birthday, was widely publicised in the local media.
Rescued with Ms Berry, now 27, was her six-year-old daughter, conceived and born during her confinement.
Two fellow captives - Gina DeJesus, 23, who vanished at age 14 in 2004, and Michelle Knight, 32, who was 20 when she went missing in 2002 – were also freed.
Initially, Mr Castro's two brothers, Pedro, 54, and Onil, 50, were also arrested as suspects in the case.
However, police said they were not charged after investigators determined they had no knowledge of the abductions or captivity of the women.
They appeared in court today on unrelated outstanding misdemeanour charges and were released.
Ms Berry told police that her escape on Monday had been her first chance to break free in the ten years that she was held, seizing the opportunity during Mr Castro's momentary absence.
The largest union at Bus Éireann, the National Bus and Rail Union, says an all-out strike will go ahead from Sunday.
Out of 820 votes, 83% of members voted today to reject the Labour Court's cost-cutting recommendations.
€5m reductions in overtime and premium pay at the company had been recommended by the court.
The NBRU represents over 1,100 of the company's 2,500 employees.
Bus Éireann has said it will press ahead with a range of cost-cutting measures.
Company spokesman Andrew McLindon said there are no negotiations planned with the unions following the ballot.
He said he has asked for clarification on the nature of the industrial action, and what that means for customers.
Mr McLindon said management was open to meeting unions, as long as they had "viable and credible" alternatives to achieve the savings.
NBRU Secretary General Michael Faherty has said that members could not afford to take the loss in take home pay arising from the planned cuts.
Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said some drivers would lose between €3,000 and €4,000 per year.
Mr Faherty said Bus Éireann was planning on altering what he described as his members' legal terms and conditions.
But Mr McLindon said it was no longer sustainable to continue operations without major cost reductions, saying the company lost €6m last year.
He said the company had "exhausted" all of the State's industrial relations mechanisms in a bid to find an agreement with unions.
This included two sessions in the Labour Relations Commission and two days of hearings at the Labour Court.
Mr McLindon said there was a consensus by everyone involved in the process that the company's finances needed to be turned around.
He said that if Bus Éireann had managed to secure the €20m cuts it sought at the start of the process it would have since returned to profit.
Mr McLindon said that under an internal agreement unions were obliged to provide the company with 30 days of formal notice of industrial action.
He said there was a legal requirement for unions to give the company seven days' notice of such action, as a minimum requirement.
Mr McLindon said if there was going to be industrial action this weekend the company would regard that as unofficial.
Earlier, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said the viability of Bus Éireann could only be secured if savings were agreed.
Mr Gilmore assured the Dáil during Leaders' Questions that the Government is committed to public service.
He said the hope is that industrial action would be avoided as a result of discussions taking place between now and Sunday.
Responding to Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley, who questioned Labour's stance on the privatisation of the company, Mr Gilmore said: "If the company doesn't exist there will be no jobs in it."
Only last weekend Ferguson insisted he was intent on carrying on indefinitelyFerguson won 13 league titles with United
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Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson is to retire at the end of the season.
United confirmed the news on their website this morning.
"The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken lightly," said Ferguson, 71.
"It is the right time."
He will continue as director and ambassador for the club.
Ferguson's last game in charge will be at West Brom on 19 May and he will join the club's football board.
"It was important to me to leave an organisation in the strongest possible shape and I believe I have done so," he said.
"The quality of this league winning squad, and the balance of ages within it, bodes well for continued success at the highest level whilst the structure of the youth set-up will ensure that the long-term future of the club remains a bright one."
GALLERY: FERGIE TIME
Now, for the first time in over a quarter of a century, United are on the hunt for a new manager.
David Moyes, out of contract at Everton, and Jose Mourinho, who is expected to leave Real Madrid at the end of the season, are the obvious favourites, although Borussia Dortmund's highly-regarded coach Jnrgen Klopp and Bayern Munich's 67-year-old outgoing boss Jupp Heynckes will also come into contention.
It promises to be a major test of nerve for the Glazer family, plus Ed Woodward, who will replace David Gill as chief executive in the summer.
Eamon Dunphy says he is surprised by Alex Ferguson's decision to retire
"Alex has proven time and time again what a fantastic manager he is but he's also a wonderful person," said co-chairman Joel Glazer.
"His determination to succeed and dedication to the club have been truly remarkable.
"I will always cherish the wonderful memories he has given us, like that magical night in Moscow."
Avi Glazer added: "I am delighted to announce that Alex has agreed to stay with the club as a director.
"His contributions to Manchester United over the last 26 years have been extraordinary and, like all United fans, I want him to be a part of its future."
"The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken lightly. It is the right time."
Former United striker Dwight Yorke, who played under Ferguson between 1998 and 2002 and was part of the 1999 treble-winning side, feels a combination of factors led the Scot to call it a day at the age of 71.
"I've seen Sir Alex Ferguson on Monday at a charity game," the former Trinidad and Tobago international told Sky Sports News.
"He was in good spirits but the rumours were really strong around the place that he was going to retire and there was a big announcement supposed to be happening tomorrow and not today.
"I think probably the fact of the club floating on the stock market meant this decision needed to come out very quickly.
"But the people within the football club knew this was likely to happen this season. And I think with his hip replacement (booked in for late July), with David Gill going as well, that sort of pushed him to say 'this might be the best time for me to retire'."
Alex Ferguson statement
"The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about and one that I have not taken lightly. It is the right time.
"It was important to me to leave an organisation in the strongest possible shape and I believe I have done so.
"The quality of this league winning squad, and the balance of ages within it, bodes well for continued success at the highest level whilst the structure of the youth set-up will ensure that the long-term future of the club remains a bright one.
"Our training facilities are amongst the finest in global sport and our home Old Trafford is rightfully regarded as one of the leading venues in the world.
"Going forward, I am delighted to take on the roles of both Director and Ambassador for the club.
"With these activities, along with my many other interests, I am looking forward to the future.
"I must pay tribute to my family, their love and support has been essential.
Alex Ferguson's post-match press conference from the Airtricity XI v Manchester United in 2010
"My wife Cathy has been the key figure throughout my career, providing a bedrock of both stability and encouragement. Words are not enough to express what this has meant to me.
"As for my players and staff, past and present, I would like to thank them all for a staggering level of professional conduct and dedication that has helped to deliver so many memorable triumphs.
"Without their contribution the history of this great club would not be as rich.
"In my early years, the backing of the board, and Sir Bobby Charlton in particular, gave me the confidence and time to build a football club, rather than just a football team.
"Over the past decade, the Glazer family have provided me with the platform to manage Manchester United to the best of my ability and I have been extremely fortunate to have worked with a talented and trustworthy Chief Executive in David Gill.
"I am truly grateful to all of them.
"To the fans, thank you. The support you have provided over the years has been truly humbling. It has been an honour and an enormous privilege to have had the opportunity to lead your club and I have treasured my time as manager of Manchester United."
FERGUSON'S 49 TROPHIES
Spanning almost four decades, from humble origins at St Mirren, it is hard to imagine anyone getting close to the records Ferguson has set.
ST MIRREN
Scottish First Division (1): 1976-77.
ABERDEEN
Scottish Premier Division (3): 1979-80, 1983-84, 1984-85.
Scottish Cup (4): 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1985-86.
Scottish League Cup (1): 1985-86.
European Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1982-83.
European Super Cup (1): 1983.
MANCHESTER UNITED
Manchester United Premier League (13): 1992-93, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2010-11, 2012-13.
FA Cup (5): 1989-90, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1998-99, 2003-04.
League Cup (4): 1991-92, 2005-06, 2008-09, 2009-10.
Six people have been killed and three are missing after a container ship crashed into a control tower in the northern Italian port city of Genoa.
The tower, which was more than 50 metres high, collapsed after being struck by the prow of the ship, the Jolly Nero.
Two of the dead were coast guard officials and the third was a pilot for the port.
The three other victims have yet to be identified.
As well as the dead and missing, officials said four people were injured and had been taken to hospital.
