Today's Irish News

A PLAN to reform the system of unvouched and untaxed expenses paid to TDs and Senators has been under discussion by the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission for the past two years, but, to date, there has been no agreement on a new and more transparent scheme.

Taking sides: Dublin fundraiser unites Clinton and Obama supporters on Independence Day

A FORMER Las Vegas poker dealer accused of conspiracy to murder a Clare woman's partner and his two sons is a "patsy" the prosecution is using to secure the conviction of his co-accused, a jury at the Central Criminal Court has heard.

After more than seven weeks of evidence there is a sense of relief as the case nears its end, writes

AIB MOVED to reassure customers concerned about privacy yesterday after old files were found at a former landfill site in Co Cork, saying that most of the material recovered was shredded or illegible upon recovery.

Bang in the middle of a washed-out summer city, how could it be? But there it was - Ireland's first urban beach, writes

RELATIVES OF Andrew Hanlon, the young Irishman shot dead by an Oregon police officer this week, have said that wounds in his body showed he had been shot at least seven times.

MINISTER FOR Transport Noel Dempsey has again ruled out any financial support for hauliers in difficulty due to rising fuel costs. Mr Dempsey instead suggested they might impose a fuel surcharge similar to that employed by airlines.

AS EMPLOYERS, unions and the Government prepare to engage in intensive bilateral talks over the next fortnight in a bid to determine whether a new social partnership deal can be agreed, the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions warned yesterday that inflation could reach 6.5 per cent by next January.

A SOLICITOR acting for residents of the Cork Harbour area has expressed concern about the focus of a report commissioned by the Department of the Environment into the remediation of the former Irish Steel plant at Haulbowline Island.

REGULATIONS GOVERNING the use of agricultural vehicles on public roads are likely to become more stringent after the Road Safety Authority (RSA) expressed concerns about the practice.

THE FORMER foreign policy adviser to US presidential candidate Barack Obama was married yesterday at a small church on the Ring of Kerry near Waterville.

'Eat up you Greens', is the chant as the party goes on a black-tie fundraising drive. Meanwhile, Bertie goes in for self-promotion, while everyone gets into a flap over opening hours. A quiet week, writes

ARTHUR SPRING, the nephew of the former tánaiste and Labour leader Dick Spring, has put his name forward for nomination as a Labour Party candidate in European elections in the South constituency which will be held in June of next year.

ORDERS FOR home repossessions more than doubled in the first half of this year on the back of increasing mortgage interest rates, Labour finance spokeswoman Joan Burton has said.

THERE ARE fears for the future of more than 80 jobs at a Shannon-based company, just days after another local firm confirmed it will lay off a third of its workforce before the end of October.

MINISTER FOR the Environment John Gormley has supported a French plan that could enable member states such as Ireland to establish themselves as GMO free zones in the EU.

THE COUNTRY?S three main overseas aid agencies have appealed to the Government to refrain from cutting the development budget for the Third World as part of any programme of cost-saving measures.

GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING the shooting of a man in Dundalk, Co Louth, yesterday are considering the possibility that the attack may have been a case of mistaken identity.

A man in his 20s was taken to hospital suffering gunshot wounds after an attack in north Dublin last night.

IARNRÓD ÉIREANN has defended increases of up to 66 per cent in the price of first-class upgrades on its Dublin-Cork services, writes Paul Cullen.

FINE GAEL spokesman on health Dr James Reilly expressed his shock and disappointment yesterday after he was refused a meeting with the chief executive of the Mercy University Hospital, Cork, during a fact-finding trip.

Pharmacists have said that a comment from a European commissioner indicates that the Government can negotiate on fees with their representative body under current competition law ? contrary to the view of the Health Service Executive and the Department of Health.

A HIGH Court judge has said reasonable people are ?entitled to feel alarmed? about a large increase in the number of pistols licensed for private use in Ireland in recent years.

ACCORDING TO figures provided by the Department of Justice, some 305 gun licences were granted in a 12-month period to mid-2005. This increased almost six-fold to 1,787 in the corresponding period ending in 2008.

THE SUPREME Court has reserved judgment on an application by a newspaper group to stop businessman Dermot Desmond pursuing a libel action against it over articles published 10 years ago. Mr Desmond issued proceedings in 1998 against Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) alleging he was defamed in two articles published in the Irish Mirror on January 8th and January 9th, 1998.

THE HIGH Court has ruled that An Bord Pleanála fell into legal error in the way it decided the expansion of a Roadstone quarry at Rockbig, southeast of Arklow, amounted to a material change in use of the lands.

Other court news in brief

THE FIRST ?legacy inquest? dealing with controversial deaths from the Troubles in Northern Ireland ended in Derry yesterday with the jury unanimously finding that the British army was responsible for the death of a rioter in Derry almost 12 years ago.

ORANGEMEN IN Portadown have again been denied permission to complete their annual Drumcree church parade tomorrow by parading along the nationalist Garvaghy Road in the town.