Other stories in brief.
Shannon new Adoption Board chief
Family law expert Geoffrey Shannon has been appointed as the new chairman of the Adoption Board.
A solicitor and senior lecturer in family law at the Law Society of Ireland, Mr Shannon is an adviser to the Department of Health and Children on future developments in adoption legislation. He was also a member of the Adoption Board.
Ambassadors present letters
The ambassadors of Hungary, Korea and France presented their letters of credence to President Mary McAleese at Áras an Uachtaráin yesterday.
Ferenc Jári, ambassador of the Republic of Hungary, was accompanied by his wife Melinda Jári and children and Robert Csillik, counsellor.
Taeyong Cho, ambassador of the Republic of Korea, was accompanied by Jae Chel Cho, counsellor.
Yvon Roé d'Albert, ambassador of France, was accompanied by his wife Ms Marie-Claude Roé d'Albert and Louis de Corail, counsellor.
Businessman jailed for contempt
Controversial Athlone businessman Noel O'Gara is currently serving a prison sentence in England for contempt of court, The Irish Timeshas learned.
O'Gara, who was at the centre of attempts to turn Dartmouth Square in Dublin into a car park last summer, was arrested on September 7th after taking a photograph of a detective in the foyer of Bradford court in Leeds.
The detective was in court for the bail application of Ronald Castree, the alleged killer of Lesley Molseed, murdered in 1975.
O'Gara (62) maintained the murder was carried out by Peter Sutcliffe, "the Yorkshire Ripper". He also maintained that Sutcliffe was responsible for only four of the 13 "Ripper" murders. He said he knew who the real "Ripper" was and where he is now, and has written a book about it.
In a letter from prison to The Irish TimesO'Gara said he was trying to tell the detective this information, but the detective would not speak to him.
He was arrested for contempt after he took a photograph of the detective.
Wrixon selected for docklands post
Former president of University College Cork, Prof Gerry Wrixon has been selected by the Government to head up a national body charged with progressing the €2 billion development of the Cork Docklands, writes Barry Roche.
Prof Wrixon, who retired as president of UCC earlier this year, will be chairman of the Docklands National Steering Forum which will be officially established by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern next month.
EU science prize for Dublin student
A Dublin student and young scientist winner has claimed a top prize at the EU's Contest for Young Scientists. Abdusalam Abubakar (16) received one of three first prizes and a cheque for €5,000 at the event in Valencia, Spain.
Abdusalam, who is from Somalia, has been living in Dublin for the past two years. He won first place in last January's BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition at the RDS with an extremely complex mathematics project aimed at defeating bank encryption systems. Abdusalam attended Synge Street CBS when he originally worked on the project and has since moved to St Benildus in Kilmacud, Dublin.
17,000 get points for mobile phone use
More than 17,000 motorists have received penalty points for using mobile phones when driving since it was made an offence last September.
Figures released by the Department of Transport show an average of 1,400 drivers have been caught using their mobile while driving every month.