Two were seriously hurt and one had lost a foot, investigators said.
The accident happened in calm conditions at 11pm (10pm Irish time) last night as staff were changing shifts, so more people than usual were in the tower.
The cause of the crash was unclear.
The Jolly Nero, owned by local fleet operator Ignazio Messina and Co, was manoeuvring out of the port with the assistance of tugboats, under the control of two pilots.
Genoa prosecutor Michele Di Lecce has opened an investigation and is focusing on a possible malfunction of the ship's engine or steering mechanism, judicial sources said.
"There's no logical explanation because two tug boats were moving the ship and there was a port pilot on board and sea conditions were optimal," the head of the Genoa Port Authority, Luigi Merlo, said.
The only thing left where the tower had stood was a leaning metal-framed stairway.
The Jolly Nero is a 238 metre-long ship with a gross tonnage of 40,594 tonnes, according to the company's website.
The crash is the most serious maritime accident in Italy since the Costa Concordia luxury cruise liner struck a rock and capsized off the island of Giglio in January 2012, killing 32 people.
The Midlands Regional Hospital in Portlaoise has apologised to the parents of an eight-year-old boy who died 18 hours after he was discharged from its emergency department.
Richard De Souza from Athy in Co Kildare had been suffering from chicken pox and developed a secondary infection.
He died from a streptococcal infection and toxic shock having been discharged from the hospital's emergency department on antibiotics in February 2011.
The High Court was told he should have been admitted to hospital and treated with intravenous antibiotics.
Ms Justice Mary Irvine today approved a settlement for €160,000 in an action taken by the family against the HSE for wrongful death and nervous shock.
The judge said the amount for wrongful death - €25,400 - was "very small", but she said that was the amount set by the Government for a loss of life.
The court was told the boy was taken to hospital in Portlaoise on 6 February 2011 having had chicken pox for a number of days.
He had swelling under his arm and cellulitis and was prescribed antibiotics and discharged.
His parents had difficulty finding a pharmacy that Sunday and had to drive to Newbridge to find one.
The boy's condition worsened overnight and he died the following day, 18 hours after he had been discharged.
Senior Counsel John O'Mahony said the boy had a high temperature and high pulse and heart rate while in the emergency department he should have been admitted to the hospital.
If he had been given intravenous antibiotics it would have saved his life, he said.
The streptococcal infection led to toxic shock syndrome and toxins overwhelmed him, the court heard.
His mother Flavia was pregnant at the time. Her husband Ramon, who works as a jockey, was hospitalised after his son's death and she had to attend the funeral on her own.
They were described in court as being "completely lost" after his death, both suffering post-traumatic stress and requiring ongoing counselling.
An apology was read to the court from the hospital in which it expressed "sincere sympathy and regret to the De Souza family in respect of the tragic death of Richard as a result of a streptococcal infection following his attendance and discharge at the emergency department on the evening prior to his death".
Afterwards, the couple's solicitor Ann Nowlan said they still had many questions surrounding the treatment of their son.
They believed his death could have been prevented.
It had a devastating effect on the family and the Brazilian community in Ireland, she said.
A major new initiative has been agreed with the banks and the Central Bank to alleviate the debt burden of over-stretched borrowers.
The new structure, which will operate on a pilot basis from next month, will include a write-down of debts.
The Central Bank said the purpose of the initiative is to secure co-operation between mortgage lenders and unsecured lenders such as credit card companies and credit unions.
The idea is that it will alleviate stress on borrowers who are continually being pressurised to repay multiple lenders.
The bank said the aim of the scheme is to achieve ''sustainable and fair outcomes'' without the need for people to enter the full insolvency process''.
''It is focused on enhancing co-operation between lenders of secured and unsecured debt in order to resolve distressed debt at an early stage,'' it added.
The deal means that a distressed borrower could be offered a split mortgage which parks a portion of their debts.
Under the agreements, borrowers would pay a set amount to their creditors on a proportionate basis for two years.
For example, if the borrower has to service a reduced mortgage of €100,000 and a credit union loan of €10,000, only 10% of their income set aside for servicing loans would go to the credit union and 90% would go to repay mortgage debt.
If the borrower is still in difficulty after two years the credit union loan would be wiped out.
Any deals agreed will require the agreement of lenders and borrowers.
The Central Bank will run the scheme on a pilot basis for three months with 750 borrowers who will be from a representative sample of distressed debtors.
"On a case by case basis and in the context of affordability and reasonable living arrangements of the borrower, the secured lender will consider a range of restructure options. These arrangements are for the most challenging cases and the reduced payments provided are intended for the benefit of the distressed customer and not for the benefit of any other lender,'' the Central Bank's document said today.
"On a case by case basis, the secured lender - for a period of two years - may accommodate the servicing of other loans alongside the mortgage on a proportional basis to the remaining sums outstanding. After the two year period, the available cashflow will be used to service the repayments on an appropriate family home,'' the bank added.
Business borrowers and buy-to-let investors will be excluded from the arrangements.
The agreements would operate outside the personal insolvency scheme, which requires the publication of borrowers' names on a register.
''The decision to enter into this pilot is a constructive step by the lenders involved to help their own customers,'' the Central Bank's Director of Credit Institutions and Insurance Supervision, Fiona Muldoon, said.
She said the aim of the scheme is to test the viability of the proposed negotiated approach and to determine its effectiveness in achieving workable sustainable outcomes for borrowers and lenders.
''I expect that the lenders participating in the pilot scheme will include all the main retail banks and many credit unions as well as other unsecured lenders'', she said.
Police investigating the case of three women kept captive for nearly a decade in the United States say they have found chains and ropes used to tie up the victims.
However, no human remains have been found at the house where they were held.
Authorities are preparing charges against three brothers suspected of keeping the three women captive for nearly ten years in Cleveland, Ohio.
Initial public euphoria over the rescue of the women on Monday has given way to questions of how their imprisonment in a house on a residential street went undetected for so long.
Several neighbours said they had called police to report suspicious activity at the house in a dilapidated neighbourhood on Cleveland's West Side, where Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight and Berry's six-year-old daughter escaped from their captors.
But police denied those calls from neighbours were made.
"We have no record of those calls coming in over the last ten years," Cleveland Police Chief Michael McGrath said on NBC's Today show.
Mr McGrath said he was confident police did not miss opportunities to find the missing women.
"Absolutely, there's no question about it," he said.
FBI agents were searching through the house where the women were believed held since vanishing between 2002 and 2004 from the same neighbourhood, he said.
"We have confirmation that they were bound, and there [were] chains and ropes in the home," he said.
No human remains were found, Cleveland Safety Director Martin Flask said separately in a statement.
"A thorough search of the scene ... did not reveal human remains," he said.
Mr McGrath said the women had been allowed outside "very rarely" during their captivity. "They were released out in the backyard once in a while," he said.
He said the women were in good physical condition, "considering the circumstances".
The three suspects were expected to be charged by the end of the day, Mr McGrath said.
One suspect, Ariel Castro, 52, who was fired from his school bus driving job in November for "lack of judgment," was arrested almost immediately after the women escaped on Monday.
Brothers Pedro Castro, 54, and Onil Castro, 50, were taken into custody a short time later.
The women's imprisonment came to a dramatic end after a neighbour, drawn by the sound of screams, broke through the door to rescue Ms Berry, whose 2003 disappearance as a teenager was widely publicised in the local media.
He helped her place an emergency call to authorities.
Ms Berry, now 27, was found with her six-year-old daughter, conceived and born during her captivity, along with Ms DeJesus, 23, who vanished aged 14 in 2004, and Ms Knight, 32, who was 20 when she went missing in 2002.
Cleveland Mayor Frank Johnson said yesterday that child welfare officials had paid a visit to the house in January 2004 because Mr Castro was reported to have left a child on a school bus while he stopped for lunch at a fast-food restaurant.
But nobody answered the door and the ensuing inquiry found no criminal intent, officials said.
