Spanish Air Crash Kills At Least 150

By J. P. Anderson

A passenger plane has crashed on take-off at Madrid's Barajas airport, killing at least 45 people and seriously injuring 19.

However, a source for the emergency services reported about 150 fatalities, saying: "They are pulling out burnt corpses. The plane has been completely destroyed."

The national government's office in Madrid said at least 19 people are seriously hurt while 35 were unharmed. Dozens of emergency vehicles are at the scene.

A large cloud of smoke billowed at Terminal Four from the remains of flight JK5022's MD82 jet for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.

There were 166 passengers and six crew onboard, according to Scandianvian airline SAS, which owns Spanair and has been trying to sell it since last year.

SAS said: "The aircraft, an MD-82, was en route from Madrid to Las Palmas when the accident occurred, at 14:23 hours local time. We can confirm that there were 166 passengers and six crew onboard."

Dozens of shocked relatives began arriving at Las Palmas airport on the island of Gran Canaria, where they were whisked into a room away from the press and comforted by Red Cross psychiatrists.

There was no immediate official comment on the cause of the accident but the newspaper El Mundo quoted a source on its website as saying the plane's left engine had caught fire.

1. UPDATE:

A passenger plane has crashed on take-off at Madrid's Barajas airport, killing at least 100 people.

However, a source for the emergency services believes there are around 150 fatalities, saying: "They are pulling out burnt corpses. The plane has been completely destroyed."

Earlier, the national government's office in Madrid said at least 45 people had been killed and 19 seriously hurt while 35 were unharmed.

Dozens of emergency vehicles are at the scene and a large cloud of smoke billowed at Terminal Four from the remains of flight JK5022's MD82 jet for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands.

There were 166 passengers and six crew onboard, according to Scandianvian airline SAS, which owns Spanair and has been trying to sell it since last year.

SAS said: "The aircraft, an MD-82, was en route from Madrid to Las Palmas when the accident occurred, at 14:23 hour’s local time. We can confirm that there were 166 passengers and six crew onboard."

Dozens of shocked relatives began arriving at Las Palmas airport on the island of Gran Canaria, where they were whisked into a room away from the press and comforted by Red Cross psychiatrists.

There was no immediate official comment on the cause of the accident but the newspaper El Mundo quoted a source on its website as saying the plane's left engine had caught fire.

Spanair has issued a contact number for concerned relatives - 00 34 800 400 200.

UPDATE 2:

Only 23 people have escaped alive after a plane carrying 173 people burst into flames shortly after taking off from Madrid's airport, a rescue official has said.

There are fears that the remaining 147 on board may have perished inside the fuselage after it landed burning off the side of a runway at Barajas airport.

The extent of the tragedy was described by a worker of airport owner AENA who witnessed the disaster.

"The plane was totally broken apart, it was all full of bodies," the worker told El Pais newspaper.

Two civil guards returning from the scene of the stricken aircraft told the same newspaper: "It doesn't look anything like a plane - it's horrific - everything is burnt.

"It's the closest to hell that I've seen. The bodies were boiling, we burnt ourselves collecting them."

Firefighters have now put out the flames after a column of smoke was seen rising over the Barajas airport.

Reports say the accident happened as the craft was taking off from the airport's Terminal Four, bound for Gran Canaria.

Witnesses said the plane's left engine caught fire during take-off, causing the aircraft to crash to the ground and break into two parts.

El Pais reported that the disaster occurred during a second attempt at take off.

An earlier attempt had to be averted after technical issues, which resulted in an inspection of the plane.

There were 173 people on board the Spanair MD-82 plane, 164 passengers and nine crew members.

Spanair Flight JK-5022 was bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, a resort off West Africa, the company said.

The plane was a shared-code flight with Lufthansa's LH-255, it added.

Local journalist Bill Bond said Spanair was a major Spanish airline that has been running for 20 years.

"It flies throughout Spain and internationally and has a good accident record," he said.

However, the MD-80 series does not have a great safety record.

Aviation expert Professor Joseph Lampel has told Sky News: "It appears at the moment to have been some sort of engine problem.

"It's rare, but not unheard of. The focus will now be on engine maintenance."

Malcolm Ginsberg, editor of Air and Business Travel, said: "It appears to have been a normal sort of day, so I can only imagine there must have been some sort of mechanical problem."

UPDATE 3:

Only 23 people have escaped alive after a plane carrying 173 people burst into flames shortly after taking off from Madrid's airport, a rescue official has said.

There are fears that the remaining 150 on board may have perished inside the fuselage after it landed burning off the side of a runway at Barajas airport.

The extent of the tragedy was described by a worker of airport owner AENA who witnessed the disaster.

"The plane was totally broken apart, it was all full of bodies," the worker told El Pais newspaper.

Two civil guards returning from the scene of the stricken aircraft told the same newspaper: "It doesn't look anything like a plane - it's horrific - everything is burnt.

"It's the closest to hell that I've seen. The bodies were boiling, we burnt ourselves collecting them."

Firefighters have now put out the flames after a column of smoke was seen rising over the Barajas airport.

Reports say the accident happened as the craft was taking off from the airport's Terminal Four, bound for Gran Canaria.

Witnesses said the plane's left engine caught fire during take-off, causing the aircraft to crash to the ground and break into two parts.

El Pais reported that the disaster occurred during a second attempt at take off.

An earlier attempt had to be averted after technical issues, which resulted in an inspection of the plane.

There were 173 people on board the Spanair MD-82 plane, 164 passengers and nine crew members.

Spanair Flight JK-5022 was bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, a resort off West Africa, the company said.

The plane was a shared-code flight with Lufthansa's LH-255, it added.

The names of the passengers and crew on board the aircraft will not be released until all next-of-kin has been notified.

A special help-line number has been established for relatives and friends seeking information about those who may have been on board. The number is +34 800 400 200.

Local journalist Bill Bond said Spanair was a major Spanish airline that has been running for 20 years.

"It flies throughout Spain and internationally and has a good accident record," he said.

However, the MD-80 series does not have a great safety record.

