Gardaí, students clash in Dublin

Updated: 17:39, Wednesday, 3 November 2010

Student leaders have condemned the action of protestors who clashed with gardaí after a protest against plans to increase registration fees for third level students.

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  Dublin - Protestor taken away by gardaí
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  Dublin - Student leaders condemn clashes
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  Protest - Violence broke out between gardaí and students
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  Dublin - Violence after fees protest
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  Dublin - Students gathered at Parnell Square earlier
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  Merrion Row - Students and gardaí clash (Credit: @donnchadholeary via Twitter)
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  Kildare Street - Violent scenes followed a peaceful USI protest

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• Student union warning over fee hike fear
• Registration fee hike for third level expected

Student leaders have condemned the action of protestors who clashed with gardaí after a protest against plans to increase registration fees for third level students.

There was disruption in the city centre this afternoon after protests outside the Department of Finance on Merrion Street and the Dáil on Kildare Street.

Three gardaí have received medical attention after being injured by objects thrown by protestors.

Gardaí say that a number of people were arrested.

Union of Students of Ireland President Gary Redmond said he is saddened by the actions of a minority of protestors in Dublin city centre today.

Mr Redmond said the occupation of the Department of Finance by a number of protestors is not representative of the USI.

He said that many of the clashes with gardaí occurred during the USI address of protestors on Merrion Square.

Gary Redmond said the actions of protestors engaged in a sit-down protest outside Leinster House is also not condoned by the USI.

A garda spokesperson said 50 people entered the lobby of the Department of Finance on Merrion Row but were removed a short time later by gardaí.

Meanwhile, the Socialist Workers Party has accused gardaí of assaulting some of their members and other protestors.

Spokesperson Karl Gill, a student at University College Dublin, said gardaí had aggravated a peaceful sit-in at the Department of Finance this afternoon.

Mr Gill said a small number of protestors who had occupied the Department were forcibly removed by gardaí.

He also alleged that one protestor had his head stamped on by a garda member and he says another female protestor was 'attacked' by a garda dog.

Mr Gill says six arrests have been made which the Socialist Workers Party is claiming were unlawful.

USI march

The violent scenes followed a peaceful USI protest against plans to increase registration fees.

Thousands of students this afternoon marched to Merrion Square, where they were addressed by student leaders.

The union said any attempt to impose cuts on students will meet with strong opposition.

USI says thousands of students will be forced to drop-out of college if the registration fee rises again.

The latest speculation is that the charge will rise from its current level of €1,500 to €2,500.

The last big student march was in 2008 when 15,000 people took to the streets.

Protestors have now dispersed and streets in the city centre have re-opened.

'All areas considered for reductions'

The Taoiseach refused to be drawn in the Dáil this morning on whether third-level fees would be introduced or capitation fees increased in the forthcoming Budget.

He also rounded on the Labour Party decision to abolish third-level fees, branding it 'not very socially progressive'.

Brian Cowen said it was imperative that all areas would be considered for reductions and no area could be ringfenced or immune to cuts.

The Taoiseach said he could not divulge what was being discussed at Cabinet but no decisions had yet been taken. A good discussion was ongoing in relation to such matters, he added.

The Taoiseach was responding to Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore who said the revised Programme for Government had committed not to increase student contributions.

Mr Gilmore said the revised programme was produced in an economic environment that was not radically different from now.

He said it did not make sense to put more obstacles in the way of young people continuing education.

Mr Cowen accused the Labour Party of abolishing third-level fees for all in an attempt to hold onto its middle-class vote.

The Cabinet is considering other education cuts too, among them, Department of Education sources say class size at primary and second-level is likely to be increased

Agony of the little boy who hasn't eaten anything in FOUR years

By RICHARD ASHMORE
Last updated at 3:03 PM on 3rd November 2010

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A little boy has become so frightened of food and drink he hasn't eaten anything for four years.

Daniel Harrison's problem began when he suffered a severe case of acid reflux as a baby.

