OCTOBER 1999
www.celtic-connection.com
Page 17
IRISH NEWS SHORTS
Close Call for Air Lingus Flight
An Aer Lingus MD11 jet skidded off the runway when it landed at Shannon Airport on the morning of September 18. The plane had just arrived from New York and was touching down in what was described as atrocious weather, when the incident occurred.
The wind was gusting at up to 70 mph but an airline spokesperson said that the aircraft was perfectly capable of landing in such conditions. The airport remained closed for a number of hours and flights were diverted to other airports. The aircraft did not suffer any damage and took a full passenger load back to New York 15 hours later.
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Late Late Show Back On Air
The Late Late Show was back on-air for the new season on Friday night, this time with Pat Kenny at the helm while Gay Byrne enjoys his retirement. Among the guests on the opening night were Sonia O'Sullivan and her baby; Roy Keane; journalist Ed Moloney; Mary Black and Father Michael Kennedy who was in the Kennedy compound when John F. Kennedy junior, his wife and sister-in-law were killed in an air crash.
The final guest of the evening was a mother of three children, the oldest of whom suffers very severely from cerebral palsy. She described, very articulately, the problems she and her family experience without a break every day and made a passionate plea for increased government support for the handicapped.
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Seeking UN Security Council Seat
Minister for Foreign Affairs David Andrews undertook intensive lob-bjang at the United Nations in New York, to ensure that Ireland is elected to the UN Security Council. He met more than 60 foreign ministers before addressing the General Assembly, referring to the looming humanitarian disaster in East and West Timor. Speaking about the North, he said that whatever difficulties remain to be resolved, the situation on the ground is more peaceful than at any time in the past 30 years.
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Unmarried Parents
Rate Rising
Public records indicate that almost 32 percent of the 13,388 births registered in the Republic of Ireland for the first three months of 1999 were to unmarried parents.
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Robinson to Receive Fulbright Award
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson is to be awarded the 1999 J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding. The presentation will be made at a ceremony in Washington on October 8. The award includes a cheque for #50,000 from the Coca Cola Foundation, which the former President says she will donate to support the efforts of the UN Decade for Human Rights Education.
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Nurses Reject Pay Deal
Irish nurses overwhelmingly rejected the pay deal recommended by the Labour Court, and have begun another round of balloting on possible strike action. Around 94 percent of votes cast were against the deal and it is now expected that a strike will start on October 19. The government has been at pains to make it clear that it cannot breach the Labour Court's findings.
Minister for Health Brian Cowen reminded nurses that the entire package awarded since 1997 has brought ward sisters a 37 percent increase to IR£27,522 and staff nurses a 26 percent increase. The Taoiseach followed with an attack on the attitudes of public service workers who were guilty of breaking agreements made under Partnership 2000. Addressing the nurses specifically, he said that the government could never concede to their demands as this would simply "unleash a wave of follow-on claims."
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Destruction of Historic Monuments
National Heritage Week has prompted considerable discussion about the rate at which historic monuments have been disappearing or have been damaged. A recent survey of 60 square miles which appears to have been based on the known position of monuments in 1840, found that of 1,400 listed monuments, 407 had been destroyed, while a further 101 could not be located. Land improvement was given as the major reason for the destruction of monuments.
Not Going Anywhere in a Big Hurry
Sisters Kathleen and Margaret Maughan were in court in Dublin on September 13, to seek a further reduction in their bail figure. During a lunch-time adjournment the two women, who were handcuffed to each other, asked to go to the toilet. When they failed to return, a search was initiated and they were found on scaffolding, three stories up, on the outside of the Four Courts building.
One of the two prison officers who finally brought them back inside was kicked repeatedly before the two women were subdued. Justice Frederick Morris agreed that they should be allowed to renew their bail application but that the judge who will hear the case should be informed of their latest escapade. The Maughans have been in custody since July 4 awaiting trial on charges of assault and criminal damage.
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Home to Face the Music
Five of the 12 members of an extended Irish travelling family, who were deposited at Norfolk, Virginia, before their flight continued to Jamaica in February, have appeared in a court in London. Myles Connors (36) and Francis Coyle (40) are charged with causing an affray and of behaviour likely to endanger the safety of an aircraft. Three women were accused of being drunk on board an aircraft. The case was adjourned for a month. The incident was something of a cause celebre at the time as the media focused on the 12, all of whom live in England and had planned a holiday at Montego Bay.
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Possible Privatization
Speculation continues on the possibility that either Shannon or Cork airport (or both) will be sold to the private sector. In Cork, the trade unions are vehemently opposed to such a move, while former PD leader Des O'Malley TD firmly rejects the idea of Shannon being hived off. He and his colleagues in. the PDs say that the airport should be taken out of the control of Aer Rianta and operated as a separate entity, but still under state ownership.
Bishops Ponder Dwindling Attendance
DUBLIN — At the National Conference of Priests of Ireland, Father Jim Stanley urged Irish Bishops to take steps to make the Church more appealing.
He suggested one solution to dwindling clerical vocations is to send deacons both married and unmarried into parishes witiout clergymen to fill the vacant role.
He also urged giving dispensations to allow couples whose marriages have broken down to remarry and offer a general confessional absolution to all who want forgiveness for sins. He said this would provide a "magnanimous gesture" to welcome in the new millennium.
He warned that Mass attendance was plummeting, especially in Dublin where it ranged from 10 percent to 30 percent in some inner-city parishes. The best that provincial towns and cities could muster was 60 percent to 70 percent, said Father Stanley.
He added, "We are losing our young people. Yes, we have the message of eternal life, we know the secret of happiness, but wTe are not getting it across."
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