Aviation expert Professor Joseph Lampel has told Sky News: "It appears at the moment to have been some sort of engine problem.

"It's rare, but not unheard of. The focus will now be on engine maintenance."

Malcolm Ginsberg, editor of Air and Business Travel, said: "It appears to have been a normal sort of day, so I can only imagine there must have been some sort of mechanical problem."

Madrid air crash kills up to 150

UPDATE 4:

A passenger airliner heading to Gran Canaria has crashed on take-off at Madrid's Barajas airport, killing up to 150 people.

Just 28 people are believed to have survived, with many in a critical condition, after the Spanair plane skidded off the runway with around 175 passengers and crew onboard.

Earlier, an emergency services spokesman said: "They are pulling out burnt corpses. The plane has been completely destroyed."

Scandianvian airline SAS, which owns Spanair, said: "The aircraft, an MD-82, was en route from Madrid to Las Palmas (in the Canary Islands) when the accident occurred at 14:23 hours local time. We can confirm that there were 166 passengers and six crew onboard."

An emergency services spokesman told national radio: "The (plane's) tail has broken off from the rest of the fuselage. It's difficult to describe the scene, because it's just a mess of metal."

Dozens of emergency vehicles attended the scene from where a large cloud of smoke billowed from the remains of flight JK5022.

There was no immediate official comment on the cause of the accident but the newspaper El Mundo quoted a source on its website as saying the plane's left engine had caught fire and that the plane had twice attempted take-off.

Police escorted tearful relatives of passengers past reporters while dozens of workers identified as psychologists and social workers arrived at the terminal.

Shocked relatives also began arriving at Las Palmas airport where they were taken into a room and offered counselling by Red Cross psychiatrists.

Spanair has issued a contact number for concerned relatives - 00 34 800 400 200.

UPDATES LATER:

Vulnerable People Denied Home Accessibility Grants

By J. P. Anderson

DISABLED and elderly people are being denied grants to make their homes more accessible, according to the opposition who described it as a “national disgrace”.
Fine Gael said deputies have been contacted by a number of older people who have already been approved for a grant but were informed in recent days they will not receive it.
Front bench spokesman Billy Timmins said local councils have also stopped taking applications under the Housing Adaptation Scheme due to budget shortages.

The scheme is granted when people need to make alterations to their homes to make them suitable for their needs — such as making them wheelchair accessible or building downstairs bathrooms.
Mr Timmins said: “People who were approved for a grant scheme have been informed in recent days they cannot go ahead with their proposed work.”
A spokesman for the Department of the Environment said: “There is no funding shortfall. The €71.4 million we gave this year exceeds last year’s allocation by almost €100,000.”
He said requests for additional funding for the operation of the scheme by any local authority “will be dealt with in the light of any savings emerging later in the year in other local authority areas.”
Mr Timmins said this means that “cash-starved local authorities can only get more cash to pay for these schemes if other local authorities do not spend all of their allocation. With massive waiting lists this is highly unlikely”.
In the first three months of this year local authorities received 6,220 applications for grant assistance for elderly and disabled homeowners. It is not known how many of these have been told they will not get their money.
Dublin City Council said the 323 applicants in its area “have not been affected by the cutbacks and will get their promised grants”.
Mr Timmins said: “The people who avail of these grants are the most vulnerable in Irish society and should not be made to pay for the economic mismanagement of this Government.
“These grants are generally used for essential repairs to prevent structural damage. I am calling on the Minister for the Environment to search deep to properly fund the essential upgrades that these people so desperately need,” he said.

Clondalkin: €200k of Heroin Seized Man Held

By J. P. Anderson

A 20-year-old man has been arrested after heroin with an estimated street value of €200,000 was found in Dublin.

A search of a house in Mark's Grove in Clondalkin was carried out at around 9pm last night.

During the search cocaine, together with drugs paraphernalia were found.

The man is being held at Ronanstown Garda Station.

For Ronnie’s Farewell

By J. P. Anderson

THEY’RE preparing for a packed house for one last session when Ronnie Drew is buried today.
The Church of the Holy Rosary in his adopted home of Greystones, Co Wicklow, can’t cater for the Christmas crowds, let alone a farewell to a legend, so an overflow facility is being set up in the adjacent parish centre with a big screen to relay the proceedings.
But one group of men are sure of space to say their goodbyes. An area is being kept clear at the top of the church for the last surviving members of the Dubliners to give Ronnie a send-off in the best way they know how.

Already many have paid their respects to the original Dubliner, who died on Saturday aged 73 after a battle with cancer. A steady stream of mourners, many from the world of Irish music, filed into his home yesterday to join his family in the traditional wake.
Some, including Paul Brady, Shay Healy and Phil Coulter, were clearly emotional, as they emerged from the gathering.
A tearful Brady thumped at his heart as he spoke briefly about the last time he worked with one of his music heroes on an album in recent years. “A whole era has come to an end,” he said. “One of the most original Irish balladeers has gone.”
Songwriter and broadcaster Shay Healy, a close friend of Drew’s for 40 years, was visibly upset as he recounted speaking with him on the telephone in recent weeks.
“He left an indelible mark on the [music] industry,” he said.
“He turned a lot of people on to Irish ballads; he reintroduced us to our own songs. I’m just glad to say he was my friend.”
Despite his rapidly declining health, Drew continued to show up at the gigs of his friends over the past weeks to show his support, said Healy.
He said the world-renowned singer and musician was one of the most generous men with his time and company that he knew.
“And that voice. It was unmistakable,” he said. “If you were at the North Pole and you heard that voice, you would say: that’s Ronnie Drew.”
President Mary McAleese and Taoiseach Brian Cowen will be represented at today’s funeral ceremony by their aides de camp.
Afterwards Drew will be laid to rest beside his wife Deirdre, who died last year, at Redford Cemetery in the town.

Against Police in Attack

By J. P. Anderson

Unionist and Sinn Féin politicians tonight demanded an end to dissident republican violence after confirmation the explosive Semtex was used in an attack on police in Co Fermanagh over the weekend.

