In Short

Other stories in brief.

Other stories in brief.

Three killed in separate road crashes

Three people have been killed in separate road crashes in Dublin, Louth and Kildare in the past 48 hours, bringing the number of deaths on Irish roads so far this year to 23.

A 29-year-old man died in a collision yesterday morning on the main N9 Dublin-Waterford road close to the Carlow-Kildare border.

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The car he was driving veered across the road and collided head on with an oncoming vehicle at Gorteen, Vacan, near Castledermot.

The man was the sole occupant of the car. A Garda spokesman said the driver of the second vehicle involved had sustained minor injuries.

Meanwhile, on Monday night, a man was killed in a single-vehicle incident in Santry, Dublin 9. The man, who was in his 50s, died when the car he was driving left the road and crashed into a tree on the Swords Road at around 8pm.

A teenage motorist also died on Monday night after his car crashed into a pier in Co Louth before landing on its roof. The 17-year-old youth's vehicle hit the quay and rolled over at Stameen, near Drogheda, at about 10pm.

Man critical after Dublin stabbing

A 27-year-old man was in a critical but stable condition in hospital yesterday after he received serious stab wounds during an altercation in Dublin 12 on Monday evening.

It is understood the man was injured when a dispute arose at approximately 7pm at Lissadel Green, Drimnagh.

A spokeswoman for the Garda press office said officers discovered the man with serious stab injuries after they arrived at the scene.

He was removed to St James's Hospital, where a spokeswoman said he was in a critical but stable condition yesterday.

Gardaí at Sundrive Road are investigating, and have appealed for anyone with information to contact them at 01-6666600.

Call for action on downloading

U2 manager Paul McGuinness has called for a permanent internet blackout for people who continue to illegally download music.

He said he hoped more countries adopted a radical French plan to disconnect the broadband account of those who were caught sharing music files.

"After two warnings . . . you'll be cut off and you'll be very unpopular with other members of your family because the other internet service suppliers will have your name and you'll be on a black list and you won't be able to get another account," he told the Eamon Keane radio programme on Newstalk yesterday.

"That's the French proposal and it's widely admired and we are hoping that it will be adopted in other countries," said Mr McGuinness.

'No more avenues' in murder hunt

Police have no more avenues to pursue in their hunt for the murderers of an alleged UVF leader eight years ago, a coroner in Belfast was told yesterday.

He was told there was nothing to further delay an inquest going ahead into the killing of Richard Jameson in Portadown, Co Armagh, in January 2000.

During a preliminary hearing chief Northern Ireland coroner John Leckey was told by a solicitor representing the PSNI that its murder review unit had performed a "skim" review of the case files.

"They are satisfied there are no avenues that need to be pursued."

The police were given until the end of February to go through 21 boxes of files on the murder to see if there was any sensitive information that the police might not wish to be released.

Mr Jameson (46), from Derrylettiff Road, Portadown, was shot dead in a gun attack outside his home. - (PA)