McGuinness to give Warrington peace lecture

Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness will give the annual peace lecture in Warrington in England this evening.

Johnathan Ball, three, and Tim Parry, 12, were killed when the IRA planted bombs in the town in March 1993.

More than 50 people were injured in the bombings.

Mr McGuinness was invited to speak by Tim's father, Colin Parry, who said he had no second thoughts about inviting the Deputy First Minister to speak at the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace.

Mr Parry said Mr McGuinness had come a long way since the events in Warrington 20 years ago.

He said: "Self-evidently, he was an IRA activist and IRA leader, supported the armed struggle, no doubt was involved in it and may well have carried out serious crimes himself. I don't know one way or another.

"But today as Deputy First Minister he is occupying a significant role in the Government of Northern Ireland.

"He is working with unionists and he deserves a measure of respect for the transition in his own life."

Mr Parry said the idea of asking Mr McGuiness to deliver the lecture came to him when he was interviewing the politician as part of a BBC documentary.

He said he had not forgiven Mr McGuinness, the IRA or the people who planted the bomb for the death of his son.

Mr Parry said that forgiveness was not an issue he or his wife Wendy had focused on.

He also said he had never learned from either Mr McGuinness or Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams why Warrington had been targeted that day.

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Gardaí charged with pepper spray assault

Two gardaí have been charged with assaulting a teenager with pepper spray.

Cork District Court was told that Brendan Dowling and Fiona Sheehan, with addresses care of Anglesea Street Garda Station, are charged with assault causing harm to a member of the public on Cook Street in the city centre on 12 May last year.

State solicitor Frank Nyhan said the allegation is that the injured party was pepper-sprayed while incapacitated.

He added there were no significant injuries involved.

Solicitor Frank Buttimer said both gardaí would be pleading not guilty to the charge and are anxious to contest the case as soon as possible.

Judge Olann Kelleher, who accepted jurisdiction, granted Mr Buttimer's application to adjourn the case for mention until 16 October next so that a date for a full hearing could be set.

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Gardaí seek clues from O'Hara's phone, computer

Gardaí investigating the disappearance of Elaine O'Hara are trying to identify the people she was last in contact with before she went missing.

The 36-year-old's remains were found in the Dublin mountains last Friday.

Detectives at Blackrock Garda Station are examining her computer and phone records, and seeking to speak to those she communicated with by phone, text and e-mail.

Gardaí are also examining the possibility that she may have met someone through online dating sites.

Five days after Ms O'Hara's remains were discovered at Killakee Mountain in Rathfarnham, the scene remains sealed-off for further searches.

The initial discovery was made last Friday by a woman out walking her dog, but since then further skeletal remains have been recovered and the search has been extended to a wider area.

Personal and other items found at a second crime scene in Roundwood in Co Wicklow around 20km away are now being forensically examined.

These include a key fob from Ms O'Hara's workplace at Dunnes Stores, a phone and clothing believed to be hers.

Handcuffs and leg restraints have also been recovered and gardaí are now trying to establish if they are linked to her disappearance and death.

They say they are keeping an open mind on the case, which is officially classified as a suspicious death, but is being investigated as a possible abduction and murder.

Ms O'Hara had been unwell and had only recently been discharged from hospital before she went missing.

An incident room has been set up in Blackrock and a general appeal for information has been issued.

Gardaí said they are particularly interested in speaking to people who may have had contact with Ms O'Hara up until the time she disappeared on 22 August 2012.

Gardaí 'will do utmost' - Callinan

Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan has said the force will do its utmost to find out what happened to Ms O'Hara, but it was too early to say how she died.

He said there was a lot of speculation in the media and he was not sure the publication of such information was helpful.

Commissioner Callinan said he was pleased with the high standard of police work so far, which led to the discovery of some of Ms O'Hara's personal items in Co Wicklow, and that that standard would continue.

A priority in the investigation was to find all of her remains, he added.

He also warned that while the internet was an invaluable creation, people had to be careful who they were dealing with and the circumstances in which they were dealing with them.

Commissioner Callinan also sympathised with the O'Hara family on their loss.

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Body found after Austria stand-off

Police in Austria have found a charred body they believe is that of a 55-year-old man who shot dead three policemen and a paramedic.

The body was discovered at a farmhouse where the suspect lived in the province of Lower Austria after special forces stormed the building.