Police have not said what role each man is suspected of playing in the case, but Ms Berry named Ariel Castro in her 911 call as the man from whom she was trying to escape.
Questions have mounted about why the women's captivity escaped notice.
"We didn't search hard enough. She was right under our nose the whole time," said Angel Arroyo, a church pastor who had handed out flyers of Ms DeJesus in the neighbourhood.
Aside from the school bus incident in 2004, city officials said a database search found no records of calls to the house or reports of anything amiss during the years in question.
"We have no indication that any of the neighbours, bystanders, witnesses or anyone else has ever called regarding any information, regarding activity that occurred at that house on Seymour Avenue," the mayor said.
Israel Lugo, a neighbour, said he called police in November 2011 after his sister saw a girl at the house holding a baby and crying for help.
He said police came and banged on the door several times but left when no one answered.
About eight months ago, Mr Lugo said, his sister saw Ariel Castro park his school bus outside and take a large bag of fast food and several drinks inside.
"My sister said something's wrong ... That's when my mom called the police," he said.
Mr Lugo said police came and warned Castro not to park the bus in front of his house.
Another neighbour, Anthony Westry, said a little girl could often be seen peering from the attic window of the Castro house.
"She was always looking out the window," he said.
Ariel Castro would take her to the park to play very early in the morning, "not around the time you would take kids to play," he said.
But neighbour Charles Ramsey, who helped Ms Berry escape, said on ABC's Good Morning America that he had lived next to the Castro house and had no inkling there was something wrong.
"Isn't that scary?" he said. "So either I'm that stupid or his kind are that good."
In the one acknowledged visit to the house by Cuyahoga County Children and Family Services Department officers in January 2004, more than a year after Ms Knight disappeared and eight months after Ms Berry went missing, no one answered the door, the mayor said.
Police said Ariel Castro was interviewed extensively during the investigation regarding the child left on the bus, and that no criminal wrongdoing was found.
A witness had reported Ariel Castro telling the child to "lay down, bitch," but child welfare officials concluded the complaint was unsubstantiated.
Born in Puerto Rico, Ariel Castro played bass in Latin music bands in the area.
Records show he was divorced more than a decade ago and his ex-wife had since died. He is known to have at least one adult daughter and son.
A cousin of the Castro brothers, Maria Castro Montes, said on CNN that the family, if they had had any inkling of "any suspicions of anything, no one in this family would have remained quiet".
A new national index shows that rents rose by 2% in the first three months of this year compared to the same time last year.
The survey from the Private Residential Tenancies Board is based on the board's own register of over 277,000 tenancies.
It reveals the actual rents being paid for properties as opposed to asking rents which feature in other surveys.
The PRTB said the first quarter of the year saw rents rise by 2.3% in Dublin, while they increased by 0.8% outside of Dublin. Monthly rents averaged €785 in the first quarter of the year.
However, the PRTB notes that rents fell in Dublin by 1.9% in the first three months of 2013 compared to the last three months of 2012 due to a weakening of Dublin apartment rents, which fell by 3.9%.
Of the nearly 1.65 million households in the country, 475,000 (29%) rent their homes and about 65% of that number are in the private sector.
The PRTB is also making a new database available which provides rent details for five different types of dwellings throughout the country - in both urban and rural areas. People can log on free of charge to check rent levels for different locations and different types of dwellings.
''This index takes the speculation and surmise out of renting,'' commented Ann Marie Caulfield, the Director of the PRTB.
''All our data is based on actual rents being paid for private accommodation right across the country, and this is very valuable information for all stakeholders concerned,'' she added.
The rent index, which was compiled by the ESRI, will be updated and published every three months.
It was officially launched by the Minister for Housing and Planning, Jan O'Sullivan, today.
Today's index shows that apartment rents outside Dublin are down 21.3% from their peaks in early 2008, while Dublin apartment rents are 24% down from their peaks.
Three Ohio women, who disappeared separately a decade ago, have been found alive at a Cleveland house near where they were last seen.
Three brothers were arrested as suspects in their disappearances.
Police said they were alerted to the whereabouts of the women by a frantic emergency call from Amanda Berry, who was freed from the house by a neighbour who said he heard screaming and came to her assistance.
"Help me! I'm Amanda Berry. ... I've been kidnapped and I've been missing for ten years and I'm here. I'm free now," she told a 911 operator in a recording of the call released by police.
During the call, she gave the name of her alleged abductor, said he was "out of the house" and urged police to come quickly.
She indicated that she knew her disappearance had been widely reported in the media.
The two women found with Ms Berry were identified as Gina DeJesus, who vanished in 2004 aged 14, and Michelle Knight, who was reported to have been 20 when she disappeared over ten years ago.
All three women were taken to a local hospital, MetroHealth Medical Center, where Dr Gerald Maloney told a news conference they were all "safe" and "appear to be in fair condition".
"This isn't the ending we usually have to these stories, so we're very happy. We're very happy for them," Dr Maloney said.
Charles Ramsey said in an interview broadcast by CNN that when he arrived at his neighbour's house, Ms Berry appeared desperate to get through the door, which did not open properly.
"I see this girl going nuts trying to get outside," he said, adding that he was astonished when she identified herself.
"Then I realised I'm calling 911 for Amanda Berry. I thought that girl was dead," he said.
He said Ms Berry had emerged from the house "with a little girl".
The six-year-old girl is believed to be Ms Berry's daughter.
The suspects, ages 50, 52 and 54, were arrested based on information given to investigators by the three women after their rescue, according to Deputy Cleveland Police Chief Ed Tomba, who said the women had probably been held in that house since they vanished.
One of the men was identified earlier as Ariel Castro, 52, a bus driver for Cleveland public schools.
Crowds on the street where the women were found cheered as police cars drove into the cordoned-off area around the house.
Ms Berry was last seen leaving her job at a fast-food restaurant to go home on the day before her 17th birthday.
City Councilwoman Dona Brady, a friend of the family, said that Ms Berry's grief-stricken mother had died at age 47, essentially from a broken heart.
A cousin of Ms DeJesus, Sheila Figaro, told CNN that the girl's mother, Nancy, "never gave up faith knowing that her daughter would one day be found".
She said: "What a phenomenal Mother's Day gift she gets this Mother's Day."
Ms DeJesus, who is now 23, was last seen walking home from school.
The suspects' uncle, Caesar Castro, who owns a grocery store on the same street, said Ariel Castro owned the house where the women were found.
He added that members of his family and the family of Ms DeJesus "grew up together".
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson said: "I am thankful that Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight have been found alive."
"We have many unanswered questions regarding this case, and the investigation will be ongoing," he added.
The disappearance of Ms Knight did not attract the local media attention of the suspected abductions of Ms Berry and Ms DeJesus.
Her grandmother, Deborah Knight, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper that some family members had concluded, based in part on suggestions by police and social workers at the time, that she had run away.
her mother Barbara Knight, who now lives in Florida, told the newspaper she never believed her daughter would have vanished without a trace on her own and that she kept searching long after police gave up looking for her.
The Government has approved proposals for the appointment of two additional judges to tackle the backlog of cases in the Supreme Court and Court of Criminal Appeal.
The appointments will be provided for in the Courts Bill 2013 which will be enacted in the coming weeks.
Minister for Justice Alan Shatter said proposals were brought forward following recent meetings with the Chief Justice and the Attorney General.
The average delay for new non-priority cases before the Supreme Court is approximately four years.
Earlier this year, the Chief Justice announced the court could not accept any new priority cases.
At the time, there were over 70 cases on the priority list awaiting hearing.
Welcoming the Government decision, Minister Shatter said: "This measure will underpin the ongoing process of court reform which is essential to maintaining our competitiveness and upholding citizens' rights under both the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights".
Chief Justice Mrs Justice Susan Denham also welcomed the decision in principle.
She said that this will allow her to "organise two divisions of the Supreme Court to sit more extensively than at present, and also enable a Supreme Court judge to preside in the Court of Criminal Appeal more frequently".
