Other stories in brief.
Man dies in fire-lighting accident
A 25-year-old man died yesterday from injuries he received while lighting a fire at his home near Boherbue, north Cork. It was the second fire fatality in the county in 24 hours, writes Barry Roche, Southern Correspondent.
The man sustained extensive burn injuries at about 6pm when the fire blew up on him after he threw some petrol on it at the farmhouse which he was renting with his girlfriend at Ruhill.
The woman raised the alarm and contacted her partner's father. He got his son out of the house but the young man had suffered extensive injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene by a local doctor.
The woman was taken to Mallow General Hospital, where she was treated for shock.
Firefighters from Kanturk and Millstreet spent over an hour bringing the fire, which was confined to the livingroom, under control.
The man's younger brother died earlier this year, on May 1st, when he was hit by a car after he got out of a taxi near Rathmore, Co Kerry.
Earlier yesterday May Neville (56), of Mary Aikenhead Place, Gurranabraher, Cork, died when a fire broke out as she visited the home of a friend on Wednesday night.
The alarm was raised shortly before 10pm by a neighbour and local gardaí. Cork firefighters rescued her from the house but efforts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Man dies in car crash
One man was killed and four others were injured in a collision between two cars in Co Tipperary on Wednesday night.
The crash happened at Whitefield, Loughmore, Templemore, shortly after 10pm.
The 32-year-old driver of one of the cars was seriously injured and died in Nenagh General Hospital. Four others suffered minor injuries.
A total of 328 people have died on the roads this year, according to Garda statistics.
Man appears on murder charge
A man has appeared in court in Belfast accused of murdering a shop assistant who was found dead at her home last weekend.
Grace Moore (38) is understood to have been stabbed to death. Her body was discovered by a daughter at her house in Erris Grove, on west Belfast's Suffolk estate, on Saturday.
Christoph Aluya (23), of Church Road, Carlow, was remanded in custody until December 21st.
Derry priest on sex charges
A priest from the diocese of Derry appeared in court yesterday charged with six sex abuse offences. The priest, who cannot be named, is alleged to have committed the offences between August 1972 and November 1980.
He is charged with four counts of indecently assaulting a female, one of indecently assaulting a boy and one of committing an act of gross indecency towards the same boy.
He was remanded on his own bail of £500 until December 14th.
Ireland criticised on conservation
Ireland is falling behind the rest of Europe in implementing key nature conservation measures, according to a new report on global conservation from the World Wildlife Fund.
It said that while Ireland had taken important steps to implement European nature conservation legislation, the Government had failed to allocate sufficient resources for implementation.
In a statement last night An Taisce said the small increase announced for the Budget recently would do little to rectify "the huge shortfalls facing this area in the past decade and the quantity of catch-up to be done".