Court orders granted to continue detention of trawlers
The District Court at Midleton, Co Cork tonight granted an order for the continued detention of two British-registered fishing vessels, Wiron 5 and Wiron 6, for alleged breaches of fisheries legislation.
The factory trawlers were fishing for horse mackerel when they were detained last night, 30 miles west of the Blasket Islands off the Kerry coast.
Each trawler has a crew of 14 and the boats were boarded and detained by Naval Service personnel from the LE Samuel Beckett and inspectors from the Sea Fisheries Protection Authority.
Both trawlers were escorted to Cobh, Co Cork where they can now continue to be detained.
Four remanded over €1m Galway jewellery raid
Four Lithuanian men have been remanded in custody after being charged in connection with a raid on a jewellers shop in Galway yesterday.
Irmantas Paulauskas, Saulius Repecka and Erikas Matusevicius - aged 37, 36 and 35 respectively - and 28-year-old Vaidas Pinelis were brought before Galway District Court this afternoon.
The four have each been charged with one count of robbery in relation to the theft of jewellery worth over €1m from Hartmann's shop on William Street.
Bail applications on behalf of three of the men were refused. There was no application made on behalf of Saulius Repecka.
They were remanded in custody to appear before Harristown District Court tomorrow morning.
Gardaí probe fire at island café
Gardai in Donegal have travelled from the mainland to Tory Island to investigate a fire at the café on the island.
The building was significantly damaged in the blaze last night and gardaí from the divisional scenes of crime unit carried out a technical examination of the scene today.
Viable explosive device found in Co Leitrim
An Army Bomb Disposal Team made safe a viable Improvised Explosive Device in Drumshambo, Co Leitrim this evening.
The bomb disposal team from Athlone was called in after a suspect device was found on a grass verge on the approach to the town.
The scene near Drumshanbo has been partially preserved and diversions have now been lifted.
Galway post-mortem examinations inconclusive
The results of post-mortem examinations carried out on two bodies in Galway are inconclusive.
The remains of siblings Gavin and Tricia Ridgard were found on the ground floor of the terraced house they lived in at Coogan Park in the Newcastle area of the city yesterday afternoon.
Both the deceased were in their fifties.
Gardaí are not treating the deaths as suspicious.
Efforts to rezone land near Lucan refused
Efforts to rezone extra tracts of land near Lucan as part of the new development plan have been refused by South Dublin County Council.
Developers have been told that there is already enough land zoned for housing which will be prioritised for home building.
Two companies, Tierra Ltd and Bagnall Doyle McMahon, had made submissions to rezone agricultural land to the south and west of the Adamstown Strategic Development Zone.
Body of missing pensioner located
The body of an 81-year-old man who has been missing for six months.
Thomas Kennedy was last seen in the Virginia Park are of Finglas in Dublin on 29 July 2014.
A garda spokesperson confirmed this afternoon that Mr Kennedy’s body had been located.
More overcrowding in hospitals
Hospital overcrowding has increased again with 478 patients waiting today.
Beaumont Hospital in Dublin is worst affected, with 41 patients waiting on a trolley in the Emergency Department, or on a ward for admission to a bed.
Other hospitals with a large number of patients waiting are: Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda 36 and University Hospital Limerick 31. University Hospital Galway and Letterkenny General each have 30 patients waiting.
The figures are complied by the Irish Nurses and Midwives' Organisation.
Three winning tickets in $564.1m lottery draw
Three lucky ticket holders in North Carolina, Texas and Puerto Rico won the estimated $564.1m US Powerball lottery jackpot last night, according to the Powerball website.
The jackpot, which reached the half-billion dollar mark after rolling over for nearly three months, was the third-largest in the game's history and one of the largest lottery jackpots ever in the United States.
The three gamblers can select a lump-sum cash payout or opt to take annuity payments over 29 years, before taxes.
The winning numbers from the draw were 11, 13, 25, 39 and 54, lottery officials said, and the Powerball number was 19.
Inquest into Donegal fire opens
An inquest has opened into the deaths of sisters Anngeline (27) and Jolene Brogan (28) of Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
The sisters died in fire in a house at 8 Ceanann View Estate, Carnamuggagh, Letterkenny, on 3 January 2014.
Coroner John Cannon has just begun hearing evidence at the sitting in the Radisson Hotel Letterkenny.
Unemployment rises in Australia
Australia's unemployment rate jumped to a 12-year high of 6.4% in January, official data showed this morning.
Economists had been expecting a rise to 6.2% from December's 6.1% but with the number of people employed falling by 12,200 it was worse-than-expected.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said full-time employment dropped by 28,100 in January and part-time employment was up 15,900.
Indian PM 'appalled' by plan for temple in his honour
Fans of Narendra Modi have scrapped plans to open a temple in his honour after the Indian premier said he was "appalled" by the idea.
Modi supporters had invested thousands of dollars in the temple in his home state of Gujarat, which houses a large statue of the prime minister and was due to open on Sunday.
But they decided to rededicate the temple to "Mother India" after Mr Modi strongly criticised the plan, saying it went against the country's traditions.
"We had built the temple to express our love and faith in Modiji," project organiser Ramesh Udhad told AFP, using an Indian honorific to describe the prime minister. "But if he is unhappy or hurt by our gesture, we will remove his statue."
Vatican considers environmental think-tank
The Vatican is considering setting up an environmental think- tank, a spokesman has said, which could influence the opinion of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics on issues like climate change.
Father Federico Lombardi said the proposal was discussed at a closed-door meeting of 165 cardinals from around the world who are at the Vatican to deliberate a reform of the Church's central administration, known as the Curia.
Last month, Pope Francis said he believed man was primarily responsible for climate change and he hoped a UN summit in Paris in November, due to agree a global pact to limit greenhouse gases, would take a courageous stand.