Because the four-year-old also suffers from autism, the memory of that painful time has stopped him from eating anything solid since.

Daniel's phobia means the only way he can get nutrition is through a tube in his stomach.

Battler: Daniel Harrison' calm demeanor hides a struggle for survival living with a rare condition that prevents himself from eating or drinking

His parents, Kevin and Catherine, regularly shell out for costly trips to London's world famous Great Ormond Street Hospital from their home in Carlton, Nottingham, in a bid to find a solution.

But experts have found no way to help Daniel.

Now, in what father Kevin describes as his 'only hope', the family are determined to raise the £20,000 needed to fund a trip to a unique clinic in Austria which might be able to solve Daniel's difficult case.

Daniel has had numerous medical procedures and operations to try and correct his condition medically but with no success.

And in November 2009 he bravely fought off swine flu which developed into pneumonia and a collapsed lung.

Boots manager Kevin, 41, said his dream was to see his boy eat like any other little boy and that it would mean everything to the family.

He said: 'As a dad sitting with my boy at a table with all his feeding tubes and machines I know what it feels like to have people looking at him.

'Catherine and I worry about what would happen if something happened to us, we want Daniel to be able to eat and feed himself.

Happy family: Daniel Harrison's with his parents Kevin and Catherine and his elder sister Hannah

'The strain on Hannah is enormous also, to see your brother starving himself would be traumatic at any age, but she has been wonderful and is a credit to her brother

'There is nothing medically stopping our son from eating, it is in his mind, but there has been nobody yet that has managed to help him overcome that.

'The doctors at Great Ormond Street have been great, but even they don't know what to do with Daniel.

University Hospital, Graz, Austria where the Harrison family hope Daniel will be able to overcome his fear of eating and drinking

'Our only chance is to take him to University Hospital in Graz, Austria, as they are the only people who say they have treated a condition like Daniel's successfully.

'The problem is Daniel's case is so rare, even in Graz they have only seen and cured 12 youngsters and that is over 22 years.'

Using a technique not practiced in the UK the Austrian model uses a variety of in-house techniques to make a youngster realise they need and want food.

But for Kevin and his house letting manager wife Catherine, 37, their goal of helping their son is still far away as they have been told they will get no NHS help to send him abroad.

Kevin added: 'Daniel is a great little boy and his autism can be managed, but how is he meant to function in adulthood without being able to eat.

'Our local Public Health Trust (PCT) have refused to offer us any funding and even for things like help with travel costs we have been told we can't get help because we are working.

'Both Catherine and I have to take time off to take Daniel for treatment and we simply can't afford the huge cost it would take to get him to the clinic.

'There is a practical side to Daniel's condition as well, any outing is difficult to organise as we have to take lots of equipment. Our last holiday took six months to organise.

'It is also not fair for Daniel because taking his food through a tube means he has to sit still so we have to strap him down. If he could eat things would be different.

Darkest day as beautiful light Leana mourned

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Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern arrives for Leana Martin's removal yesterday

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Tuesday November 02 2010

A DRIVING rain and gusting wind had battered Cork all day. But the elements had subsided and it was still, dark and bleak as the Martin family carried the small white coffin of seven-year-old Leana, youngest child and little sister, into Our Lady of Lourdes church in Ballinlough yesterday evening.

Leana, daughter of Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin and his wife Mary, died in a London hospital on Friday after the hitherto healthy little girl had contracted a cardiac condition which had suddenly developed over the past fortnight.

And so last night her parents and three surviving siblings, Micheal Aodh (16), Aoibhe (14) and Cillian (10), placed on the altar close to her coffin several framed collages of photographs taken during her short life.

It was the longest of days for her heartbroken family. Around 2.30pm yesterday, streams of people defied the grim weather to gather at O'Connor's Funeral Home in Temple Hill to offer their condolences to the grieving family.

