UPDATE - News from Ireland - 08 June 1999 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Forwarded message: ---------------------------------------------- UPDATE - The email news service from RTE Online ---------------------------------------------- 08 June 1999 17:22 with Harry Guerin ON RTE UPDATE TODAY --------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Michelle de Bruin "saddened" by court's decision 2. Northern Police accuse Sinn Fiin of campaigning to discredit RUC 3. Lawlor begins challenge to Flood Tribunal 4. British Army defuse 14 pipe-bombs in Lurgan 5. One man killed and five injured when Tyrone roof collapsed 6. Government could end with six times budget prediction 7. Ireland second most expensive country in EU for house-buying 8. Trimble says party opponents colluding to undermine leadership 9. Former broker sentenced to seven years 10. One dead, five injured in roof collapse 11. SDLP Councillor elected Deputy Mayor on Ballymena Council 12. RUC concerned for safety of missing Newry man plus Business News and Ireland's Weather MICHELLE DE BRUIN "SADDENED" BY COURT'S DECISION --------------------------------------------------------------- Michelle Smith De Bruin has said that she is saddened by the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport to uphold her ban from swimming. However, in a statement she again protests her innocence. Ms. de Bruin says that she has never used any banned substance during the course of her career. She also accuses certain sections of the media of vilifying her and asks for privacy while she decides on her future. The Statement reads: I am deeply saddened by the decision of the court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and in particular their decision to prefer circumstantial evidence concerning the manipulation charge as distinct from direct evidence given by me at the hearing of my Appeal. I today stand and accused of having used banned substances over the course of my career and that was the motive found by the Court as to why I would have attempted to manipulate the sample in question. I reaffirm what I have always told you that I have never used any banned substances in the course of my career, nor have I ever been charged by FINA of using any banned substance in the course of my career. I am proud of what I have achieved and assure those who have supported me and believe in me, that my victories in Atlanta and Seville are not hollow and have been achieved without the use of any illegal performance enhancing substance. Both I and my husband have been publicly attacked and vilified by various sections of the media and public since I won my first gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics and that makes me deeply unhappy. I still believe that I have been targeted by FINA since my Olympic success and believe that I am, even today, correct in that view, having regard to the disclosures made for the first time by the Irish Times of the background to the Out of Competition Doping Control missions that were carried out on me in 1997 and 1998. I will forever cherish my moments of victory and hope that those who still believe in me will also cherish their memories of those times. I know that, in the dark days ahead, there will be moments when it will seem all too much to have to deal with. However, I am strong in the knowledge that I have not committed the offence with which I was charged or any other offence and to date no-one has proven on a factual basis how the whiskey entered the sample which was tested by the laboratory in Barcelona. I would ask you in this difficult time to allow to allow me some privacy to try and come to grips with this decision and to make the necessary plans for my future. http://www.rte.ie/news/1999/0608/morningireland/morningireland3A.ram http://www.rte.ie/news/1999/0608/1News/1News2A.ram NORTHERN POLICE ACCUSE SINN FIIN OF CAMPAIGNING TO DISCREDIT RUC --------------------------------------------------------------- The Police Federation in the North has claimed that Sinn Fiin has been behind a concerted and blatant campaign to discredit the RUC. Speaking at the Annual Conference of the association, which represents 13,000 RUC officers, the Chairman, Les Rogers, said that there was an evil conspiracy against the force. Mr. Rogers said that while it was being co-ordinated by Sinn Fiin, it was wittingly and unwittingly assisted by certain lawyer groups and academics. He said that the purpose of the campaign is to destroy the credibility of the RUC and to influence the Patten Commission. Mr. Rogers also said that there is no evidence that the RUC is guilty of colluding with Loyalist paramilitaries. He pointed out that the force has a higher record of arrests and convictions against Loyalist paramilitaries than Republicans groups. Mr. Rodgers said that the rank and file officers in the RUC were ready to embrace change and had made a lengthy submission to the Patten Commission, which is to produce a report later this year on the future of the RUC. However, Mr Rodgers said one thing they were not willing to change was the name of the force. He said that the Royal Ulster Constabulary is respected the world over as the name of one of the most professional police services in the world. "To change the name would be derided as tokenism by our critics", he said. "An insult which doubles our determination to keep the Royal Warrant." Reacting to Mr. Rodgers' claim, Sinn Fiin's spokesperson on policing, Bairbre de Bruin, said that