The powerful Czech-made explosive was a main element of the Provisional IRA’s arsenal before the republican movement decommissioned its weapons in 2005.
But today politicians hit out after it was confirmed a weekend attack where three officers escaped serious injury was carried out by dissident republicans armed with an improvised rocket launcher using Semtex.
Deputy Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Paul Leighton said the officers targeted at 11pm on Saturday night in the border town of Lisnaskea, County Fermanagh, were lucky to be alive.
“This was significant in that there was Semtex used, it didn’t go off but there was Semtex there,” he said.
“Where it has come from I do not know, it is similar to devices used in the province during the Troubles by other groups but when it passed over to dissident groups, how it came to be in their possession I don’t know at this point in time.”
Two officers were on patrol on Main Street, Lisnaskea, while a third was in a nearby police vehicle when a man stepped from a white Ford Escort and aimed an improvised rocket launcher at the officers.
They dived for cover and escaped after suffering shock and minor injuries when the device failed to detonate.
The Deputy Chief Constable said renegade republicans had been responsible for seven other murder attempts on police officers in the last year.
In June dissident republicans planted a 150lb landmine in a bid to murder police near the village of Roslea, also in Fermanagh.
Two officers lured to the area by a hoax phone call escaped death or serious injury when the bomb’s detonator failed to trigger the main device.
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Assembly member Peter Weir today called for action to end violence by dissident republican groupings.
“Tough action is called for now to eliminate these groups, who are clearly developing their capacity and technical ability to wage such attacks,” said Mr Weir.
“The police should be given the resources and the support they need to take the fight to the dissident Republican micro-groups, who I believe are held in widespread contempt on both sides of our community.”

Sinn Féin Fermanagh South Tyrone MP Michelle Gildernew said dissident republicans had no support.
“Those who carried out this attack have nothing to offer. They have little support and their actions will not advance Irish Unity one bit,” she said.
“Sinn Féin has a strategy for Irish Unity and we will not be deflected by these activities.
“Many within the republican nationalist community wonder just whose agenda these groups are operating to.”
The PSNI appealed for anyone with information on the Lisnaskea attack to come forward.
Mr Leighton said he did not know how the dissidents had obtained the Semtex, but said it was likely the improvised rocket launcher was an old weapon.
“I’m not responsible for decommissioning and I don’t know where the weaponry has come from but for me it looks as if it came from old stock, from an old type of device which we have seen before in the province many years ago,” he said.
“How and when it transferred hands I do not know. I believe it is Semtex which came into the province around the time the IRA got their supply of Semtex but how it transferred to this grouping I do not know.
“We knew that they had access to weaponry due to the passing across of personnel, so I am not surprised that they have access to it.”
The police chief said he did not believe dissidents had opened up a new Semtex supply chain.
“As far as I am aware it is the first time they have used Semtex,” he said.
“It does not appear to be new Semtex. So it does not raise a concern with me that they have a new supply of Semtex.”

Dozens Evacuated As Rain Continues

By J. P. Anderson

Emergency services in Northern Ireland are struggling to cope as heavy rain worsens the flood damage caused by a weekend of torrential downpours.

Fire crews helped to evacuate dozens of people from their homes as water levels rose.

In Bryansford, Co Down, a lifeboat went from door to door to pick up stranded residents.

People also deserted their water logged homes in Belfast and counties Armagh and Antrim.

More than 850 emergency calls were made as rivers broke their banks and roads were closed.

Parts of the M1 and M2 motorways are still shut and a train derailed in the Irish Republic.

Sky News weather forecaster Sarah Pennock said the outlook for the week was uncertain, adding to the woes of what has been dubbed 'awful August'.

"It is a really messy picture at the moment and the next 48 hours will be very unsettled.

"There is an area of deep low pressure and the centre of it is the south west coast of Ireland. Tomorrow it will move over to northern England so that area can expect heavy rain.

"Bands of rains and showers will continue from there but it will get calmer as the week progresses.

"By Wednesday we should see more sunshine as the low pressure moves away and the wind dies down." she said.

But there is some good news for the end of the school holidays. Pennock thinks the bank holiday weekend might make up for the washed out summer.

"At the moment the holiday weekend looks promising. We should see more settled conditions." she said.

Floods have hit the south, west and midlands following torrential rain during the weekend.

Carlow town remains the worst affected area where around 100 people were evacuated from their apartments and others are being ferried to and from work by members of the Civil Defence.

In the worst affected areas around Centaur St the water was almost 2m deep.

AA Roadwatch says some roads in counties Offaly, Kilkenny, Tipperary and Galway are flooded.

The Fire Service and the Civil Defence in Co Offaly are providing assistance to a number of residents in Whitehall estate in Tullamore after the Tullamore River burst its banks.

Flooding at Portadown is causing delays of up to 90 minutes on the Dublin to Belfast train service.

And one of the busiest roads in Northern Ireland - the Broadway Underpass in Belfast - is closed.

At one stage the road was under 20 feet of water. Two extractor pumps have managed to remove a lot of the flood water this morning, but the underpass is expected to remain closed for the rest of the day.

Northern Ireland's Minister for Regional Development, Conor Murphy, has ordered an investigation into why the recently constructed underpass was flooded.

NI Environment Minister Sammy Wilson has announced a compensation package for those whose homes were affected by the flooding.

Funeral of Ronnie Drew in Co Wicklow

By J. P. Anderson

The funeral of singer and entertainer Ronnie Drew will take place in Greystones, Co Wicklow tomorrow.

Requiem Mass will be held at the Church of the Holy Rosary with burial afterwards in Redford Cemetery, Greystones.

The singer died at the weekend after a long illness.

He is survived by his two children, Phelim and Cliodhna, and five grandchildren.

Phelim Drew said his father passed away peacefully in St Vincent's Private Hospital in Dublin on Saturday afternoon at age 73.

Mr Drew founded the then Ronnie Drew Group in 1962 which later came to be known as The Dubliners.

The group included fellow Irish music legends Luke Kelly, Ciarán Bourke and Barney McKenna.