The High Court has approved the examiner's recommendations for DIY chain B&Q Ireland.
Under the scheme, which sees over €2.4m in new investment by parent company Kingfisher, B&Q Ireland will continue to trade at eight stores nationwide. 640 jobs have been secured with today's decision.
The group's rescue plan included the closure of its Waterford store, which closed last week, with the loss of 47 jobs.
Another four stores had also been under threat, including its outlet in Athlone, but these will now remain open.
B&Q Ireland sought the appointment of an examiner in January, in an effort to save the business which had been significantly loss making due to the deterioration of the economy and ''unsustainable rents''.
"B&Q Ireland employees have had a challenging three months, and so today's encouraging plan is a great relief,'' commented Brian Mooney, chairman of B&Q Ireland.
''There is huge regret that the Waterford store was not viable, but, for the rest of the business, we look confidently forward to a sustainable future. We are more committed than ever to our operations in Ireland, and our loyal customers and employees", he added.
B&Q has operated in Ireland since 2002 and has outlets in Athlone, Cork, Galway, Limerick, Naas and at three locations in Dublin - Swords, Liffey Valley and Tallaght.
Mr Mooney said there has been no change to B&Q workers' contracts after today's decision.
'A great day for the retail industry'
Retail Excellence Ireland chief executive David Fitzsimons told RTÉ's News At One that most international retailers operating in the country are loss-making and could legitimately make an application to the courts to enter examinership.
He made his comments after fashion retailer Pamela Scott secured 137 jobs at 12 stores after upward only rent clauses were removed, and the B&Q development.
Mr Fitzsimons said that the High Court's endorsement of the downward review of rents in both cases represented "a great day for the retail industry" and for jobs in the industry.
He said that the move had undone what he said had been aggressive and unsustainable retail increases over the years.
Mr Fitzsimons pointed out that between the years 2000 and 2007 consumer prices rose by 30%, but at the same time commercial rents rose by 240%.
''Obviously that was untenable and today's determination has undone some of that and secured two great retailers and secured that they continue to trade in the Republic of Ireland,'' he said.
He said the move was more likely to benefit larger retailers as examinership can be a costly process to enter.
"Today's determination is good for larger retailers who will look at examinership as an option as a result," he said.
Mr Fitzsimons said that Retail Excellence Ireland's understanding is that most international retailers trading in the country are loss making, meaning that they would technically comply with the conditions of entering examinership. It makes sense for landlords to engage with the process, he said.
'Northern Ireland pub group enters administration'
The largest pub group in Northern Ireland has gone into administration.
Botanic Inns has 16 bars, including The Bot and the Kings Head in Belfast, along with restaurants and hotels.
The business employs 600 people.
Botanic Inns will continue to trade while the administrators seek buyers for all or part of the business.
Over 5,600 patients in Limerick are waiting four years or more for an outpatient appointment, according to the latest figures from the HSE.
At the end of February, the Mid-Western Regional Orthopaedic Hospital, Croom had 4,148 patients waiting four years or more.
1,473 patients were waiting at the nearby Mid-Western Regional Hospital, Dooradoyle.
Nationally, 105,632 patients were waiting over a year for a first consultant outpatient appointment.
This represents a small improvement on the figures up to the end of January.
The hospitals with the longest overall outpatient waiting lists were:
- University College Hospital Galway with 41,035 patients - Waterford Regional with 28,625 patients - Tallaght Hospital with a total of 26,119 patients - Limerick Regional with 23,098 patients - Cork University Hospital with 22,944 - and Beaumont Hospital in Dublin with 22,206 patients on waiting lists.
The HSE West says that it expects to make significant improvements in the outpatient waiting list for services at the Regional Orthopaedic Hospital in Limerick by the end of this month.
It says that all hospitals are validating outpatient waiting lists and historically lists have contained inaccuracies for many reasons.
It says the waiting list at the hospital as of 1 May for an outpatient appointment is 7,477.
The HSE West says that it aims to have the entire list validated by the end of May and have no patient waiting longer than a year by the end of November, for an orthopaedic appointment.
A Sligo man has been sentenced to five years in jail for assault causing serious harm to a man he claimed had made a pass at him.
Daniel McLoughlin of Joe McDonnell Drive in Cranmore, Sligo, pleaded guilty to assaulting 60-year-old Cyril Moran at Mr Moran's home in Cartron in Sligo in August 2010.
Mr Moran died four days later in hospital.
Sligo Circuit Court heard that a contributory factor to his death was the fact that Mr Moran had had heart surgery and was on warfarin.
Sentencing McLoughlin, Judge Anthony Hunt said this was a very tragic case.
He said that while McLoughlin intended to seriously assault Mr Moran, he did not believe he intended to cause his death.
McLoughlin, 30, had told the court that Mr Moran made a pass at him and that he struck him twice in the face.
He said there was a lot of blood and that he helped to clean Mr Moran up and then brought him to hospital for treatment.
McLoughlin was on bail at the time of the assault and is currently serving a sentence of six years with two years suspended for another assault.
Judge Hunt said that McLoughlin is a troubled individual who has been helped by prison, where he has completed his Leaving Certificate and an Open University Course and dealt with issues in his life.
The sentence imposed today will come into effect when that sentence is completed next year.
The trial of two men charged with the murder of a Brazilian man, whose body was found in a north Kerry bog, has opened at the Central Criminal Court in Tralee.
20-year-old John Paul Cawley and 29-year-old Wenio Rodrigues Da Silva, both of 2 Ardoughter, Ballyduff, are accused of murdering 28-year-old Bruno Lemes De Sousa on a date between 16 February and 10 March last year.
Both have pleaded not guilty.
The trial is expected to last for up to two weeks.
Mr De Sousa was reported missing from his home in Gort in Co Galway on 16 February 2012.
His body was discovered in a remote bog near Ballydonoghue on 10 March.
A jury of three women and nine men has been sworn in before Mr Justice Garret Sheehan at the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Tralee.
A Labour Party politician has said she believes the only amendments that might be accepted to the draft abortion bill would be those that would bring the law into line with best medical practice.
Ciara Conway was speaking following reports that Fine Gael TDs were seeking to submit a series of amendments to further limit the terms under which an abortion can be sought.
She said she believes the only amendments that might be accepted to the Protection of Life During Pregnancy draft Bill would be those that would bring the law into line with best medical practice.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms Conway said the aim of the bill was to vindicate a Constitutional right that a woman had when her life was at risk to a legal termination.
She said the introduction of anything else would not allow that to happen in a constitutional way.
Road-users across Ireland are being urged to support UN Global Road Safety Week, which gets underway today.
This year, the focus will be on pedestrian safety.
37 pedestrians were killed on Ireland's roads, north and south of the border last year.
28 of the people were killed in the Republic alone.
The number of pedestrian fatalities so far this year rose to 16.
At the weekend after a teenage boy died after being knocked-down in Newtownstewart in Co Tyrone on Saturday.
The aim of the campaign is to encourage road-users to adjust their behaviour and to share the road responsibly.
Globally, more than 5,000 pedestrians are killed on the roads each week.
The Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said pedestrians were among the most at risk road users.
He said "I encourage everyone to be extra safety-conscious during UN Global Road Safety Week and to watch out for other road-users, particularly vulnerable pedestrians."
Northern Ireland Environment Minister Alex Attwood said: "The recent sharp spike in road deaths in the first four months of the year - north and south, calls on all of us to work harder, drive safer and campaign more. If we share the road, we have to share the responsibility.
"Unlike motor vehicles, pedestrians do not have any protection upon collision. Even a low-speed collision can result in death," he said.
Assistant Garda Commissioner Gerard Phillips advised pedestrians using rural roads without a footpath to walk on the right hand side facing oncoming traffic and always wear some form of high visibility clothing.
Israel has rushed to beef up its rocket defences on its northern border to shield against possible retaliation after carrying out two airstrikes in Syria in the past 48 hours.
Syria and Iran hinted at possible retribution, though the rhetoric in official statements appeared relatively muted.