Police said the suspect first shot dead a police officer late on Monday after breaking through a roadblock in the province of Lower Austria near Vienna.

Authorities had been trying to catch poachers or hunters shooting deer without a licence.

He then killed a paramedic and wounded another policeman hurrying to the scene.

After fatally shooting another police officer at a separate roadblock, the man then fled in a stolen police car to his home near the city of Melk, about 70km away, taking another policeman with him as a hostage.

That officer was later found dead in a barn nearby.

The man, whom police did not identify, fired repeatedly at police surrounding the farmhouse.

After an hours-long standoff, police entered the house and found a charred body in a basement hideaway, Austrian media quoted a police spokesman as saying.

The Krone tabloid quoted a friend of the suspect as saying he had confessed in a telephone call from his home as a police helicopter circled overhead and officers closed in.

"Unfortunately it is true. I shot three policemen tonight," the paper quoted the conversation as related by the friend.

"I am the Annaberg poacher. They shot me too, in the stomach. But it doesn't matter.

"I shot Burgi (his German shepherd dog) and they are not going to get me either."

The newspaper quoted the friend as saying the suspected gunman had confided two weeks ago that he was schizophrenic.

Violent crime is rare in Austria, but hunting is a centuries-old tradition in the Alpine republic enjoyed by tens of thousands, many of them farmers and landowners.

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Dáil reconvenes after summer recess

The Dáil has reconvened after its summer break, with the Budget and next month's referendums set to be the main battlegrounds.

Both Government parties are campaigning for Yes votes in the referendums on the abolition of the Seanad and the establishment of a Court of Appeal.

Initial skirmishes between Government and the Opposition marked the end of the party meetings yesterday.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny accused Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin of naked opportunism over his stance on the Seanad, while Mr Martin criticised the Taoiseach for resisting a television debate.

The economy and the Budget will be the two main areas of debate and Fianna Fáil will push a motion urging support for those in mortgage difficulties.

Relations between Fine Gael and Labour are sure to be strained next month in the days ahead of Ministers Michael Noonan and Brendan Howlin announcing the Budget on 15 October.

Mr Noonan has said no specific Budget proposals have been decided yet, but that there would be a mixture of spending cuts and tax increases.

Speaking on his way into a Cabinet meeting, he said the four members of the Economic Management Council had a general chat yesterday, and had worked out an approach for the Budget.

The council is made up of the Taoiseach, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, Minister Noonan and Minister Howlin.

He said the Budget would comprise spending cuts and tax increases in a ratio of 2:1, as it had been for the last two years.

It was unrealistic to suggest all of the savings could be made just through tax increases, and equally unrealistic to suggest spending cuts alone, he said.

In relation to the total Budget target of €2.5bn or €3.1bn, he said it was impossible to come up with a figure at this stage.

Mr Howlin said all views would be taken into account when forming the Budget.

Speaking time for non-aligned TDs

Meanwhile, all 14 non-aligned TDs have been granted speaking rights in the Dáil.

In an email from the office of Ceann Comhairle Seán Barrett, the TDs were told that slots for "others" would be incorporated in the rotation of Dáil speakers.

Former minister of state Róisín Shortall, who resigned from the Labour parliamentary party last year, said they were all notified last night.

She said the next step for non-aligned TDs is to table a motion calling on the Government to allow them sit on committees.

Wicklow TD Billy Timmins, who is a member of the Reform Alliance recently formed by former Fine Gael TDs and Senators, welcomed the decision.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Timmins said the alliance wanted to make a positive contribution and the action by the Ceann Comhairle clearly demonstrated the independence of his office.

He thanked Mr Barrett for his decision and said it was a demonstration of the clear roll his office could play in reform of the parliamentary system.

Mr Timmins said members of the alliance were still looking to get their places back on Dáil committees, which they lost at the time of their expulsion from Fine Gael.

However, Sinn Féin whip Aengus Ó Snodaigh has said he was disappointed with the Ceann Comhairle's decision.

Mr Ó Snodaigh said the decision was made without consulting the party whips, the Dáil Reform Committee or the Committee on Procedure and Privileges and was "not the way to do business".

Protests outside Leinster House

There is a heavy garda presence surrounding Leinster House and Government Buildings as the new Dáil term begins.

