Yousef Palani: Massive cash find sparked fears Sligo murders were terror-related
Anti-terrorism gardaí worked with overseas security agencies to determine if Yousef Palani, who was on Monday sentenced to life for the murder of two gay men, was engaged in terrorism.
The presence of €350,000 in cash in two suitcases in Palani’s home in Sligo town raised fears he had been paid by an Islamic terrorism group to carry out the attacks.
However, gardaí concluded there were no outside groups or individuals involved in the attack. A sentencing hearing at the Central Criminal Court on Monday heard gardaí did not believe Palani was “radicalised despite some suggestions to the contrary”.
Top News Stories
- Analysis: Why did Yousef Palani go on a murderous rampage targeting gay men?: Eighteen months after being nearly killed in a knife attack by Yousef Palani, Anthony Burke looks physically fine. Doctors were unable to save his eye and he will require more surgeries in the coming years. But the prosthetic they fitted looks realistic enough and he has been able to return to work as a bartender and hotel porter.
- Integration challenges will ‘potentially grow’, Ministers warned, amid migrant housing issues: Ministers have been warned that challenges with integration arising from the migrant accommodation crisis are likely to continue and potentially grow.
- Dublin woman fired by Israeli company over anti-Israel social media posts: A woman has been fired from the Irish office of an Israeli tech company over social media posts where she described Israel as a “terrorist state” in recent days.
- Brexit reveals hazard of tight referendum majorities, says EU-exit campaigner: A united Ireland referendum should require the support of a super-majority of voters in Northern Ireland and the Republic, Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker has recommended, citing lessons from the United Kingdom’s Brexit referendum.
- ‘Savings and efficiencies’ needed in health budget, senior officials acknowledge: “Savings and efficiencies”, including restrictions on recruitment, overtime and the use of agency workers, will be required to control the health budget, top civil servant Robert Watt will tell TDs and senators on Tuesday morning.
- Garda Commissioner loses appeal requiring him to provide former garda with information about social media posts: The Garda Commissioner has lost an appeal against a decision that he should hand over certain information in his possession relating to alleged defamatory posts about an officer on WhatsApp and Facebook.
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- Ireland’s weather today: Mist and fog patches will clear this morning and there will be a mix of bright or sunny spells and scattered showers for the rest of the day, with some heavy showers possible. The best of the sunny spells will develop in the evening. Highest temperatures of 11 to 14 degrees in near calm conditions.
Israel-Hamas conflict
- Israel-Hamas war live updates: Biden urges Netanyahu to maintain ‘urgently needed’ aid to Gaza Strip: Former US president Barack Obama said Israel’s siege and bombardment of Gaza following the Hamas attack on October 7th risks backfiring and ultimately undermining long-term efforts to achieve peace and stability in the region.
- Two Israeli hostages released as efforts intensify to free people held by Hamas: Hamas has released two elderly Israeli women who were seized on October 7th when some 2,000 gunmen stormed across the Gaza-Israel border, killing about 1,400 people and abducting more than 200.
- Macron to push for humanitarian truce during Israel visit as troops prepare to move in to Gaza: French president Emmanuel Macron flies to Israel on Tuesday at a delicate juncture of its conflict with Hamas, coming with proposals and pushing for a humanitarian truce despite a looming ground offensive into Gaza.
The best from Opinion
- Ireland is weirdly entwined with the idea of a Jewish homeland, but not in the way many imagine: Israel and Palestine are now used as proxies for our own tribes. The game seems easy: the Palestinians are the Catholic Irish; the Israelis are the Protestant settlers. If you don’t know this already, the flags and murals on the Falls and Shankill roads will identify the tribal affiliations for you, writes Fintan O’Toole.
News from around the World
- Trump promises to stay above fray as Republicans seek his support in vote for Speaker: Only Jesus Christ could secure sufficient support from Republican members of the House of Representatives to be elected as the new Speaker, former US president Donald Trump has suggested.
- Alaska Airlines flight diverts after off-duty pilot attempts to disable engines: An Alaska Airlines flight bound for San Francisco was diverted to Portland, Oregon, after an off-duty pilot inside the flight deck attempted to disable the aircraft engines.
The Big Read
- Renters, homeowners, landlords: Who did best out of Budget 2024?: With housing still the single biggest issue among voters, this month’s budget sought to ease the burden for renters, homeowners and landlords alike. But who did best? Pearse Doherty, Sinn Féin spokesman on finance, was clear that the budget favoured those renting out properties.
Culture and Life & Style highlights
- Iris DeMent on recording In Spite of Ourselves: ‘I’d open my mouth and nothing would come out’: Iris DeMent is feeling the strain of living in a divided country. “Worried, sick worried. And I don’t use that word lightly,” she says. “It’s a constant battle not to succumb to illness from it. And that’s why I put this album out. It was medicine for me. And I figured if it helped me it might help somebody else. I’m daily thinking about how to stay afloat, worrying about what could be coming next. I’m 62. You know we’ll ride it out, do what we can, but these are dark days.”
Today's Business
- Medtronic to manufacture new blood pressure tools in Ireland: Medtronic hopes a new treatment for high blood pressure, developed in part in Ireland, will become a new global standard of care.
- Irish Rail to hire 100 drivers: Irish Rail is seeking 100 train drivers as it expands its fleet on the back of efforts to boost public transport.
Top Sports news
- Gerry Thornley: With so much on the line, did England’s punishment fit the crime?: Into the 76th minute of a World Cup semi-final, a scrum just inside the English halfway line goes down for a second time and has to be reset. Referee Ben O’Keeffe, conscious that this re-setting is running down time, has the match clock stopped.
- Jamie Finn tells of her shock and disappointment at World Cup omission: Jamie Finn rejects the assumption that a loss of form precipitated her omission from the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup squad.
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Sir, – What a relief it is to know that we will no longer have to hold referendums in Ireland and that we can dispense with citizens’ assemblies. If we need to know the will of the Irish people on any subject, we simply have to ask President Michael D Higgins. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL TYNDALL, Sutton, Dublin 13.
Video & Podcast Highlights
Review of the day
- Tremor by Teju Cole: A good novel shouldn’t have a point. And this is a good novel: Tremor is Teju Cole’s third novel, the first in 12 years following his best-known work, Open City, in 2011 and Every Day Is for the Thief, a hybrid work of travelogue, fiction and photography published in Nigeria in 2007 and updated and republished worldwide in 2014.
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