Despite new concerns about a regional war, Israeli officials signalled they will keep trying to block what they see as an effort by Iran to send sophisticated weapons to Lebanon's Hezbollah militia.
The moves are ahead of a possible collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Israel has repeatedly threatened to intervene in the Syrian civil war.
It is trying to stop the transfer of what it calls "game-changing" weapons to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah is Syrian-backed group that battled Israel to a stalemate during a month long war in 2006.
Since carrying out a lone airstrike in January that reportedly destroyed a shipment of anti-aircraft missiles headed to Hezbollah, Israel had largely stayed on the sidelines.
That changed over the weekend with a pair of airstrikes.
The airstrikes included an attack near a sprawling military complex close to the Syrian capital of Damascus early yesterday that set off a series of powerful explosions.
The Israeli government and military refused to comment.
But a senior Israeli official said both airstrikes targeted shipments of Fateh-110 missiles bound for Hezbollah.
The Iranian-made guided missiles can fly deep into Israel and deliver powerful half-ton bombs with pinpoint accuracy.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a covert military operation.
Syria's government called the attacks a "flagrant violation of international law" that has made the Middle East "more dangerous."
It also claimed the Israeli strikes proved the Jewish state's links to rebel groups trying to overthrow Assad's regime.
Syria's information minister, Omran al-Zoubi, reading a Cabinet statement after an emergency government meeting, said Syria has the right and duty "to defend its people by all available means."
Israeli defense officials believe Assad has little desire to open a new front with Israel when he is preoccupied with the survival of his regime.
More than 70,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011, and Israeli officials believe it is only a matter of time before Assad is toppled.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has said that chemical weapons have been used by the rebels in the Syrian conflict.
Assad's government and the rebels accuse each other of carrying out three chemical weapon attacks, one near Aleppo and another near Damascus, both in March, and another in Homs in December.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore are in Brussels for talks which it is hoped can break the deadlock over the EU's €960bn budget plan.
President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso and European Parliament President Martin Schulz are also attending the talks.
Mr Gilmore, who is lead negotiator on the budget for EU Member States, has warned that failure to kick-start negotiations very quickly will put in jeopardy €325bn of cohesion funds which EU citizens are depending on to create jobs at a time of economic crisis
MEPs have been refusing to negotiate with the Irish Presidency of the European Council on the budget - known as the Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF) - until certain pre-conditions are met.
Last February, EU leaders agreed on a budget of €960bn to be spent between 2014 and 2020 - a reduction of more than €30bn on the previous plan.
The European Parliament must give its consent before such a budget can become law. However when MEPs considered the matter in March, they rejected the document.
Mr Schulz will need to be convinced that MEP's concerns are being met before negotiations can get underway in earnest.
At the core of the dispute is a demand by the European Parliament for any negotiations on the next MFF to be linked to the EU's 2013 budget which, according to the European Commission, is under-funded by more than €11bn.
MEPs have said they want to know how that short-fall in the 2013 budget is going to be filled by Member States, before they will enter into talks on the 2014 to 2020 plan.
Mr Gilmore has said the two budgets are separate negotiating processes, but he believes both can be advanced quickly and take into account Parliament concerns.
On the MFF, MEPs have also indicated they want a number of changes including greater flexibility provisions so that money can be moved from one year to another, a mid-term review so that allocations can be re-examined if and when growth returns to the EU economy, and new ways for the EU to be able to raise money itself, rather than having to rely on commitments from Member States.
Mr Gilmore says he has been given a mandate to negotiate on MEP concerns and believes there is a good basis for reaching a compromise.
If the deadlock can be broken tonight, the revised MFF would go to a plenary vote of the European Parliament where an absolute majority of all MEPs would be required for this budget to pass.
Once Parliament's consent is given, negotiations could then get underway on 67 different headings - providing the legal basis for the budget to become law before the end of the year.
The meeting, which takes place at the European Commission, begins at 5.30pm Irish time.
Syrian state media says Israeli missiles have hit a scientific research centre on the outskirts of the capital, Damascus.
Residents reported huge explosions and claimed military bases in the area were also hit.
A Western intelligence source said the Israeli overnight strike targeted Iranian-supplied missiles to the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah.
If confirmed, it would be the second such Israeli attack on Syria in three days.
Israeli radio has reported that a senior security official has confirmed that an attack took place.
Iran has condemned the incident and urged countries in the region to stand against the action.
Yesterday, there were also reports that Israel carried out an air strike targeting a shipment of missiles in Syria bound for Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon.
Israel has said that it would resort to force over reputed chemical arsenal being handed over to Lebanon's powerful Shia Muslim guerrillas.
Amnesty International has called on the Government to set a timetable to ratify a new international treaty.
It says the treaty would protect human rights such as healthcare, housing and education that are under threat from austerity policies.
The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights comes into effect today.
The Government signed the treaty last year, but has not ratified it.
Amnesty's Irish Executive Director Colm O'Gorman said the treaty allows people to take a case to the United Nations if their human rights are violated.
He said the Government must balance austerity measures with its legal obligation to protect human rights and to be accountable.
Programmes Director at Amnesty International Ireland Noeleen Hartigan said the Government must ratify the treaty despite the tough economic situation:
"Ireland signed a treaty back in 1989 that said that things like housing, health, adequate food, adequate income were all human rights.
"That treaty also says that the Government has to use maximum available resources to deliver on those rights - so we can't use austerity as an excuse, and even at time of austerity, the Government has to take into consideration that these issues are human rights," she added.
A deputy speaker of the British House of Commons has said allegations of rape and sexual assault made against him "are completely false".
Conservative MP Nigel Evans was released on police bail last night, following his arrest by Lancashire Police yesterday.
He is alleged to have raped one man and sexually assaulted another between July 2009 and March 2013.
Both alleged victims are in their 20s.
Mr Evans said he knew the men and could not understand why the complaints had been made.
He has been bailed until 19 June.
Reading from a prepared statement outside his home this morning, the 55-year-old said:
"Yesterday, I was interviewed by the police concerning two complaints, one of which dates back four years, made by two people who are well known to each other and until yesterday, I regarded as friends.
"The complaints are completely false and I cannot understand why they have been made, especially as I have continued to socialise with one as recently as last week.
"I appreciate the way the police have handled this in such a sensitive manner and I would like to thank my colleagues, friends and members of the public who have expressed their support and, like me, a sense of incredulity at these events. Thank you very much," he added.
He did not answer any questions from reporters after making the statement.
His solicitor Adrian Yalland said Mr Evans is not intending to stand down, either as deputy speaker or as an MP.
Mr Evans has been MP for the Lancashire constituency since 1992.
A popular figure at Westminster, in June 2010 he was elected as one of the three Commons deputy speakers.
Mr Evans was vice chairman of the Conservative Party from 1999 to 2001.
When Iain Duncan Smith became party leader in 2001, he was promoted to the shadow cabinet as shadow Welsh secretary - a post he held for two years.
The Taoiseach has responded to Cardinal Seán Brady's comment that the Catholic Church would be 'mobilising' in relation to the draft legislation on abortion.
Enda Kenny said that everybody is entitled to express an opinion on the issue.
Speaking in Co Mayo this afternoon, the Taoiseach said the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill is about women, certainty, saving lives and legal clarity for doctors.
Mr Kenny said that he had told the Cardinal and members of the church that, as Taoiseach, he had a duty to legislate.
He added that the Constitution is determined by the people, and as head of Government he has a duty to legislate for the people's wishes, and those have been determined by the Supreme Court.
Mr Kenny said there is no change to the law on abortion in Ireland.
Asked if a contentious time lies ahead with TDs being lobbied, the Taoiseach said that is a matter for the Church.
Also asked if he was confident there would be no defections and the legislation would pass, Mr Kenny said he would hope that "we can bring everybody with us on this matter and that it would be enacted before the summer recess."
Mr Kenny was speaking at Ireland West Airport in Knock.
Meanwhile, Fine Gael TD Simon Harris has said that he fundamentally disagrees with former taoiseach John Bruton's criticism that the bill is not in accordance with Fine Gael's values.