While Mr Kelly was known for singing their soulful ballads, Mr Drew will be best remembered for his gravelly-voiced renditions of rabble-rousing folk songs like Finnegan's Wake and Dicey Reilly.

Ronnie Drew sang one of the band's biggest commercial hits when they entered the UK top 10 in 1967 with 'Seven Drunken Nights' and appeared on the BBC's Top of the Pops.

In 1995 they appeared once again on the show with Shane McGowan and The Pogues who performed with Mr Drew on their single 'The Irish Rover'.

Born in Dún Laoghaire in 1934, Mr Drew underwent six months' treatment for throat cancer two years ago.

Deirdre, his wife of more than 40 years, died last year. The couple lived in Greystones.

Only his family would have known how much Ronnie Drew depended on and drew strength from his wife. Her loss was devastating

As a man who appreciated poetry, Ronnie Drew would probably have seen something of himself in this doggerel: "Between the optimist and the pessimist, the difference is droll; the optimist sees the doughnut, the pessimist the hole."

And when you consider some of what he had to live up to, it is easier to understand his downbeat realism.

For some 50 years he was the living embodiment of what the world, and many provincial Irish people, believed was a typical Dubliner.

According to legend, an archetypal Dub is a droll raconteur and a rapier wit, as the circumstances require.

It was bizarre stereotyping for Ronnie Drew (or anyone) to measure up to -- and a burden that he carried stoically, if not always silently.

Yes, he was one of the balladeers who borrowed the name from the title of James Joyce's book, and in that sense he was a volunteer Dubliner.

He also had a distinctive beard that made him immediately recognisable and a unique voice that confirmed his identity for those who couldn't believe their eyes.

For many he was heir to another bearded and gravel-voiced Dubliner, the late Noel Purcell. And both of them could have been role models for the kindly Captain Birds Eye, who persuades children to eat fish fingers.

People who saw him on television or heard him on the radio assumed they knew Ronnie Drew, and the less inhibited sometimes presumed an intimacy that was offensively intrusive.

Yet even when a show-off bore descended on him, Ronnie persevered: he may not have grinned and cackled to order but he was always a gentleman, even when he told them to F*** off.

He was something of a curmudgeon, a personality trait necessary for his survival and which reflected part of his world view. But he had scintillating flashes of rapier wit and droll anecdotage that more than compensated for the occasional negativity.

When The Dubliners had an unlikely top 10 hit in Britain with 'Seven Drunken Nights', I was a teenage entrepreneur promoting shows in Belfast.

Although they were on BBC's 'Top Of The Pops', the band was broke and I approached Ronnie and offered him £400 for a guest spot. He immediately agreed. I put ads in the newspapers, the show sold out, and Ronnie and I became firm friends.

He spoke almost reverently about his wife, Deirdre McCartan, a sophisticated and wise woman, who kept him focused when the distractions of drink and hedonism beckoned.

Touring was more fun in the stories told afterwards than during the exhausting one-nighters around England, Germany or wherever. When I met him, Ronnie would sometimes put his head in his hands and sigh deeply in despair.

Although he was an integral part of The Dubliners, and very much the iconic face by which the public identified the group, Ronnie always saw himself as an individual artist.

He also saw The Dubliners as a repertory company at times; with personnel changes leaving it open for him to dip in and out to follow his ambitions.

Determined to spend more time with his family, Ronnie left and Jim McCann joined The Dubliners, but after he broke a hip in an accident Ronnie rejoined.

Luke Kelly made a solo record of the Ray Davis song 'Thank You For The Days' produced by my friend, the late Donall Corvin, and Ronnie was keen to record a contemporary song.

Ronnie Drew had also read books that many of his contemporaries kept peeping out of their jacket pockets for effect. And like so many of his generation, who saw the deprivations of Dublin in the 1940s and 1950s, he had a fear of poverty.

Through his career in The Dubliners, Ronnie Drew saw too much of ill health and premature death: Ciaran Bourke had a brain haemorrhage in 1974 and Luke Kelly died of a brain haemorrhage in 1984.

Two years ago, Ronnie was diagnosed with throat cancer and, while he was receiving chemotherapy with the consequent loss of hair and beard, his wife, Deirdre, told him she had cancer too. She died six weeks later.

Only his family would have known how much Ronnie Drew depended on and drew strength from his wife. Her loss was devastating.

"He comes from a different era, a time when people didn't wear their hearts on their sleeves," said his son, actor Phelim Drew. "The image he portrays in public is always going to be different from the private one."

Yes, he did musically lark about with Bono and Shane MacGowan, but he was a paradox: a thoroughly modern and very traditional man.

It was his parents' generation that fought for Ireland's independence and Ronnie Drew's contemporaries who immortalised that struggle in song and literature.

To the end, Ronnie Drew was a gentleman who made us feel better about ourselves.

'Ronnie will be remembered for his promotion of Irish music both at home and around the world. He bore his illness with bravery and will be sadly missed'

FOLK hero and Irish music legend Ronnie Drew will be waked at home today as preparations get under way for a celebration of his life at his funeral tomorrow.

The quintessential Dubliner, with the bearded face and gravelly voice, lost his battle with cancer on Saturday.

He died at St Vincent's Private Hospital, Dublin, surrounded by family and close friends.

His death, at the age of 73, happened on the same date as Elvis Presley died 31 years ago. He is survived by his son Phelim, daughter Cliodhna, brother Tony, sisters Joan and Margie and by six grandchildren. His wife Deirdre died last year.

Last night, the man described as an icon was being waked at his home in Greystones, Co Wicklow. Family friend Brian Hand said Ronnie believed in the "old school" ways and was being waked at home before his funeral Mass in the Church of the Holy Rosary in Greystones tomorrow.

"He wanted to go out with a celebration," said Mr Hand. "There will be a few tears at the end of the day but there will be lots of stories, great music, a beer or two and maybe the odd Cuban cigar."

President McAleese led the nation's tributes to the singer and musician, describing him as "a champion of traditional Irish music" who, with The Dubliners, re-energised and refreshed our unique musical heritage.