the comments were part of a rearguard action by those who wanted to prevent changes in the force, as foreseen in the Good Friday agreement. She criticised the RUC for their inability to take on board the concerns people had or to accept the need for change. She said that she felt the Federation's views showed the need for a new policing service and philosophy, and an acceptance that they were accountable to the whole community, not just those sections with whom they agreed politically. LAWLOR BEGINS CHALLENGE TO FLOOD TRIBUNAL --------------------------------------------------------------- A challenge by Fianna Fail TD Liam Lawlor to three orders made against him by the Flood Tribunal has opened in the High Court. Mr Lawlor is resisting the Tribunal's order requiring him to attend for questioning by counsel and he wants to know what allegations are being made against him. He is also challenging orders requiring him to provide details of companies in which he may have held directorships, shareholdings or had a beneficial interest in and an order relating to any accounts held by him or on his behalf. The hearing is expected to last a week. Last April, Mr Justice Flood made three orders relating to Mr Lawlor. The Tribunal wants Mr Lawlor to attend for questioning as part of their preliminary investigations. However, it is the nature of this questioning session to which Mr Lawlor and his lawyers object. Setting out these objections in the High Court Mr Lawlor's counsel, Adrian Hardiman SC, said that his client was being required to attend for examination by the tribunal lawyers, who would be acting as investigators. The Tribunal Chairman would not be present. Mr Hardiman claimed that this type of procedure is unlawful and there is no power to examine any person in this manner on or off oath. Mr Lawlor, the court was told, is willing to co-operate but he has been given only the sketchiest of details of what is alleged against him. Mr Lawlor is also concerned at the leaks of information being furnished to the tribunal and while his legal team is not saying the leaks have emanated from the Tribunal, it has been unable to stop the leaks. Mr Lawlor is also challenging orders requiring him to detail company involvements between 1987 and 1994 and to produce documents relating to accounts held during the same period. Mr Lawlor was not in court this morning for the start of the hearing. http://www.rte.ie/news/1999/0608/1News/1News5A.ram BRITISH ARMY DEFUSE 14 PIPE-BOMBS IN LURGAN --------------------------------------------------------------- British Army experts are reported to have defused 14 pipe-bombs discovered at a housing estate in Lurgan, County Armagh. The RUC said that a man was arrested. Security forces began searching the Portlec Place area this morning; over twenty houses had to be evacuated during the operation. Police investigating last Saturday's murder of Mrs. Elizabeth O'Neill in Portadown in County Armagh are now holding eight people: 4 men and 4 women, in connection with her murder. Three of the eight were detained yesterday. Several hundred mourners, including the North's First Minister, David Trimble, attended yesterday's funeral of the fifty-nine year old grandmother who died when a pipe-bomb was thrown through the living room window of her home. The RUC believe that dissident loyalist groups were responsible. http://www.rte.ie/news/1999/0608/morningireland/morningireland4A.ram ONE MAN KILLED AND FIVE INJURED WHEN TYRONE ROOF COLLAPSED --------------------------------------------------------------- A man was killed and five others were injured when part of a roof collapsed at a restaurant in Dungannon, County Tyrone. One of the injured is said to be in a serious condition; some of those injured had been trapped under rubble for a time. The accident happened at The Viscounts restaurant in the town's Northland Row area. The men were building an extension at the back of the premises. It is understood that part of a new roof collapsed under the weight of building materials which had been delivered just hours earlier. The injured were taken to the nearby South Tyrone Hospital. Customers in another part of the restaurant, which was open, were not hurt. Health and safety officers are expected to be called in to investigate. GOVERNMENT COULD END WITH SIX TIMES BUDGET PREDICTION --------------------------------------------------------------- A new report on the economy published today predicts that the government could end this year with six times more money to spare than predicted at budget time last December. The report by the country's largest stockbroking company, Davy Stockbrokers, points out that the amount of money accruing to the exchequer from tax receipts is growing twice as fast as budgeted for. In addition it suggests that the exchequer is likely to get about #4 billion from privatisations of public companies this year, including the public flotation of Telecom Iireann. IRELAND SECOND MOST EXPENSIVE COUNTRY IN EU FOR HOUSE-BUYING --------------------------------------------------------------- An international survey indicates that Ireland is now the second most expensive country in the European Union for buying a house. The report suggests that it now costs 18 times the average yearly disposable income to purchase a typical urban home in Ireland well above the EU average. The report was carried out by the international brokerage company, Dresdner Kleinwort Benson. Meanwhile, a new report on the economy published today