There have been some scuffles between gardaí and protesters.

Around 150 people are taking part in a protest, describing themselves as various individuals against austerity.

Scuffles broke out earlier as protesters tried to gain access to Kildare Street through a side street, attempting to push past a human chain of gardaí.

Gardaí had been keeping the protesters behind barriers on Molesworth Street before then.

Protesters chanted "shame on you" as they eventually moved away from the gardaí, back behind the barricades.

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Six dead in Ottawa collision

A passenger train collided with a double-decker city bus in the Canadian capital, Ottawa, killing at least six people.

Emergency officials said 11 people are in a critical condition.

Television images showed a heavily damaged red double-decker bus, with firefighters and ambulances at the scene.

The front of the bus appeared to be sheared off by the collision.

VIA Rail, which operates the national passenger service in Canada, confirmed the crash and said there were no major injuries reported on the train.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he was "deeply saddened" to hear about the collision."

Canada's two big railroads - Canadian National Railway Co and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd – are reviewing safety standards after a deadly train crash on 6 July that killed 50 people and destroyed the centre of a small Quebec town.

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'No doubt' over Syria attack - French minister

The French foreign minister has said a UN report into a chemical attack in Syria leaves no doubt about the responsibility of President Bashar al-Assad's government.

Laurent Fabius said: "When you look at the amount of sarin gas used, the vectors, the techniques behind such an attack, as well as other aspects, it seems to leave no doubt that the (Assad) regime is behind it."

Mr Fabius was speaking after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.

Mr Lavrov said Russia has "very serious grounds" to believe the 21 August chemical attack was a provocation.

He also said the UN report does not answer all Russia's questions about the attack.

UN inspectors have confirmed they found "clear and convincing evidence" that poison sarin gas was used in the attack near Damascus.

The UN team's mandate was solely to determine whether chemical weapons were used, not who used them.

However, a reference to surface-to-surface rockets may point to government use rather than its lesser-armed opposition.

During a visit to a site at Moadamiyah where a number of people were said to have died in a chemical attack, UN inspectors recovered munitions fragments marked with numbers and engraving, although no debris was recovered intact.

The report said the site had been well travelled by other individuals prior to the arrival of inspectors.

It said fragments and other possible evidence had clearly been handled or moved.

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Burton rules out cap on benefits in Budget

Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton has signalled a cap on universal welfare benefits would not be in next month's Budget.

Ms Burton said a cap was not under consideration but the idea had been discussed.

Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, she said there was a danger of causing serious discrimination among families caring for a family member with a disability.

She cited the example of a family with more than four children but where there was someone with a disability and she warned a universal cap on payments could result in unintended consequences.

"I am perfectly happy to look at ideas," the minister said.

"But in this particular case I would warn that people should be extremely cautious because they may end up getting results that they never intended and they may end up seriously discriminating against families with children or adults with a disability who are also carers."

The minister said that all ministers, even those not managing big spending departments, were decision-makers in relation to the Budget.

Earlier, Ms Burton voiced concern that the amount of savings required from her department in the Budget could damage the drive to get people back to work.

Labour TDs and senators have heard from ministers running some of the biggest spending departments as the party discussed next month's Budget at the pre-Dáil gathering in Co Meath.

Ms Burton outlined how changes in her department mean people who refuse the offer of a job or training have already had welfare payments docked.

But she expressed concern that the scale of the adjustment required - at around €440m - could damage efforts to encourage people to return to work.

Backbenchers said the minister has been "tight-lipped" so far about how she might find savings, but accepts it will prove politically difficult for them.

Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn is expected to outline the challenges facing his department, where cuts as high as €100 million could be required.

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Martin challenges Kenny to debate on Seanad

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has challenged Taoiseach Enda Kenny to a debate on the Seanad referendum.

Mr Martin said he was "extremely disappointed" with the Taoiseach's comments on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, where Mr Kenny suggested that the matter can be debated solely in the Dáil.

Mr Martin said Mr Kenny "disingenuously suggested there could be debate on this in the Dáil, when he knows full well that there can't be and there won't be".

He added: "The idea that Leaders' Questions, which is two minutes for the Opposition and three minutes for the Taoiseach, somehow constitutes a head-on debate on the future of the Seanad, I think is a joke, and it's insulting the intelligence of the public."