Pleasure

"He brought great pleasure to the people of Ireland and yet more around the world. Ronnie will be greatly missed by many, but most particularly by his family with whom our thoughts are today."

Taoiseach Brian Cowen said Ronnie Drew had been an iconic figure in Irish music over the past five decades. "Ronnie, whether as part of The Dubliners or during his solo career, will also be remembered for his promotion of Irish music both at home and around the world. He bore his illness with bravery and will be sadly missed."

Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said it was no exaggeration to say that Ronnie Drew was a legend -- and his sad passing would be felt at home and abroad.

"His contribution to Irish music and Irish life was immeasurable and his influence will be felt for many, many years to come," he said.

Labour's Mary Upton said Ronnie and The Dubliners played a huge role in the restoration of interest in Irish songs and music.

"We have now lost three members of the original Dubliners -- Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly and Ciaran Bourke -- but their music will retain a special place in the affections of the Irish people."

Flood Warning: Over 100 Evacuated After flooding In Carlow

By J. P. Anderson

Carlow town is at the centre of a flood alert tonight.

Rising waters from the River Barrow is causing severe problems and over 100 people had to be evacuated from a four-storey apartment block on Centaur Street. Kennedy Street is also closed due to flooding.

Further heavy rain is predicted overnight and for tomorrow morning across much of the country.

The Civil Defence says it is monitoring two other apartment blocks and will evacuate them if waters rise further.

Elsewhere in the county, the road between Tullow and Rathtoe is blocked after a two-car collision this evening.

Six people were injured in the crash. They have been brought to St Luke's General Hospital in Kilkenny; however their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

Gardaí have said there is still flooding in Daingean and Edenderry in Co Offaly where the canal burst its banks, and there are reports of flooding around Clonygowan.

In Co Laois, the main street in Mountmellick is flooded, while the Mountmellick to Ballyfinn road (R423) and the Mountmellick to Derryclooney road are both impassable because of flooding.

Diversions remain in place on the N77 Kilkenny to Durrow road due to flooding at Ballyragget.

In Galway the N59 on the Oughterard side of Moycullen is partially blocked after a truck overturned.

In the North, the M1 has re-opened inbound from Black's Road to Stockman's Lane and outbound from Saintfield Road. The M2 has fully re-opened.

Stena Line's fastferry sailings between Rosslare and Fishguard tomorrow have been cancelled due to severe weather forecast for the south Irish Sea. All car passengers will be accommodated the conventional sailings at 9am and 9.15pm to Fishguard.

Oakwood passengers will need to rebook for another date.

Omagh Anniversary

By J. P. Anderson

There are to be two separate services in Omagh this weekend on the tenth anniversary of the bomb attack in which 29 people including a woman expecting twins died.

Relatives of some of the victims have organised their own tribute on Sunday and will not be at the civic service on Friday, but local clergy say they will now attend both.

A number of the Omagh relatives including Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was killed in the bomb, are unhappy with the council's handling of the creation of new memorials in the town.

There was contention over retaining the wording of a previous memorial stating that the victims were 'murdered by a dissident republican terrorist car bomb'.

This has now been inscribed on part of the new memorial following the recommendation of an independent team.

But the delay and public wrangling has annoyed Mr Gallagher and some other relatives.

They will not be present at Friday's civic ceremony when a new memorial and garden will be opened on the tenth anniversary of the attack.

Former Lebanon hostage Terry Waite will also give an address.

Meanwhile clergy from the town's main churches have agreed they will now attend both the council-organised service and the one on Sunday run by the Omagh support group.

Church leaders initially rejected an invitation from the victims' families who are organising it.

They had originally stated that they would only be attending a service organised by Omagh District Council on Friday, the date of the Real IRA bomb.

The family-run Omagh Support and Self Help group, which is organising the Sunday event, had heavily criticised the clergy for turning down its invite.

Representatives from the town's Presbyterian, Methodist, Church of Ireland and Catholic churches changed their stance after meeting last night to discuss the issue.

In lieu of the four clergymen, the support group had asked a British Army padre based at Ballykinlar, Co Down and an Omagh-born Catholic priest who now ministers in Wales to officiate at their service on Sunday.

The town's church leaders will now join them at the ceremony.

The families of some Omagh bomb victims have decided not to attend a ceremony next week to mark the 10th anniversary of the atrocity.

Many relatives of those who died in the 1998 attack are angry at the way Omagh District Council has organised the official anniversary event planned for next week.

They are also unhappy at how the council handled the contentious issue of the wording for new memorials erected at the bomb site on the town's Market Street and at a nearby garden of remembrance.

It is understood the families of at least ten of the 29 victims of the bombing will not attend the service next Friday.

Instead the relatives, the majority of whom belong to the Omagh Support and Self Help Group, are holding their own memorial event on Sunday.

Kevin Skelton, who lost his wife Philomena, said he would have no part of the council event.

'There's a whole range of issues I've got problems with,' he said.

'The whole wording issue and some of the politicians that are going to be there - I think they have (the council) have made a real mess of it altogether.

'They certainly didn't consult with us about the event.'

Members of the support group had demanded the retention of a phrase engraved on an original tribute stone, which has since been removed from the garden of remembrance, stating that the victims were 'murdered by a dissident republican terrorist car bomb.'

The council appointed an independent fact-finding team to try and resolve the issue and councillors unanimously accepted its recommendation to use the phrase on the walls of the garden of remembrance, but not on the glass obelisk at the bomb site.

Sinn Féin councillor and chairperson of Omagh council Martin McColgan said it was a pity some families had decided not to attend.

However, he defended the council's approach to the memorial issue. 'I would love to see everyone there on Friday,' Mr McColgan said.

'As a council we have tried to do our best to mark the anniversary.'

'I realise it's a sensitive time and different people will react differently.

'But I can't legislate for how some families are going to react, that is their prerogative.'

Ten years on from the bomb, those responsible have not been caught, with police on both sides of the border having been heavily criticised for their handling of the investigation.