predicts that the government could end this year with six times more money to spare than predicted at budget time last December. The report by the country's largest stockbroking company, Davy Stockbrokers, points out that the amount of money accruing to the exchequer from tax receipts is growing twice as fast as budgeted for. In addition it suggests that the exchequer is likely to get about #4 billion from privatisations of public companies this year, including the public flotation of Telecom Iireann. http://www.rte.ie/news/1999/0608/1News/1News4A.ram TRIMBLE SAYS PARTY OPPONENTS COLLUDING TO UNDERMINE LEADERSHIP --------------------------------------------------------------- The Northern first Minister, David Trimble has said that some of his opponents within the Ulster Unionist Party may be colluding with people outside the party to undermine his leadership. Mr. Trimble was responding to suggestions that he may face a vote of no confidence within the party if his candidate Jim Nicholson does badly in the European elections. Mr. Trimble said he was aware of moves against him within the party, but accused his opponents of not being able to accept the democratic will of the people expressed in last years referendum backing the Good Friday Agreement. FORMER BROKER SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS --------------------------------------------------------------- A former mortgage and financial broker has been jailed for seven years on fraud an forgery charges at Limerick Circuit Court. Pat Foot, formerly of Fairyfield Parteen Co Clare, who ran a mortgage and finance bureau in Limerick city centre pleaded guilty to a total of 39 charges of fraud and forgery between April 1996 and September 1997. Limerick Circuit Court was told that Foot embezzled the savings of 20 investors, and that the total amount involved was #203,000. The court was told that Pat Foot was now a broken and pathetic man who had lost his marriage and his business, and that his problems were worsened by a personality disorder and by alcohol and cocaine addiction. Judge Sean O'Leary said that those who hit the small man or woman investor must expect little or no sympathy from the courts. He said that he had to take very seriously the considerable and life-long significance of the charges to those who were defrauded. He imposed two sentences: three years on all the fraud charges and four years on the forgery charges, both to run consecutively. Leave to appeal against the severity of the sentence was refused.

ONE DEAD, FIVE INJURED IN ROOF COLLAPSE --------------------------------------------------------------- A man was killed and five others were injured when part of a roof collapsed at a restaurant in Dungannon, County Tyrone. The men were working on an extension to The Viscounts in the Northland Row area of Dungannon. At least two of them were trapped and had to be rescued by fire and ambulance crews. One of the injured is said to be in a serious condition. SDLP COUNCILLOR ELECTED DEPUTY MAYOR ON BALLYMENA COUNCIL --------------------------------------------------------------- An SDLP Councillor was elected to one of the top two positions on Ballymena Council for the first time last night. PJ McEvoy was voted Deputy Mayor, with the help of Ulster Unionist Councillors, defeating a challenge from the DUP. The incumbent Mayor, the Ulster Unionist James Curry, was returned for a fourth term. Mr. McEvoy, said that his election was a sign of change. RUC CONCERNED FOR SAFETY OF MISSING NEWRY MAN --------------------------------------------------------------- The RUC have expressed concern for the safety of a 23-year-old man missing from his home in Newry, County Down, since yesterday afternoon. Bernard Joseph Higgins left his home at Ardcarne Park around one o'clock to visit a friend a short distance away. A witness said that he was pulled into a red van. The RUC have not received any information to corroborate this and have appealed for information. Business News On the currency markets the euro traded at US$1.04, AUS$1.57, 125.99 yen and 65 pence sterling. The Irish punt traded at US$1.32, AUS$2.00, 159.97 yen and 82 pence sterling. (The euro is permanently valued at 0.78 Irish punts.) The ISEQ Index meanwhile closed up 85.49 points at 5004.16 Ireland's Weather A few well isolated showers at first, but otherwise this evening and tonight will be dry with clear spells. Turning cool overnight with a touch of frost and some fog patches inland. Lowest Temperatures 3 to 6 Celsius (37 to 43 Fahrenheit). A little patchy rain at first tomorrow on the northwest coast. This will clear, leaving a dry day with some bright spells developing. It will be mild. Highest Temperatures 14 to 18 Celsius (57 to 64 Fahrenheit). Winds light and variable. ---------------------------------------------- UPDATE is a free 7-days a week service from RTE bringing you the latest news from Ireland. For regular news updates throughout the day check RTE News Online at http://www.rte.ie/news/ If you experience any problems with this service then please email postmaster@update.rte.ie or webmaster@rte.ie To subscribe or unsubscribe from UPDATE please go to the email page on the RTE ONLINE website at http://www.rte.ie/email.html ---------------------------------------------- John Navin http://members.tripod.com/~JMcNevin/index.html http://www.egroups.com/group/irish-afterdark "Ireland Unfree Shall Never Be At Peace!" ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytire-06.10.99-03:50:36-20742