A roundup of today's other home news in brief
Former judge of Supreme Court Henry Barron dies
The death has taken place of former Supreme Court judge Henry Barron. He died in St Vincent’s Private Hospital yesterday after a short illness. He was 81.
During his career Mr Barron chaired an inquiry into the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings.
In 1997, he was the first judge in the State to grant a divorce after the 1995 referendum.
Mr Barron is survived by his children Jane, Harrie, Robert and Anne, two daughters- in-law, a son-in-law, and 10 grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife Rosalind 13 years ago. His funeral takes place in the Jewish cemetery, Dolphin’s Barn, at 12.15pm today.
Martin pleads for end to Gaza blockade
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin yesterday pleaded with Israel to end the blockade of Gaza and said Ireland would continue to speak out over the issue.
In his first trip to the territory, Mr Martin said the blockade was choking ordinary people and helping swell Hamas’s ranks. Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme Mr Martin said he would not be meeting with officials from the Hamas administration.
'Phoenix' fails to appear for sale
Phoenixmagazine failed to appear on the streets yesterday amid suggestions that it had been pulled for legal reasons.
The magazine, which featured Déirdre De Búrca and Trevor Sargent on the cover, had articles about John and Richard Bruton and Wax Museum owner Paddy Dunning, among others.
Phoenixeditor Paddy Prendeville refused to be drawn on whether it had been pulled or if so why.
Independent cinemas say viability at risk
Independent cinemas have warned that their viability is being threatened as a result of proposed changes in the system of paying royalties to the Irish Music Rights Organisation (Imro).
Imro is seeking to replace a tiered system of royalty payments with a 1 per cent levy on the gross box-office takings of every cinema in the country.
Currently cinemas in towns of fewer than 15,000 inhabitants pay a fee of €425 a screen per annum. Cinemas in bigger urban centres with four screens or fewer pay 0.6 per cent of gross box-office takings. Bigger multiplexes pay 1.5 per cent.
Imro is also proposing to backdate the payments for five years from when the measure was originally proposed.
Smaller cinema operators who attended a meeting hosted by Imro in Dublin yesterday said the proposal amounted in some cases to a five- to seven-fold increase on their existing royalties payments.
Martin pleads for end to Gaza blockade
Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin yesterday pleaded with Israel to end the blockade of Gaza and said Ireland would continue to speak out over the issue.
In his first trip to the territory, Mr Martin said the blockade was choking ordinary people and helping swell Hamas’s ranks. Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland programme Mr Martin said he would not be meeting with officials from the Hamas administration.