For almost four hours, Micheal and his family received a long line of friends, relatives, colleagues and neighbours, including a troop of Leana's former classmates, some of whom arrived with hand-drawn pictures of their friend.

Some of them were upset, others were just too young to understand the enormity of the loss.

A cabinet meeting which had been scheduled for yesterday afternoon was postponed until this evening to allow Mr Martin's political colleagues to travel to Cork. Former Defence Minister Willie O'Dea was among the first to arrive, followed by junior ministers Peter Power, Billy Kelleher and Dick Roche; Finance Minister Brian Lenihan; Transport Minister Noel Dempsey; former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern; MEP Brian Crowley and government chief whip John Curran. Also there were local Cork TDs: Fianna Fail's Ned O'Keeffe; Noel O'Flynn; Michael Ahern; Michael McGrath and Michael Moynihan; Fine Gael's Simon Coveney and Deirdre Clune; and Mr Martin's former cabinet colleague John O'Donoghue.

Just before 5.30pm, Taois-each Brian Cowen arrived accompanied by his wife Mary. The couple spent some time with the family before travelling on to the church.

And more cabinet colleagues joined the Taoiseach at the short removal service, including Green ministers John Gormley and Eamon Ryan; Justice Minister Dermot Ahern; Finance Minister Brian Lenihan; Health Minister Mary Harney;Attorney General Paul Gallagher and junior ministers Barry Andrews and Sean Haughey.

Also in attendance were Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Michael O'Connell, GAA president Christy Cooney and former Cork GAA managers Billy Morgan, Larry Tompkins and John Allen, former Cork senior football star Colin Corkery, and former Irish international and Munster rugby hooker Frankie Sheahan.

There was total silence in the packed church as the Martin family carried Leana down the aisle, sorrow etched on their faces.

Unbearable

For they have been through this unbearable ceremony before; 10 years ago they lost a baby son Ruairi when he died at the age of five weeks.

Before beginning the brief service, Canon Jim O'Donovan offered his sympathies to the Martins, describing Leana as "a gorgeous child, a lovely child, a loving child", before he spoke of the "happiness and joy she brought to your lives".

And the lovingly compiled collage of photographs showed a lovely little girl with a gorgeous smile, so evidently as the Martins said in their statement last Friday, the "beautiful light in our lives".

Outside the church, one family friend described Leana as "the apple of her father's eye".

The funeral will take place today at 11.30am, and will be attended by President Mary McAleese who last week described Leana's death as "an unbearable loss" for the family

Flying the Pope to Ireland my proudest moment, says pilot

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Pope John Paull II thanking Capt McKeown as he leaves the aircraft

By Louise Hogan

Monday November 01 2010

He whisked Taoisigh and Hollywood sirens around the world but Captain Thomas McKeown's proudest moment as a pilot was bringing Pope John Paul II to Ireland.

Yesterday, Capt McKeown celebrated his 90th birthday, the latest highlight in a glittering life and career.

Many of the old photographs from his time in the cockpit were dusted down.

They show Capt McKeown, the former Aer Lingus chief training captain, flying key figures such as former Taoisigh Jack Lynch and Eamon de Valera, Archbishop of Dublin John Charles McQuaid and actresses Maureen O'Hara and Grace Kelly.

But it is the memory of commanding the papal flight from Rome to Dublin on September 29, 1979, that stands out -- just a month before he retired.

"As I approached the Phoenix Park, you could see the crowds," Capt McKeown said yesterday.

"It was a beautiful morning and the Pope could look out and see the huge number of people who had gathered to see him, and I think he was really pleased about this."

During the flight from Italy, in the comfort of his private cabin, Pope John Paul II dined at a table adorned with freshly-cut red roses where he enjoyed a plate of pudding and grilled tomato served up on Galway bone china.

After breakfast, the Pontiff then entered the cockpit and briefly chatted with Capt McKeown and the rest of the crew.

A report from that historic day in 1979 recalls "thousands of faithful waving white handkerchiefs" as the shamrock green and blue jumbo jet dropped to 2,500ft and flew over the packed Phoenix Park where a million people waited for the Pontiff to arrive to say Mass.