Also:

A NOTORIOUS ETA terrorist who murdered 25 people in the 1980s has flown to Ireland after being released from a Spanish prison.

Jose Ignacio de Juana Chaos (below) jetted to Dublin on a Ryanair flight on August 3, the day after he was freed having served 21 years in jail. He has remained in Dublin since.

De Juana is expected to attend events organised by Sinn Fein, according to Spanish media reports.

De Juana was jailed for 3,000 years for 25 murders in 11 separate terrorist attacks.

Under Spain's penal code the maximum time he could have served was 30 years.

Two years ago, during one of de Juana's three hunger strikes while in prison, Sinn Fein appealed to the Spanish government for his "immediate release".

Last week, hundreds of his victims' relatives staged a protest in the Madrid square where he killed 12 Civil Guard officers in in 1986.

His release has been greeted with outrage across Spain -- fuelled by the fact that he will live on the same road in San Sebastian as the widows of three victims of ETA attacks.

Yesterday Sinn Fein said it had no comment to make.

On Their Backs to Reduce Cot Death Risk

By J. P. Anderson

A CORONER highlighted the importance of putting babies to sleep on their backs.
Cork’s city coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said it was vital that parents followed baby sleep guidelines to reduce the risk of cot death.
She made her comments at an inquest into the sudden death of five-month-old Elyssa McConville, at her home in Knocknaheeny, Cork.
Elyssa was found by her mother, Susan, lying face down in her cot just before 1am on April 24, 2007.

Despite mouth-to-mouth efforts by Ms McConville, and prolonged resuscitation attempts by ambulance staff and doctors at Cork’s Mercy University Hospital (MUH), Elyssa was pronounced dead.
Assistant state pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster described it as a case of sudden unexpected infant death. She could not class it as a cot death — or sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) — because of a number of complications.
The inquest heard that Elyssa was born eight weeks’ premature. She had been in hospital with bronchialitis, a severe chest infection, for 11 days just two weeks before her death, and was discharged with an inhaler to be taken three times daily.
Ms McConville told the inquest, on the night of her death Elyssa was still chesty, but had been feeding normally. She gave her the last dose of the inhaler and put her down in her cot to sleep at about 8pm.
Ms McConville said she placed her daughter lying on her left side and supported her back with a rolled up blanket. She told Dr Cullinane she thought it would help her breathing and that she had done it before.
However, at about 12.50am, she found Elyssa lying on her front. She was unresponsive and was pronounced dead later.
A post-mortem revealed low levels of paracetemol in Elyssa’s system, as well as traces of antihistamine found in medications like Dozol or Benylin.
Dr Bolster said while they could have interfered with Elyssa’s breathing, they were well below dangerous or fatal limits. The mild chest infection was not enough to cause the baby’s death. On the balance of probabilities, death was probably due to natural causes, she said.
Researcher’s estimate six out of 10 of all cot death cases in Europe could probably be attributed to laying babies on their front or side, rather than their backs.
Dr Cullinane described Elyssa’s death as a tragedy and offered her deepest sympathies to the family.

She said it is not recommended to use a towel or blanket to prop babies on their sides when they are sleeping. All the recommendations are that babies are left on their backs.
A verdict of death due to natural causes was recorded.
How to reduce the risk of cot death

Stop smoking during pregnancy.
Fathers should also stop.
Do not let anyone smoke in the same room as your baby.
Place your baby on its back to sleep.
Do not let your baby get too hot.
Keep your baby’s head uncovered.
Place your baby with its feet to the foot of the cot.
Preferably sleep your baby in a cot in your bedroom for the first six months.
Do not bed share if your baby is less than eight weeks.
Do not sleep with baby on sofas, armchairs, or settees.
If your baby is unwell, seek medical advice quickly.

Waterford Teenager Shot In Bitter Feud

By J. P. Anderson

A 14-year-old boy in Waterford has been involved in a shooting incident.

Gardai say they are still investigating the incident.

However it's understood a number of shots were fired at a house in the Ardmore Park estate at around 3pm.

The boy suffered gunshot wounds and was admitted to Waterford Regional Hospital but his condition is described as stable.

A burnt out vehicle was found three miles from the scene and gardai say they are investigating whether this is linked to the incident.

A PAINSTAKINGLY negotiated truce to a vicious feud between two families appeared to be in tatters last night after the brutal shooting of a teenage boy who was helping his mother unload her shopping.

The 14-year-old suffered multiple pellet wounds in the shooting which occurred at about 3pm as he was standing outside his home, at Ardmore Park, in Ballybeg, Waterford.

The boy suffered injuries to his chest, arm, neck and face after he was shot, from a distance, by what is suspected to have been a shotgun.

It was feared last night that, had the attackers been just a few metres closer, the shooting could have been fatal.

Neighbours said the boy was helping his mother by the front door of their home with several bags of shopping when he was struck by the pellets.

There was no warning before the shooting -- neighbours said they heard a loud blast and then the sound of screaming.

Children were playing on the roadside just metres from where the shooting occurred.

The attack is believed to have been carried out by three men who fled the scene in a maroon-coloured saloon car. A vehicle matching that description was found burned out in the Butlerstown area of Waterford shortly after 5 pm. It was last night being examined garda technical experts.

The boy remained in serious condition in Waterford Regional Hospital in Ardkeen last night, though his injuries are not understood to be life-threatening.

Gardai were last night investigating whether the teen was shot by mistake -- and that was not the intended target of the attack.

Officers are also probing whether the shooting is linked to the bitter feud between two Waterford-based families.

The feud has already resulted in a series of savage revenge attacks over the past few months, ranging from a hatchet assault to arson attacks on various homes.

There has also been a spate of malicious-damage attacks to property, as well as several shootings in both Waterford and Cork.

In one of the attacks, shots were fired at a house which had eight children inside at the time.

Deliberate

It was unclear last night whether the attack was a deliberate attempt by elements within one of the families to wreck painstaking mediation talks, organised by Gardai, aimed at ending the bitter feud.

The talks had been facilitated by Midleton gardai in Cork.