Speaking on RTÉ's The Week in Politics, Mr Harris said that Mr Bruton led one of six Governments that had failed to legislate for the X-case which, he said, was a luxury Taoiseach Enda Kenny did not have.
"Women can't wait any longer, unborn babies can't wait any longer, medical experts can't wait any longer to have the clarity that all three deserve, and that's exactly what this bill is about," he added.
Separately, Minister of State Kathleen Lynch said the planned legislation was very restrictive and clear in its intent.
If the Government was to go any further in legislating for abortion, that would be an issue for the people, she added.
The head of ICTU has said unions who say that they are not willing to accept any cuts or changes to working conditions are not being realistic.
David Begg of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions was speaking to RTÉ's This Week.
He said there had to be a negotiated settlement of the current dispute over the proposals contained in the Croke Park II public service agreement.
The prudent thing for both the Government and unions to do would be to look at their own situation, he added.
Mr Begg said they should try to avoid an enormous amount of pain for union members, and an impairment of the return to recovery on the part of the Government.
Asked about possible industrial action, Mr Begg urged caution on the part of both unions and the Government, and warned them not to go into something which could tear the country apart.
He said there was a bit of a "phoney war" about the current dispute, as he said individual unions had not made any moves yet to combine to coordinate any industrial action.
However, he said that it could be that in two or three weeks' time something happens very quickly which precipitates a dispute, which everybody is in to before they quite know what they are getting in to.
President Michael D Higgins has defended comments he made in yesterday's Financial Times in which he criticised aspects of how the EU is dealing with the economic crisis.
Speaking today, President Higgins said there was no difficulty as far as he is concerned about his remarks.
He said they were right, proper and constitutional.
President Higgins said: "What i was really doing in Strasbourg was addressing a debate, that I feel is very important, on the future of the union in a time of crisis."
He continued: "I had in earlier speeches... spoken about the necessity to have the debate and for public intellectuals to participate in it. What I was really looking at was the importance of restoring the spirit that was in the founding treaties."
Asked if he would continue to express his views on the matter, the President said that nobody would thank anyone for looking on at the very serious situation in Europe and not putting tuppence into the debate.
He said he was addressing a debate he believes to be very important on the future of the union at a time of crisis.
President Higgins said while people are not required to agree with him, he was making his contribution into a debate which he said is very important.
The President also said governments do what governments do, and he as President does as his oath asks him to do.
Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore yesterday welcomed the President's remarks.
Mr Gilmore said: "He was not just reflecting the position of the Irish Government, but reflecting a decision made by the European Commission, when the European Commission decided last June the link with bank and sovereign debt should be broken."
Fine Gael MEP and former presidential candidate Gay Mitchell also said he agrees with President Higgins.
He said that Europe should not continue with just one approach to the economic crisis.
Chair of the European Parliament's Monetary and Economic Affairs Committee Sharon Bowles has described President Higgins critical comments on the EU's economic direction as mostly "well made".
Ms Bowles said Mr Higgins had "hinted a lot" about his beliefs when he recently addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
She said the recent bailout of Cyprus had proven that "some countries were more equal than others" and expressed the fear that the "spirit was being ripped out of Europe".
Ms Bowles felt it was 'unlikely' that EU leaders would finalise their promises to break the vicious circle between sovereigns and banks, as called for by Ireland's President, this side of the German general election.
She noted that the bond market had decided that "catastrophe would be averted" - hence the low yields recently - as there was "no other explanation" to their behaviour.
Ms Bowles said leaders had to make growth their 'top priority' and not just pay 'lip service'.
She said there can't be austerity with no prospect of growth as countries will therefore not be able to pay down their debts.
Ms Bowles said she felt the "tide was moving that way" but expressed concern that "it takes a long time to feed through".
A man has been acquitted of murdering two British soldiers in Northern Ireland.
Brian Shivers, 47, of Co Derry, had denied all involvement in the gun attack outside the Massereene army barracks in Antrim in which sappers Mark Quinsey, 23, and Patrick Azimkar, 21, died.
Two other soldiers and two pizza delivery men were seriously injured in the shooting in March 2009.
Judge Mr Justice Donnell Deeny delivered his reserved judgment after the non-jury retrial at Belfast Crown Court.
Mr Shivers was acquitted of two counts of murder, six counts of attempted murder, one of possession of firearms and ammunition with intent to endanger life and one of assisting offenders.
Last year, he was convicted of the murders of the two soldiers and ordered to serve at least 25 years.
However, that judgment was quashed earlier this year by Northern Ireland's Court of Appeal. He was then ordered to face a retrial.
Another man, Colin Duffy, from Lurgan, Co Armagh, was a co-accused at the original trial at Antrim Crown Court.
He was acquitted of all charges.
Mr Shivers showed no emotion today when Mr Justice Deeny said he was free to go.
The judge said that when he considered if the prosecution had proved the defendant's guilt beyond reasonable doubt the answer was "clearly no".
He said the prosecution contention that Mr Shivers had played a key role in helping the gunmen get away and burn the attack vehicle was not convincing.
The judge asked why hardened terrorists would choose Mr Shivers, who suffers from cystic fibrosis and was engaged to a Protestant woman, as an associate.
"He was an unlikely associate for this hardened gang to rely on," he said.
Gunmen on a motorcycle this morning shot dead a prosecutor investigating the 2007 assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
Police sources said Chaudhry Zulfikar was killed as he left his home and headed to a hearing in the case.
Mr Zulfikar was also the prosecutor investigating the 2008 attacks on India's commercial capital, Mumbai, in which 166 people were killed.
India said militants based in Pakistan were behind the three-day rampage.
Ms Bhutto's assassination is shrouded in mystery.
She was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack after an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi, weeks after she returned to Pakistan from years in self-imposed exile.
A report by a UN commission of inquiry released in 2010 said any credible investigation should not rule out the possibility that members of Pakistan's military and security establishment were involved.
Ms Bhutto was a fierce critic of Pakistan's Taliban and Islamist groups that had been patronised by elements of Pakistan's military.
She was deeply mistrusted by the security establishment.
The killing of the prosecutor comes days after a Pakistani court put former president Pervez Musharraf on a 14-day judicial remand.
He was put on judicial remand for charges of failing to provide adequate security for Ms Bhutto before her assassination.
The former army chief has always denied responsibility for Ms Bhutto's death.
He returned to Pakistan in March after nearly four years of self-imposed exile to contest the 11 May general election.
The US is rethinking its opposition to arming the Syrian rebels, President Barack Obama's defence chief said last night.
Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel cautioned that giving weapons to the forces fighting President Bashar al-Assad was only one option being considered.
It carries the risk of arms finding their way into the hands of anti-American extremists among the insurgents, such as the al-Nusra Front.
However, it is viewed to be preferable to many in the US rather than direct US military intervention in the conflict.
Arming the opposition is also viewed in the US as preferable to establishing a no-fly zone or sending in troops to secure chemical weapons.
Asked whether the Obama administration was rethinking its opposition to arming the rebels, Mr Hagel said: "Yes."
"You look at and rethink all options. It doesn't mean you do or you will", Mr Hagel told a Pentagon news conference.
Mr Obama, speaking in Mexico, said the US would "look at all options".
However, he also signalled no decision would be rushed.
"We want to make sure that we look before we leap and that what we're doing is actually helpful to the situation, as opposed to making it more deadly or more complex," Mr Obama said.
Pressure on Mr Obama to act on Syria has grown since the disclosure of US intelligence that Mr Assad's forces likely used chemical weapons on a small scale, particularly sarin gas.
The Syrian government has also mounted a string of attacks reaching from the capital, Damascus, and the central city of Homs out to the Mediterranean coast, homeland of the Alawite minority sect to which Mr Assad himself belongs.
Forces loyal to Mr Assad stormed the coastal village of Baida yesterday, killing at least 50 people, including women and children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
An Obama administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said re-examining the option of arming the rebels was part of a broad look at ways to hasten an end to the conflict.
