A round-up of today's other stories in brief.
Guilty plea in assault case on girl (4)
A 69-year-old man pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl at her home when he appeared in Kilkenny Circuit Court yesterday.
The Kilkenny man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted the offence which took place in April 2003 during a family party at the victim's home.
The man is a relative of the family. A victim impact statement heard that the girl, who is now seven, is doing well in school but gets upset, nervous and tense when she sees her attacker in the local town.
Judge Olive Buttimer adjourned the case until April to allow for a risk assessment report to be carried out.
14th offence for Renards owner
Renards nightclub owner Robbie Fox, who told a court he had to stay open after hours to survive in business, was told by a judge yesterday that he was showing "utter contempt" for the law.
Mr Fox pleaded guilty to his 14th after-hours offence after gardaí visited his South Frederick Street, Dublin, premises last May and found people drinking and music playing at 3.30am.
Dublin District Court heard eight of his 13 convictions for similar offences had been in the last three years when licensing laws were relaxed to allow pubs to open later.
Mr Fox told the court he had to do it to stay in business. "It's a case of trying to survive," he said.
The judge adjourned the case until March 28th for sentence.
Events of fatal crash examined
A pensioner, killed when his bicycle went under the wheels of an articulated lorry, could have been trying to overtake the truck when the collision occurred, the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard.
Sgt Colm Finn, a forensic accident investigator from the Garda Traffic Division, agreed with Giollaiosa Ó Lideadha SC, defending, that there were a number of scenarios that could have led to the fatal crash from the evidence at the scene.
Michael Dunne (43), Spratstown, Ballytore, Co Kildare denies dangerous driving at Grand Canal Place, Dublin on December 30th, 2004 causing the death of 72-year-old John Hughes.
Gardaí await drugs analysis
Gardaí are still awaiting analysis of drugs allegedly found on Darren Gilligan, a court heard yesterday.
Mr Gilligan (30), Weston Green, Lucan, Dublin, is charged with possession of cocaine for supply on November 11th last at Parslickstown Walk, Mulhuddart.
Dublin District Court heard yesterday that gardaí were awaiting a certificate of analysis which will allow the DPP to decide whether the case should be tried in a lower or higher court.
The judge remanded him on continuing bail to appear again on February 21st.
Dive teams to search two trawlers
Naval and Garda dive teams will carry out searches today of two trawlers off the southeast coast in the hope of recovering the bodies of seven fishermen lost when the boats sank over a fortnight ago, writes Barry Roche, in Dunmore East.
A Garda dive team yesterday confirmed the location of the Kinsale-based trawler, the Honeydew II some 3.6 miles southeast of Ram's Head between Ardmore and Dungarvan in Co Waterford.
Fáilte Ireland dispute settled
An industrial dispute at Fáilte Ireland ended yesterday when Siptu members voted to accept a deal brokered through the Labour Relations Commission, writes Alison Healy.
Some 71 members voted in favour of the deal with five against. They will return to work this morning. The deal addressed issues such as flexitime and work space.
Agriculture plan gets EU funding
€2.1 billion of the €8.7 billion package for the agriculture and food sector in the National Development Plan will come from EU funds, the Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, said yesterday, writes Seán MacConnell.
She said it was an "unprecedented investment in Irish agriculture" that would enhance the rural environment, increase on-farm investment and secure farmer incomes.
LRC move to avert port strike
The Dublin Port Company and the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union (TEEU) have been invited to attend talks with the Labour Relations Commission today in an attempt to avoid a strike at the port next week.
The dispute concerns what the TEEU says is the company's "unilateral" decision to deploy maintenance staff on tug boats for "familiarisation and retraining" purposes.
It says nine shift employees have so far been suspended without pay for refusing to deploy on the tugs.
Armed hold-up at building society
Gardaí last night appealed for witnesses to an armed robbery at a building society in Naas, Co Kildare in which an undisclosed sum of money was taken, writes John Downes.
A spokesman said a lone raider armed with what appeared to be a gun entered the building society on Popular Square, Naas, at 5pm. He threatened staff and made off on foot.
Crashes cause rush-hour delays
Motorists travelling on the M50 during the evening rush-hour yesterday experienced serious delays following a number of crashes, according to AA Roadwatch.
It said three crashes on the northbound stretch of the motorway between Ballinteer and Firhouse had been moved to the side of the road.
However, there were long delays from the Bray exit on the M11 to the Firhouse exit on the M50.
Monaghan crash kills man in 40s
A man in his 40s died yesterday when the car he was driving hit a fence.
The crash happened at 6.15pm yesterday at Golan, Tydavnet, Co Monaghan.
The name of the man had not been released last night.