The Fianna Fáil leader said the Constitutional Convention could have facilitated debate on the issue.

The second and final day of the Fianna Fáil party gathering, ahead of the new Dáil season, concluded this lunchtime in Waterford.

Future election strategy and pre-Budget proposals were also up for discussion.

Health spokesperson Billy Kelleher said Minister for Health James Reilly is "incapable of managing the health service" and a Cabinet reshuffle "cannot come soon enough."

Deputy Kelleher was reacting to a statement from Minister Reilly, where he said there was a serious demographic issue to deal with.

Deputy Kelleher said: "This time last year we said that Minister Reilly was incapable of managing the health service. Clearly his statement today shows that he is completely out of his depth.

"The disappointing thing out of all of this is that patients are suffering. We now have a situation where we have increased waiting lists, people waiting for procedures and the sickest people in society are unable to get medical cards."

The Cork North Central TD said that if the minister cannot manage a budget, "there will be fire brigade action at the tail end of the year and patients will suffer."

He said it was a "glib response" for the minister to say he will be a few euro over budget as services will whittle away and people will suffer.

When asked if he felt there is a two-tier structure in Cabinet where Labour ministers meet their budgets and some Fine Gael ministers have budget overruns, Mr Kelleher said: "It's a bit like animal farm. Some ministers are more equal than others.

"Clearly Fine Gael ministers do hold the whip hand but on this occasion, I think that Minister Reilly is incapable of keeping within budget in the first place.

"Last year he set out his stall and he has not delivered the services that he promised." 

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No Cabinet reshuffle this year - Kenny

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said a planned Cabinet reshuffle will not take place this year.

Mr Kenny told the closing press conference at the Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting that all his ministers were working very hard, but they knew there would be changes.

He also said he had not discussed who might be chosen as European Commissioner when the post becomes vacant next year.

Mr Kenny told reporters the Government would fulfil its full five-year mandate and go to the country in the "iconic" year of 2016.

He said Fine Gael would stand on an independent platform and not run a joint campaign with Labour.

On party dissidents who have lost the whip, Mr Kenny insisted they were adults who knew what they were doing when they took the stance they did.

He maintained that the Government needed stability to push through its reforms and there could not be stability if everyone did their own thing.

Asked about possible cost overruns in the Department of Health, the Taoiseach said the figure last year was €250m, but this year it was €60m.

He said Minister for Health James Reilly was aware of the realities and hoped that most of that could be recouped.

Mr Reilly earlier told reporters that while great strides had been made, there was a serious demographic issue to deal with.

He said he did not want to be over budget, but older people had multiple conditions and tended to be admitted for longer.

The minister maintained health did not benefit from a lift in the economy the way other sectors did.

Mr Reilly said the most important thing for him as Minister for Health was to ensure that people were provided with a safe service.

He said if that ultimately meant being slightly over budget, then he would prefer to be slightly over budget than have people suffer or die needlessly.

Fianna Fáil Health Spokesperson Billy Kelleher said Minister Reilly is "incapable of managing the health service" and a Cabinet reshuffle "cannot come soon enough".

Mr Kelleher said: "This time last year we said that Minister Reilly was incapable of managing the health service.

"Clearly, his statement today shows that he is completely out of his depth. The disappointing thing out of all of this is that patients are suffering.

"We now have a situation where we have increased waiting lists, people waiting for procedures and the sickest people in society are unable to get medical cards."

Taoiseach warns Budget will be 'tough'

Earlier, Mr Kenny said next month's Budget will be tough irrespective of the scale of the financial adjustment.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Kenny said the Government's objective was to restore the economy to good health and get people back to work.

He said the Budget was going to be tough regardless of whether the adjustment was €3.1bn or €2.8bn.

Asked about prospective cuts to the social protection budget, Mr Kenny said every area of spending had to be examined and it was never easy getting to the last sections of what needs to be done.

Ireland was recognised internationally for what it had done in terms of the changes made, he said, adding that he did "smell" signs of confidence.

Mr Kenny said the Budget would be one designed to continue to attract international market confidence, where there is inward investment for job creation.

It would also deal with the delivery of good care for people and make it attractive for people to get back to work.

He said there were a number of traps that had to be dealt with to get people off the Live Register and back into work.

The Taoiseach said this would be the last of the "really tough" budgets.

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