The conflict has cost more than 70,000 lives and forced refugees to flee to US allies Turkey and Jordan.
The Director of the Prison Service Michael Donnellan has said that the practice of "slopping out" will be eliminated from Mountjoy Prison by September of this year.
Mr Donnellan said the process will be eliminated from every prison in the country over the next three years.
Slopping out in Mountjoy Prison has taken place since 1850.
Every inmate will have in-cell sanitation over the next three years.
Mr Donnellan said that as part of the capital programme, work will begin on the new Cork prison by the end of the year.
Earlier, the Prison Officers' Association called for the establishment of a special prison to detain criminal gang members.
The association said criminal gangs control and put pressure on other criminals and would be easy to manage within a separate facility.
The Prison Service accepts that the activities of criminal gangs in Ireland's prisons is a serious problem.
Mr Donnellan said the problem with criminal gangs in jails will not be solved easily.
He said at the POA annual conference that over 600 inmates are under protection, with a third of them under 23-hour lock up.
However, he insisted that the prison service can protect people.
The POA claims that there are at least seven criminal factions in Mountjoy Prison.
It said the gangs seek to control the prison landings and force other inmates to smuggle in drugs and mobile phones.
Deputy General Secretary Jim Mitchell said prison officers are not afraid of these individuals.
He said prison officers as professionals have been dealing with violent and dangerous criminals and subversives for decades.
The POA claims that a special detention facility would make it easy to manage these people and reduce the malign effect they have on the prisoner population.
The Prison Service says the number of mobile phones seized in the prisons has dropped by almost half in the past four years.
It said that there has also been a reduction in assaults by inmates on other prisoners.
The POA also said that the Government should expedite the closure of St Patrick's Institution, as prison officers are not trained to deal with children in detention.
It is due to close as a juvenile detention centre at the end of next year.
Prison officers say it should close sooner as they do want to be involved in the detention of children and they do not have the proper training.
The Catholic Bishops of Ireland have said the Protection of Life in Pregnancy Bill represents a dramatic and morally unacceptable change to Irish law.
In a statement, they said the bill was unnecessary to ensure that women receive "the life-saving treatment they need during pregnancy".
They said: "The deliberate decision to deprive an innocent human being of life is always morally wrong.
"The Bill also appears to impose a duty on Catholic hospitals to provide abortions.
"This would be totally unacceptable and has serious implications for the existing legal and Constitutional arrangements that respect the legitimate autonomy and religious ethos of faith-based institutions.
"It would also pose serious difficulties for the conscientious beliefs of many citizens."
Reacting to the bishops' statement, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said while they are entitled to their view, Ireland is a democratic country and laws are made by those elected by the people.
He said for 21 years legislators failed to legislate in circumstances where a pregnant woman's life was at risk and that is now being addressed.
Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin Veronica O'Keane has said psychiatrists are legitimately deemed best placed to assess suicide risk and if there was a mental illness in a woman it would be their role to treat that illness.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Pat Kenny, Dr O'Keane said if there was the presence of mental illness it sometimes would make a doctor less likely to recommend an abortion.
She said situations are different, and she thought it was much easier to make a decision in the absence of mental illness.
"I think this legislation is primarily for women who are suicidal because they have an unwanted pregnancy and that is the only way of resolving their suicidal problems - is to have a termination," she said.
Responding after the programme, Psychiatrist Prof Patricia Casey said that the legislation will allow for abortion in the case of women without mental illness, who simply do not wish to give birth to an unwanted baby.
Prof O'Keane also described as "an absolute farce" a survey by a "pro-life" group that claimed 120 psychiatrists who responded did not agree with proposed legislation to legislate for the X Case based on the suicide provision.
Prof Keane said it was a survey conducted by a statedly-biased group and it was done without the permission of the College of Psychiatry Ireland.
She said that those conducting the survey had not gone through the college's procedures and the survey would not have passed through the college's guidelines.
She said the survey did not represent psychiatrists.
Describing the survey as it stood as "incomprehensible, and garbled", she said it did not make any sense.
Prof Casey threatened to leave the studio if she could not respond.
Prof Casey said that the reason they did not do the survey through the college was because they could not get the names of the college membership, in relation to a previous study.
So, she said, when this study was happening she said that "they could not get the numbers from them".
In a statement following the programme, Prof Casey said: "This was not a College of Psychiatry survey, nor did it purport to be. It was a letter that was sent, asking consultant psychiatry colleagues if they agreed with a particular statement, relating to the involvement of psychiatrists in relation to the current abortion proposals.
"The issue of obtaining permission from the college does not apply. We received a 42% response rate, and it cannot be reasonably argued, by Prof O'Keane, that it was incomprehensive. The overwhelming majority agreed with the statement.
"The question of peer review does not arise."
FF seeks 'consensus' on abortion legislation
Elsewhere, Fianna Fáil health spokesperson Billy Kelleher said the leadership of the party wants to reach a consensus on the Protection of Life in Pregnancy Bill.
However, Mr Kelleher said that he was not sure that would be possible.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he said that the party does not want to be divisive.
He said Fianna Fáil is seeking to be constructive in its contribution to this debate.
Mr Kelleher said that there were strong views on both sides and there were concerns about technical issues in the bill, as well as fundamental principles, such as intervention on mental health grounds.
However, Mr Kelleher said that he did not think the term "split" accurately described the situation in the party.
The Cork TD said that he personally would recommend acceptance of the bill.
However, he remains mindful of divergent views both within his party and more broadly.
Mr Kelleher will be attending the Oireachtas Committee hearings on the bill and will be putting concerns raised by the party to it.
The party met for more than four hours yesterday to discuss the legislation.
His colleague, Willie O'Dea, said the Fianna Fáil party will find it very difficult to achieve a consensus approach.
The witness list for the Oireachtas committee hearings is expected to be finalised on Tuesday.
It is expected to hold hearings over three days - 17 May, 20 May and 21 May - and will hear from legal and medical experts.
As well as hearing from expert witnesses, the committee will also take written submissions from interested parties and members of the public.
Details of how to submit written evidence will be on the committee's website.
President Michael D Higgins has said there is a need for a "radical rethink" of how EU leaders are handling the economic crisis.
In an interview with the Financial Times, he said the European Union faces a moral crisis as much as an economic crisis.
He said that European leaders need to make up their minds on the type of union they really want.
President Higgins warned that the EU must drop its "hegemonic" economic model and reform the European Central Bank or risk social upheaval and a loss of popular legitimacy.
He told the FT that there would be no "glowing future" for an EU that allowed divisions to open up between states.
President Higgins said there was a need for "radical economics" and a "radical rethink" of how EU leaders were handling the economic crisis.
He said: "There is a real problem in what was assumed to be a single hegemonic model.
"The unemployment profile in Greece is different from the unemployment profile in Ireland. You need a pluralism of approaches."
He also criticised EU leaders for not separating bank debt from sovereign debt.
The President said: "It would have been of immense benefit naturally to growth, employment creation and investment if the . . . commitment of separating banking debt from sovereign debt had in fact been implemented.
"It would give you the opportunity to breathe and create growth in the economy."
President Higgins said Ireland had been unusual in accepting such a high level of austerity in Europe.
"The polite version is that we are pragmatists. What we really need now is something that goes beyond outrage and recrimination," he said.
Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has supported comments made by the President.
Mr Gilmore said: "He was not just reflecting the position of the Irish Government, but reflecting a decision made by the European Commission, when the European Commission decided last June the link with bank and sovereign debt should be broken."
He welcomed the fact that the President was reflecting "the priorities" set down for the Irish presidency of the EU on growth and job creation.
He described the President's comments as "helpful" to the Government's efforts on these issues.
EU leaders 'focused' on jobs and growth
The European Commission has said EU leaders have taken a very balanced approach in response to the economic crisis.
Spokesman Olivier Bailly said the conclusions of EU leaders' summits illustrated that they were focused on jobs and growth.