During his career as a 747 captain, Capt McKeown crossed the Atlantic more than 1,000 times.

The Dublin-born pilot learnt his trade after being accepted as a cadet into the Air Corps in the late 1930s.

"Seven years as a military pilot, a period of tremendous excitement covering the war years," he said.

"The flying standards were very exacting and thorough in an atmosphere of great espirit de corps. We flew a great variety of aircraft types ranging from Army Air Corps Hawker Hector up to the Hawker Hurricane Fighters, frontline aircraft in the early years of World War Two.

"We had many different military duties, including cutting turf in Doonbeg, Co Clare, in the early 1940s. We were prepared and trained to defend our neutrality. It is deplorable that the military aircraft were not preserved for further generations to see, because they were certainly milestones in the history of our State."

He went on to join fledgling airline Aer Lingus in May 1945.

"My first flight as a captain had such esteemed passengers as Eamon de Valera and Henry Ford," he recalled.

Capt McKeown worked with St Vincent de Paul after he reluctantly retired in 1979 from the airline as was mandatory before he turned 60.

Yesterday, family and friends helped celebrate his birthday at Roganstown Hotel, near Swords in north Dublin.

Harney anger over red paint protest

Monday, 1 November 2010

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Health Minister Mary Harney TP after she was pelted with red paint in Ballyfermot during a protest at health cuts

Health Minister Mary Harney has branded a protest unlawful after red paint was poured over her by an angry councillor.

Ms Harney condemned the actions of elected politician Louise Minihan as not legitimate and an unacceptable form of protest against budget cuts.

The TD was splattered across her neck, hands and clothes as she began the turning-of-the-sod at a new mental health facility in west Dublin.

Despite the paint attack, Ms Harney continued to mark the start of work at the new Ballyfermot Primary Care and Mental Health Centre, next to Cherry Orchard Hospital.

"I find that very intriguing that somebody who's an elected politician representing the people would be involved in a protest that I believe, and so many other people believe, is not legitimate," the minister later said.

Ms Minihan, a Dublin City councillor with left-wing republican group Eirigi, was arrested by gardai on suspicion of assault and questioned at Ballyfermot Garda Station for around an hour. A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

She later attempted to defend her actions - stating she poured diluted red paint over the Minister to symbolise the blood Government had on its hands.

"In one month's time the Government will introduce what can only be described as a blood budget," said Ms Minihan.

"The cutbacks in healthcare that will be contained in that budget will result in the unnecessary and avoidable deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of people over the coming years."

About 20 protesters had been locked outside the gates of the site when Ms Harney arrived - with councillor Minihan among the local representatives who greeted the minister inside

Body of drowned fisherman found

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A semi-retired fisherman has been found drowned off north Donegal as the search for his missing nephew was called off

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A semi-retired fisherman has been found drowned off north Donegal as the search for his missing nephew was called off.

The body of Edward "Liza" Doherty, 65, was recovered while the Coast Guard said efforts to find Robert "Jackie" McLaughlin, 41, would begin again at first light.

Both men were from the Malin area and had been on the crab boat The Jennifer which appeared to capsize.

Wreckage of the small vessel was found less than a mile offshore from Glengad with ropes, pots and cables badly tangled.

The uncle and nephew, both experienced at fishing for crab and lobster and trawling, had worked together for the last couple of years.

Charlie O'Donnell, of the Malin Head Fishermen's Co-Op, said the pair had gone out in the morning to check pots a short distance from shore.

"Eddie had sort of retired from fishing - it was more of a hobby, more of a pastime," he said.

"The normal thing would have been for him to fish from June to September. He would normally be finished by now."

Mr Doherty, a married man with several grown-up children, had a bigger boat that another skipper was fishing for him out of Glengad.

Mr McLaughlin, a single man, had joined him on the small crab vessel over the last few seasons