A roundup of today's other home news in brief
Haulage contractor restrained from blocking Roadstone plants
A haulage contractor was last night restrained by the High Court from continuing blockages today at two Roadstone plants in Co Galway.
Barrister Roddy Horan, counsel for Roadstone Wood Ltd, told Mr Justice Seán Ryan the unlawful obstructions had been placed by haulier John Kenny in a row over haulage rates.
Mr Horan told the court that Mr Kenny, Church View, Menlough, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, had been employed as a driver but had bought his own trucks to carry out haulage for Roadstone. As a result of a breakdown in negotiations over haulage rates he had blocked access to Roadstone plants at Two Mile Ditch, Tuam Road, Co Galway, and Kilchreest, Co Galway. The temporary injunctions will remain in place up to Friday when the matter again comes before the court.
Gormley's waste plan criticised
Poolbeg incinerator developers Covanta last night criticised the type of waste treatment preferred by the Minister for the Environment John Gormley.
In a statement Covanta said that reliance on mechanical biological treatment as a primary means of waste disposal would be an "unreliable solution".
On Monday Mr Gormley said the programme for government stated mechanical biological waste treatment was the preferred form of waste treatment.
However Covanta said the Poolbeg energy-from-waste project continued to be the best option . Covanta did not refer to the decision by Dublin City Council this week to extend its contract.
Army called to defuse grenade
Army bomb disposal experts were called to Clonliffe College, Dublin, yesterday after a grenade was found in the grounds of the church-run institution.
The grenade was found in a sock at the base of a tree in the grounds of the college on Clonliffe Road, Drumcondra.
The Army bomb disposal team arrived on site at about 2pm after a Garda request. The area was declared safe about one hour later.
The grenade contained no explosive material and was found to be completely empty. It is unclear whether it was left there for a sinister purpose.
Clonliffe College was once a seminary for the Dublin archdiocese, but is now used for a variety of religious courses and conferences.
File on Bantry drugs seizure for DPP
Gardaí in west Cork are to prepare a file for the DPP after releasing without charge two people arrested for questioning about a €64,000 drugs seizure near Bantry, Co Cork.
Officers made the discovery when they searched farm buildings in Kealkill on Monday night and found 5kg of cannabis resin worth €60,000 and cannabis plants worth €4,500.
Detectives questioned a woman in her 50s and her son under drug-trafficking legislation at Bantry Garda station.
Aer Lingus sees 9.4% fall off in passenger numbers
The number of passengers travelling with Aer Lingus in the first eight months of this year declined by 9.4 per cent to 6.6 million, according to statistics released yesterday.
This reflects a reduction in capacity on both the airlines short-haul flights and transatlantic routes, and the effects of the recession and the volcanic ash crisis on customer demand. In August, Aer Lingus carried just more than one million passengers, a decline of 7.1 per cent.
The number of seats filled on each aircraft declined on short-haul routes but increased on its flights to the United States. The load factor in August for short haul was 83.8 per cent compared with 85 per cent a year ago. On transatlantic routes, however, the load factor was 89.9 per cent, up 10 percentage points on a year earlier.
€500m returned in illegal charges
The cost of repaying tens of thousands of older people and their families who were illegally charged for public nursing-home beds has now reached nearly €500 million, it has emerged.
The annual report of the Department of Health says that total expenditure on the scheme up until the end of last year was €447 million.
The annual report says that €80 million in funding was provided last year.
The 2009 annual report of the department states that in that year, 2,853 repayments were completed at a cost of €76 million.
Gardaí find bullets in Border search
Gardaí have found ammunition and electrical components that could be used in bomb making after searching a field near the Donegal-Derry border,
writes Conor Lally.
The find was made in a remote area near Killea and Bridgend, on the southern side of the Border.
About 70 rounds of assorted ammunition and electrical components were found in two barrels on farmland. The area was sealed off on Monday evening after a tip-off. Gardaí believe the haul had been left at the site relatively recently.
Unions to stage protest outside Dáil
Trade unions are expected to stage a protest at Leinster House later this month as part of a Europe-wide day of action over austerity measures. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions decided yesterday that it would take part in the day of protest being organised by the umbrella body for European trade unions, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) for September 29th. Sources said last night that there would almost certainly be a "visible protest" at Leinster House to welcome back Government TDs to the new Dáil session.