No-one has been seriously injured in suspected feud-related attacks to date, but gardai acknowledged that the Ardmore Park incident could be "a very worrying development."

Waterford Gardai last night appealed for witnesses to the shooting to contact them and stressed that all information will be dealt with in strictest confidence. Gardai also stressed that they are very interested in anyone who may have spotted three men acting suspicious in a maroon-coloured car -- or transferring from that type of car to another vehicle.

Basic NHS Care

By J. P. Anderson

People aged 50 and over, but especially the old and frail, are not receiving basic standards of healthcare, research has suggested.

Experts found shortfalls in the quality of care offered by the NHS and private providers to patients with conditions like osteoarthritis, incontinence and osteoporosis.

But they found that doctors paid particular attention to conditions where assessments earned them extra money, including heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Dr Nick Steel, senior lecturer in primary care at the University of East Anglia, who led the study, said: "One of the conditions that came out worst was osteoarthritis, where we asked people if they'd received basic advice such as doing exercises to control the condition, and whether they had effective pain relief.

"At the more severe end of the scale, for those with severe osteoarthritis, we asked if they had been given the opportunity to see a specialist to talk about joint replacement.

"There were also issues around whether elderly patients had been asked the reason for their falls. These types of areas did not fare so well in the study."

The research, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) found that the quality of healthcare for people with common health conditions "varied substantially by condition".

Scores on the quality of care ranged from 83% for heart disease to 29% for osteoarthritis.

Overall, only 62% of the care recommended for people aged 50 and over is actually received in England, the research found.

The study, which involved 8,688 people, examined 13 different health conditions including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, depression and osteoarthritis.

Dublin Heroin Haul

By J. P. Anderson

Four men have been arrested after 6kg of drugs worth €1.2m were seized in Dublin.

The men, all in their 20s, were arrested after four cars were stopped on the Kennelsfort Road in Palmerstown shortly after 9pm last night.

The drug is still being analysed but is believed to be heroin.

The seizure was made a search as part of an operation between the Garda Organised Crime Unit, the Garda National Drug Unit and the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

The men are being held at Clondalkin and Ballyfermot garda stations and can be detained for up to seven days.

Also:

The Director of Public Prosecutions has appealed a six year suspended sentence imposed earlier this summer on a 26-year-old man caught with the largest ever amount of heroin seized in Cork.

The DPP has lodged appeal papers with the Court of Criminal Appeal against what he believes to be the leniency of the sentence imposed on Brian Wall, Beech Tree Avenue, Shanakiel, Cork who was caught by gardaí with a total of €145,000 worth of heroin.

Wall pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court in June to a total of four charges relating to the seizure of heroin when he was stopped and arrested by gardaí at St Anne’s Hospital in Shanakiel on September 27th 2007.

Judge Patrick Moran noted that a probation report on Wall concluded he was at the lowest level of risk in terms of re-offending and he accepted that Wall was genuinely remorseful for the devastatation he had caused his family and his partner and their young child.

He also noted that one the charges to which Wall pleaded was Section 15A of the Misuse of Drugs Act where the Oireachtas had provided for a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years save for exceptional circumstances but he believed such circumstances did apply in this case.

“You’re a young man trying to get on with your life - I think you have learned your lesson from this episode,” said Judge Moran.

He sentenced Wall to six years but suspended him on condition that he be of good behaviour for a period of three years.

The court had heard how gardaí had arrested Wall and recovered a total of 726.99 grammes of heroin valued at €145,600.

Wall was working as a drugs store-man and delivery man and he told gardaí he had been given a kilo of heroin the previous week to deliver, and that he had already delivered three deals and was to be paid a total of €2,000.

The court heard that Wall, who was not a heroin addict, co-operated with gardaí from the outset but he stopped short of saying who gave him the drugs.

Wall told the court that he greatly regretted his involvement in the drugs business and said that he had injured his leg playing soccer which meant that he could not get bonuses at work and was trying to pay a mortgage on his new home from his basic earnings of €580 a month.

Breaking down in the witness box, Wall apologised to the court and his family for the shame he had brought them and he asked for a second chance. “If the court gives me a second chance, there is no way I will ever be in this situation again,” he said.

The traditional values of society are disappearing and are being replaced by a street-gang-sub-culture.

By J. P. Anderson

Young men are turning to a violent gang culture because of a lack of masculine role models and the decline of traditional male jobs, a Government minister has warned.

Skills Minister David Lammy said that with women increasingly supplanting men as the main earners, many young men saw criminality as a short cut to wealth and status.

Writing in the New Statesman, he said that among young men from poor backgrounds there was a new culture emerging of "get rich or die trying".

Among the causes, he pointed to the disappearance of traditional "images and expressions of masculinity", particularly in the workplace.

"When coal miners marched against the closure of the pits they were worried for their jobs, but also for their identity and way of life," he said.

"A model of work built on physical endeavour is slowly being replaced by an emphasis on intellectual and emotional labour.

"Women are beginning to break through the glass ceiling, displacing men as the principal earners for the first time."

In the absence of strong male role models to look up to, there was a temptation for young men and boys tended to turn to street gangs to make their mark.

"An aggressive street culture replaces success in other spheres of life as an expression of masculinity," he said.

"Young men become attached to gangs, which reinforce this subculture, rather than families or workplaces, which work against it."

(See previous related articles ref: delinquency on this page).

Minister Broadens College Fees Debate

By J. P. Anderson

THIRD-LEVEL EDUCATION: MINISTER FOR Education Batt O'Keeffe yesterday broadened the debate on funding for third-level institutions by suggesting industry and the private sector might become involved through the sponsorship of certain courses in order to provide them with graduates.

Mr O'Keeffe said he envisaged a broad debate on the issue of funding for the third-level sector, and in addition to looking at the possibility of reintroducing fees for the very wealthy, the issue of private-sector sponsorship of courses should also be looked at.

He would be putting together a group which would be asked to report in 18 months on the entire third-level sector and its performance in terms of achieving better social inclusion and developing links to meet the needs of industry.