The journalist who interviewed Mr Higgins for the FT said the President made it clear in the interview that he was not speaking on behalf of the Government.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Pat Kenny, Jamie Smyth said he thought President Higgins's views would be another voice into the debate about Europe's response to the economic crisis.
Asked if he thought it would influence political thinking, he said that he did not think that the German government would do a "volte face" over it, particularly a few months before an election.
He said that it was just another voice of a reasonably influential person in the European debate trying to kick-start a more growth-led model.
Costello defends Higgins comments
Minister of State Joe Costello has said he is absolutely supportive of President Higgins's comments.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Edition, Mr Costello said the economic crisis is the central issue that affects Ireland and the EU.
He said the President referred to that in his recent address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Mr Costello said: "I think it's quite appropriate that he would refer to it [the economic crisis] in the context of Ireland as well, because it is the issue that affects the entirety of the Irish population.
"Therefore, from that point of view, the President of all the people, who is elected by the people, is entitled to comment on the welfare of the people."
Mr Costello said that while it is the Government that should be dealing with the details, it is appropriate for the President to state his concerns in relation to what is affecting the welfare of Irish society.
He dismissed a suggestion that the President was flying a kite for the Government, saying President Higgins speaks from the heart and is fulfilling his role for the country.
An attempt in the Dáil to discuss the President's remarks was ruled out of order by the Ceann Comhairle.
Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald referred to the remarks in the course of a question about austerity policy.
Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett immediately warned her she was out of order.
"Don't go there with regards to the President, we don't discuss the President in Dáil Éireann," he said.
Veteran BBC broadcaster Stuart Hall has admitted indecently assaulting 13 girls, the youngest aged nine.
Hall, 83, entered the guilty pleas last month at Preston Crown Court but they can only be revealed today after reporting restrictions were lifted.
The sex offences took place between 1967 and 1986.
The BBC said it would not be featuring Hall again in its programmes.
Despite previous vociferous public denials of any wrongdoing, Hall calmly and repeatedly answered "guilty" when the charges were put to him at the hearing on 16 April.
He confirmed his full name of James Stuart Hall to the clerk in the plea hearing, as he sat in front of the dock with his legal representatives,
The Recorder of Preston, Judge Anthony Russell QC, told him he would be required to sign the Sex Offenders' Register.
He was told a notice that he needed to fill in would be sent to his home in Cheshire within days.
A brief outline of the abuse suffered by three of his victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was outlined at an earlier hearing at Preston Magistrates' Court.
In the 1980s, Hall molested a nine-year-old girl by putting his hand up her clothing.
He also kissed a 13-year-old girl on the lips after he said to her: "People need to show thanks in other ways."
On another occasion in the 1970s, he fondled the breast of a girl aged 16 or 17.
Hall was charged with those three offences on the same day when he was arrested by Lancashire Constabulary on 5 December last year.
The BBC said at the time that the former 'It's A Knockout' presenter, a regular football match summariser on Radio 5 Live, would not work for the corporation until the matter was resolved.
He was subsequently charged with historic sex offences against ten more girls and the rape of a 22-year-old woman.
Following those allegations, Hall read out a strident condemnation to reporters in which he labelled the claims as "pernicious, callous, cruel and above all spurious".
He said he had endured "a living nightmare" and but for his "very loving family" may have considered taking his own life.
Hall has been a familiar face and voice in British broadcasting for half a century and was awarded an OBE in the 2012 New Year Honours.
His eccentric and erudite football match summaries made him a cult figure on BBC Radio 5 Live.
He also wrote a weekly sport column for the Radio Times magazine up until his arrest.
The jury in the trial of a bin lorry driver charged with dangerous driving causing the death of a three-year-old boy has found him not guilty.
Alex McDaid, 60, from Bomany, Letterkenny had denied the charge, which related to the death of Patrick McDonagh outside his home at Ballymacool in February 2010.
The little boy ran after a ball into the path of the bin lorry which Mr McDaid was reversing up the street at the time.
Mr McDaid was fined €100 for not having a driving licence at the time of the accident, a charge he had admitted.
His barrister said that Mr McDaid has not driven any vehicle since the accident.
He did not maintain his job as a bin lorry driver because the accident had had such a profound effect on him, he added.
He said that Mr McDaid "lives with this every day of his life".
Former Fianna Fáil councillor and election candidate Ger Killally has been injured in a car crash after shots were fired at his home in Edenderry, Co Offaly.
The shots were fired as Mr Killally was leaving his home in his car.
The car overturned after he collided with a ditch a short distance away.
Mr Killally, his father and children - a two-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl, sustained minor injuries when the car overturned.
Mr Killally ran alongside former Taoiseach Brian Cowen in the 2002 general election.
He has appeared before the civil courts in relation to a number of business and development deals.
Gardaí in Tullamore have appealed to anyone who was in the vicinity of Shean between 9.30am and 10.40am, and who may have witnessed anything, to contact them at Tullamore Garda Station on 057-9327600.
They particularly wish to speak to anyone who observed a silver Astra car with the partial registration 06-D in the vicinity of Shean this morning.
A number of roads around Edenderry have been sealed off and two roads to Mr Killally's home have also been closed.
The Insolvency Service of Ireland has confirmed that a VAT rate of 23% will be applied to the fees paid to insolvency practitioners.
The service, which will regulate the work of Personal Insolvency Practitioners (PIPS), was established in March.
The Independent Mortgage Advisers Federation has criticised the application of VAT, saying it will make the insolvency process more expensive.
"This will cause concern for both debtors and creditors," said Michael Dowling.
Mr Dowling said: "Ultimately, this is going to impact on the cost on the process. The loss element that the banks will have to absorb will also be higher.
"In the UK they've had 20 years of this type of arrangement but they've deemed it not a 'vat-able' transaction".
He said: "We would call on the Insolvency Service and the Government to raise this with the Revenue Commissioners."
Karl Deeter of Irish Mortgage Brokers said: "The State shouldn't be the beneficiary of people going bust".
"People looking to work out their debts need to have enough money in their pot to pay an insolvency practitioner. What about those people who don't have enough to go to a practitioner?"
Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has denied he was criticising judges for sending too many people to prison instead of sentencing them to community service.
Earlier, Mr Shatter told prison officers that legislation requiring judges to first consider community service in cases where people are given a sentence of less than a year was under-utilised.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, the minister said he did not criticise the judges.
He said it was very important that our judiciary independently determine sentences.
He said he pointed out to prison officers at their annual conference a concern that in 2012, 88% of those sentenced to terms of imprisonment were sentenced to one year or less.
He said he made the point that he believed the Community Service Orders scheme could be used to a greater extent.
Speaking at the conference, the minister also said he would review this matter and if the criminal justice legislation was not being applied, it would have to be examined.
He said it was of crucial importance the legislation was applied by the courts for the benefit of the taxpayer, the prison system, the offender and the community.
The minister said he accepted that sentencing was a matter for an independent judiciary, but this was an important matter of public policy.
The Prison Officers' Association said it supports more use of community service because the prisons are overcrowded.
It said there are too many inmates on protection because of threats on their lives and feuds between criminal gangs.
POA considering strike action
The POA earlier said it will recommend that prison officers go on strike if the Government imposes any further pay cuts on them.
The association said it will not accept any measures that are more stringent than those already agreed with Government.
The POA is the first group of public servants to serve notice on the Government that it will go on strike if any further pay cuts are imposed.
POA President Stephen Delaney said the union will ballot and recommend industrial action, including strike action.
He believes that will be approved by its 2,200 members.
Prison officers say €20m has already been taken from their payroll, and as a group of workers they have already produced significant savings.
Shatter flags referendum on Court of Appeal
Mr Shatter also said it was anticipated that the referendum would take place to amend Article 34 of the Constitution to provide for the establishment of a Court of Appeal.
He said the Government had committed itself to establish a Court of Appeal in the Programme for Government.
He added that it would be a system for appealing High Court Decisions which would in turn reduce the number of cases heard by the Supreme Court.
