A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Luas services disrupted as car collides with tram
Luas services on the red line were disrupted yesterday following a collision involving a car and a tram in Dublin.
The incident occurred at Blackhall Place shortly before 10am. A spokeswoman for Luas operator Veolia Transport said the collision was weather related and a car rolled into the approaching tram.
She said services were only disrupted for about 15 minutes and that trams had to run in two loops while the incident was dealt with: one between the Tallaght and Blackhorse stops and another between the Smithfield and Point Depot stops.
The tram driver, a passenger and the motorist were taken to hospital for precautionary reasons but did not sustain serious injuries. It was the second collision involving a tram and a car at Blackhall Place in the last four days.
Ireland.com winner flies home
Ann Walsh got a special Christmas surprise yesterday morning when she was told her daughter Anita was being flown home from San Francisco, free of charge, for the holidays.
Ms Walsh’s best friend, Karen Walsh, had entered an ireland.com competition to fly one person home for Christmas.
Her heartfelt appeal via a YouTube video was declared the winner and it bought Ms Walsh a ticket home to spend Christmas with her family in Celbridge instead of the San Francisco hostel she had planned on.
Man (76) dies in Galway house fire
Gardaí in Galway are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of an elderly man in a house fire.
The 76-year-old man, who is believed to be from the city, died early yesterday after a fire broke out at his home in the eastern suburb of Ballybane. His body was found in the living room of his bungalow at Clareview Park.
Gardaí in Mill Street conducted forensic examinations of the scene yesterday, and said the fire was not being treated as suspicious, based on initial indications.
McAleese praises Samaritans' work
President Mary McAleese yesterday thanked Samaritan volunteers for listening to and even saving the lives of people who call them, writes Kitty Holland.
“I don’t know if any of the people who call you come back to say ‘thank you’. But on behalf of those who don’t, I’m saying it.
“I want to thank you all for your remarkable sense of generosity, for your deep practical sense of responsibility, for your listening and for being present in a very important and meaningful way.
Mrs McAleese was visiting, at her own request, the Dublin branch of the Samaritans where she heard there had been a 6 per cent increase in the number of calls to the organisation in the twelve months to October 2010.
Eileen Foley, director of the Dublin branch, said Christmas could be a particularly poignant and “overwhelmingly lonely” time for people.
“There are an awful lot of people alone on Christmas day. We get very busy over Christmas. A lot of people find it just very difficult. There is a huge emotional play on people at this time of year.”