"Fees are not the only issue - as part of the strategy we will also be looking at the Australian system of student loans and, in fact, maybe we would look at the private sector itself in terms of funding courses," said Mr O'Keeffe, speaking in Ballincollig, Co Cork.

"Perhaps colleges could look at themselves as part business as well as being part educational, and perhaps they can derive much more money from the private sector in terms of endowments for some courses and in terms of scholarship for some of their students."

However, Mr O'Keeffe was accused yesterday of using the third-level fees debate as a "calculated distraction" from the severe impact expenditure cuts would have on third-level education.

Marion Coy, chairwoman of Institutes of Technology Ireland, expressed concern that the cuts would have a disproportionate impact on undergraduates, in particular disadvantaged students.

THIRD-LEVEL colleges could be told to divert funding from administration back into teaching and student services following a spending review ordered by Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe.

Mr O’Keeffe has asked the State spending watchdog, Comptroller and Auditor General & John Buckley, to investigate if taxpayers are getting value for the €2 billion his department spends each year on third-level education.
The findings will form an integral part of the review of whether college fees, which cost the State €332 million annually, should be reintroduced. Mr O’Keeffe plans to have a number of institutions examined, to see that money is being directed at students, particularly those at risk of dropping out.

“In terms of value for money, I want to look at the whole lecturing profile, I want to make sure that the senior people in our universities, who are the most professional, have the greatest experience and who can make a valuable contribution to the students are actually in the classroom from time to time,” he said.
The Irish Federation of University Teachers (IFUT) said it hoped Mr O’Keeffe was referring to the disproportionate time academics have to spend on paperwork but said increased funding is needed, not another review.
“Every hour that academics spend on administration and seeking external research funding is an hour lost to teaching students. The core funding of universities is only rising 2.5% this year, but it should be going up at least 6% if we’re to provide the same services as last year,” said IFUT general secretary Mike Jennings.
Mr O’Keeffe said the spending review would inform a third-level strategy he expects to produce in about 18 months, to address how colleges are funded, including the question of fees.
As students and Labour Youth protested in Dublin against the return of tuition fees, the minister said those who got their Leaving Certificate results yesterday would not face such charges this autumn.
Mr O’Keeffe also defended the education system against criticisms about a further increase in failure rates in Leaving Certificate maths. He said the gradual roll-out of a new curriculum to schools from this year, which will be first examined in the 2012 Leaving Certificate, was better than taking drastic steps to address the crisis.
More than 55,500 students collected their results yesterday, and at least 42,000 of them will be hoping to be offered a place in college from the Central Applications Office next Monday.

EDUCATION Minister Batt O’Keeffe believes it is fair to consider the possibility of high-earning families paying for their children to attend college in order to help the less well-off achieve the same.
The minister suggested he had raised the question regarding the reintroduction of third-level fees as part of a national debate on the funding of higher education.
“I expected, in the early days of the debate, to have the usual opposition cries with no forethought and no rational arguments in terms of what we should plan ahead for,” Mr O’Keeffe said as he congratulated students collecting their Leaving Certificate results at Ballincollig Community School near his own home.

The minister, who is beginning work on the country’s first national strategy to determine how third-level education is delivered over the next 20 years, said funding has to be a feature of the considerations.
“I’m looking at a society now where there are no fees; a society where there are extremely high earners who are not contributing to students entering third level. I’m asking those people to play a part and I will be putting these sentiments to government,” he said.
The minister has rejected claims from higher education chiefs, who he will meet next month, that the sector has been under-funded in recent years, insisting instead that funding has increased by 25% since 2005 to €2 billion.
He has, however, recently ordered all colleges to cut their pay bills by 3% this year, although the details of where the cuts are to be made have not yet emerged.
“The taxpayer is contributing €332 million by way of tuition fees to third level and it behoves me to look at exactly how we’re going to move forward and fund it,” Mr O’Keeffe said.
The minister went on to defend his decision to ask the Comptroller and Auditor General to examine the value the State receives for the higher education budget, which will likely include close scrutiny of some colleges, the time spent by academics on teaching, and whether funds targeted at disadvantaged students are being spent appropriately.
“There has been a major improvement in the number of people in third level from the less well-off sectors of society, but I’m obviously not satisfied with that. I see the introduction of some form of fees in the future as helping me ensure a greater support service is available in those communities,” the minister said.
But the institute of technology sector described the fees debate started by Mr O’Keeffe as a calculated distraction from the severe impact on students of spending cuts he has directed.
“They will have a negative impact on the range and number of programmes available and we’re particularly concerned that they will have a disproportionate impact on undergraduate students, particularly the disadvantaged students who must be educated to the highest standards to drive change in our rapidly evolving open economy,” said Institutes of Technology Ireland chairwoman Marion Coy.
She added that the group’s dismay at the increase in student registration fees by €75 to €900 this year, claiming that 75% of the increase will be clawed back by the Department of Education.

STUDENTS facing an anxious wait for third-level offers will have the extra worry of whether or not they will have to pay college fees, it has been claimed.
The Labour Party spokesman on education, Ruairi Quinn, said the “threat of fees looms large” over those who received their Leaving Cert results yesterday.
“Most of those who got their results will now be awaiting CAO offers with some anxiety.
“Unfortunately this year the concerns of students and their families will be increased by the Government’s threat to reintroduce third-level fees,” he said.

Mr Quinn said he hopes nobody is deterred from entering third level by the plans being considered by Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe, to re-introduce fees for high-earning families.
“The best contribution he could make to ensuring that these students fulfil their full educational potential is to drop this crazy plan,” Mr Quinn said.
The youth branch of the Labour Party protested outside Department of Education offices in Dublin yesterday, along with Members of the Union of Students of Ireland (USI).
The USI is promising to step up its level of protesting over the issue with a number of demonstrations planned for the start of term in September.
USI president Shane Kelly said: “The Government have signalled their intent to pile even more financial burdens on students and their families.
“At a time of economic hardship this would be a misguided and callous move and will be heavily resisted by students and others.”