In Short

Other stories in brief.

Other stories in brief.

Jet makes forced landing at Shannon

A transatlantic jet was forced to divert and make an emergency landing at Shannon airport yesterday morning after the pilot reported smoke and a smell of burning in the cockpit. The Continental Airlines flight from Cologne, Germany to Newark, New Jersey, was just off the south coast of Ireland when the captain sought permission to land.

The Boeing 757, with 167 passengers and crew, had to dump several thousand litres of aviation fuel over the Atlantic to reduce stress on the wings during landing and the risk of fire in the event of a crash.

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Following an initial inspection the aircraft was escorted to the terminal building where passengers were disembarked. It is thought that smoke was emitted from a power unit in the cockpit.

The aircraft remained at Shannon overnight as engineers continued to assess the problem. The passengers were accommodated in local hotels and it was expected the aircraft would continue its journey this morning .

Residents to fight Roadstone quarry

Residents of Islandeady, Co Mayo have pledged to fight a renewed attempt by Roadstone Provinces Limited for a controversial limestone quarry on a 69.96 hectare (172 acre) site roughly halfway between Castlebar and Westport.

The project has already been refused twice by An Bord Pleanála - after initially being approved by Mayo County Council - following objections from residents on environmental and traffic reasons.

New proposals by the company involve the construction of 1,700 metres of access road to the extraction site from the N5 roadway.

Locals say up to 300 heavy lorries per day on an already busy N5 would be unacceptable.

Road crash victims named

The man killed in a road collision in Stradone, Cavan, on September 9th was named by gardaí yesterday as Raymond Kearns (27), of Stradone.

Gardaí named the man killed in a road collision in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim on September 11th as Zbigniew Zeranski (44), from Carrick-on-Shannon.

Crowley clan meets in Cork

The meeting of the Crowley clan in Clonakilty, Co Cork, over the weekend may not have eclipsed the record breaking numbers at the recent Gallagher event but the 230 who came from as far away as New Zealand, Australia and the US enjoyed a weekend of road bowling, fine dining and song, writes Olivia Kelleher.

180 people bearing the family name Crowley came from overseas and joined 50 Irish Crowleys including Munster MEP Brian Crowley and Cork county councillor Danny Crowley.

They were given a rundown of a Crowley DNA project in the US followed by the history of the Crowley clan. The three-day event ended yesterday.

Treasurer of the Crowley Clan, Flor Crowley said the event is organised on a three yearly basis to attract as large a crowd as possible.

Shots fired at Cork halting site

Investigations were continuing in Cork yesterday after shots were fired at an unofficial halting site at Knocknaheeny with one narrowly missing a child. The incident took place at around 7am on Saturday.

President visits Channel Islands

President Mary McAleese became the first serving Irish president to visit the Channel Islands when she made a State visit to Jersey and Guernsey at the weekend.

Mrs McAleese met the lieutenant governor of Jersey, Andrew Ridgway, and members of the Irish community at a number of engagements in Jersey before continuing to Guernsey, where she marked the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Guernsey Gaels GAA Club.

In Jersey, the President highlighted the links between Ireland and the Channel Islands at a dinner hosted by the bailiff of Jersey, Sir Philip Bailhache.

About 8,000 of the 88,000 population of Jersey is said to be of Irish descent.

She said that the British-Irish Council had drawn Ireland and the two islands into "ever closer connectedness and communication" .

"It is wonderful to see officials from Ireland and Jersey work together on matters of common interest covering a broad range of issues, from drugs to the knowledge economy to transport linkages," Mrs McAleese said.

The President's trip to Guernsey included a visit to the Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, which was built mainly by Irish workers in the 1800s.

Four killed on the North's roads

Four people, including a teenager and an eight-year-old girl, were killed in separate incidents on the North's roads over the weekend, the PSNI said.

The first incident happened at about 12.45am on Saturday, when a 14-year-old girl was knocked down while walking along Finaghy Road South in Belfast. A man was arrested in connection with her death. The girl was named as Adele Whiteside from Finagh. She was a student at Dunmurry High School.

At about 10.45am, Adam Armstrong (78) was killed in a two-vehicle crash at Kesh, Co Fermanagh. His wife was taken to hospital in a critical condition.

Police in Enniskillen are appealing for witnesses.

The eight-year-old girl was killed and three other people injured on Saturday afternoon in what police described as a very serious crash near Coleraine, Co Derry. The girl's mother remains in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

A 20-year-old woman and a two-year-old child are also being treated, but their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.

A man (60) died later after a crash between a car and a motorbike at Ballymoney, on the main Belfast to Coleraine Road. - (PA)

Delay to report on consultants' talks

An independent assessment on whether a deal on a new contract for hospital consultants can be reached between health service management and medical organisations is unlikely to be available until the middle of the week, writes Martin Wall, Industry Correspondent.

The independent chairman of the current talks process, Mark Connaughton, SC, told the parties over the weekend he was awaiting clarification from management on a number of issues. Yesterday marked the deadline set by the Government for the completion of his report on whether he believed the basis for a deal existed.