News from around the 32 counties of Ireland

What's going on in your home county in Ireland

DOWN

A Newry man has pleaded guilty to possessing an “arsenal of weaponry.”

Christopher McManus from Aileen Terrace, had been due to go on trial at Belfast Crown Court Wednesday, February 13, but instead, his lawyer requested that some of the charges be put to him again. McManus entered a guilty plea to six indictments: four firearms related and two terrorist-related charges.

The court heard the 56-year-old engineer plead guilty to possessing eight firearms, including one which was disguised as the removable handle of a walking cane.  He also admitted to having a rifle, component parts of weapons, seven magazines and various ammunition including armor-piercing and “dum-dum” bullets, all with intent to endanger life.
[Source: Examiner Newspaper]

DUBLIN

The constant jangling of wind chimes in a neighbor's back garden was described by an 83-year-old last Tuesday as a deliberate act of cruelty against her and her husband.

Mary McBride, of 40 Villa Park Gardens, Navan Road, Dublin, told Judge Alison Lindsay at the Circuit Civil Court that next door neighbors Michael and Marian Hanway, who live at Number 38, would deliberately hang out several wind chimes at a time.

"It was torture," she said.

Barrister Pat O'Brien, counsel for the McBrides, asked Judge Lindsay for maximum damages of $51,000 against the Hanways, who are demanding a similar amount of compensation for bad neighborliness.
[Source: Evening Herald]

FERMANAGH

A Fermanagh community organization will be able to carry out energy saving improvements to its venue and save money, thanks to a grants windfall from the Big Lottery Fund.

Colaghty Orange Lodge 365, Ederney has been awarded a grant of $76,067 from the Big Lottery Fund’s Energy Efficient Venues program towards improvements to their hall.

The group, which opened their hall in 1955, is in a rural area between Ederney and Lack and offers community activities, including bowls, social evenings and summer barbecues.
[Source: Fermanagh Herald]

GALWAY

A 42-year old accountant has gone on trial at Galway Circuit Criminal Court charged with sexually assaulting four schoolgirls over a 10-year period.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies 24 charges of sexual assault against the four girls, which are alleged to have taken place in a rural village between 1996 and 2006 when they were aged between five and 12 years of age.

Two of the victims, who are now aged 18 and 19 respectively, gave evidence on the first day of the trial last Wednesday.
[Source: Galway Bay FM]

KERRY

A county councilor has told how she was "emotionally bullied" in the lead-up to a vote on marriage rights for gays.

Labour's Gillian Wharton-Slattery had to switch off her phone on Sunday, February 17, because she "couldn't take" another call criticizing her support for same-sex couples.

Councilors in Kerry last Monday supported the married mother-of-two's motion by an 18 to seven majority, becoming the 14th local authority in the State to support same-sex marriages.
[Source: Irish Independent]

​
Nster.com