Sunday Independent (Ireland)

5/19/2013: Front Page: Support for suicide abortion down: Poll

A SLIM majority (53 per cent) finds abortion acceptable in cases of a threat of suicide — down five points in three months, according to the latest Sunday Independent/ Millward Brown opinion poll. The nationwide poll also finds strong support for...

5/19/2013: Front Page: Shatter refuses to quit in ‘breach of trust' row

JUSTICE Minister Alan Shatter, under fire for his use of private and privileged garda information in an attempt to damage independent TD Mick Wallace, has tried to laugh off suggestions that he should resign. “Is that a joke?” Mr Shatter said...

5/19/2013: Front Page: One in seven people on the dole has never worked a single day

ONE in every seven people on the dole have never worked a single day in their lives, ”disturbingly shocking” figures released to the Sunday Independent reveal. The number of people confined to the ‘dole for life' is highlighted in figures released by...

5/19/2013: Front Page: Donal parents overwhelmed by response

THE parents of Donal Walsh, who was hailed an inspiration after his four-year-battle with cancer, have said they were overwhelmed by the nation's response to his death last week. In their first interview since Donal died last Sunday, Elma and Fionnbar...

5/19/2013: Front Page: FOR DONAL WALSH

“When they go, everything goes the earth, the firmament and love stays, where nothing is, and seeks”

5/19/2013: Front Page: POLL RESULTS & ANALYSIS,

PAGES 20 & 21

5/19/2013: Front Page: ANALYSIS

PAGES 5, 23 & 32

5/19/2013: News: A-G'S office forwarded letter sent in confidence

EARLIER this year, the Attorney-General's office promised one of the garda whistleblowers in writing that any correspondence received from him would be “handled in strict confidence”. Yet the Attorney-General's office later informed the man that a...

5/19/2013: News: Shatter meets widow of slain garda Adrian

THE Minster for Justice Alan Shatter yesterday met the widow of Detective Sergeant Adrian Donohoe for the first time since the slain garda's funeral. But there was a distinctly cool atmosphere between members of the force and Mr Shatter as Caroline...

5/19/2013: News: Man who falsely accused Louis of groping him arrested outside nightclub

INTERACTIVE MAGAZINE THE man who falsely accused Louis Walsh of groping him has been arrested again. Leonard Watters, 25, a father of two from Co Meath, was arrested for public-order offences outside the Palace nightclub in Navan last week. Sources...

5/19/2013: News: Priest leaves more than €2m in his will

DUBLIN priest Canon Paddy Battelle has left over €2m in his will. Fr Battelle, of Grange Road, Rathfarnham, Dublin, was PP in Ballinteer, Co Dublin. Fr Battelle, who owned property in Cahore, Co Wexford, died on January 29, 2012, at the age of 80,...

5/19/2013: News: TDS away on business deducted €60

TDs and senators who mark themselves present in the Dail when they are away on business have €60 deducted from their foreign travel claims, according to the Oireachtas head of communications Mark Mulqueen. Referring to what he described as “the...

5/19/2013: News: No winner of €5.7m Lotto jackpot

THERE was no winner of last night's €5,745,481 Lotto jackpot. The numbers were 3, 6, 10, 30, 37, 45 (bonus 32). There was also no Match 5+bonus winners, but there were 40 Match 5 winners who each get €1,866; 106 Match 4+bonus (€177); 2,159 Match 4s...

5/19/2013: News: Funeral for man found in slurry tank

THE funeral of Bobby Ryan, 52, whose body was found in a disused slurry tank at a Tipperary farm almost two years after he went missing, will take place tomorrow. Mr Ryan was reported missing on June 3, 2011, after he left the farm outside Tipperary...

5/19/2013: News: ASTI executive decides to enter talks

THE executive of the secondary teachers' union ASTI yesterday decided to enter talks with the Labour Relations Commission (LRC) along with the INTO and the TUI. The ASTI is balloting members on whether to take industrial action if Government cuts pay...

5/19/2013: News: Woman released after accident probe

GARDAI have released a woman after questioning her about a fatal hit-and-run in Ennis, Co Clare, in which a 38-year-old father of an 18-month-old child was killed. Thomas Nowakoski was knocked down and killed only 100 yards from his home in the...

5/19/2013: News: Air ambulance marks 100th mission

IRISH air ambulance service, AeroMedevac Ireland, has completed its 100th retrieval mission since it was set up in December 2010. Since then they have supported the safe repatriation of patients ranging from babies to a 99-yearold. It has brought...

5/19/2013: News: No Seanad discussion for Convention

THE Constitutional Convention yesterday voted against discussing the Seanad's abolition, despite the Government's intention to hold a referendum on the matter this autumn. The convention, which met in Malahide yesterday, voted by 57 per cent not to...

5/19/2013: News: Martin's tribute to late father-in-law

FIANNA FAIL leader Micheal Martin has paid tribute to his father-in-law, Tony O'Shea, who has died. Mr O'Shea, from Midleton, was in his 80s. A draper and community activist linked to the East Cork Development Association, he is survived by his wife...

5/19/2013: News: RTE bosses face grilling over high pay

RTE chiefs will be grilled next week by the Oireachtas Communications Committee over top presenters' fat-cat salaries. RTE's top earners have had cuts of up to 30 per cent on their boom-time wages. A committee source said “political concern remains...

5/19/2013: News: Jurys Inn reports profit rise of €3m

JURYS INN has reported profits of €3.1m for last year. The group, which owns hotels in Ireland and across Europe, lost €429m in 2011 but said trading conditions improved in the past 12 months. However, figures for the last quarter indicated that the...

5/19/2013: News: Family Day at Dublin's Iveagh Gardens

FAMILY DAY will be celebrated today with a free festival in Dublin's Iveagh Gardens from 11am to 5pm with a programme of games, arts workshops and entertainment.

5/19/2013: News: Rosanna's old prep school facing uncertain future as debts pile up

THE former preparatory school of former Miss World Rosanna Davison and her father Chris De Burgh, the oldest in the country, is beset by financial difficulties amid fears about its future, the Sunday Independent has learnt. The Aravon School, which...

5/19/2013: News: TDS angry at ‘attempts to buy peace with unions'

SIGNIFICANT anger and concern among Fine Gael backbenchers has emerged over the Government's ongoing attempts to “buy industrial peace at all costs” with trade unions. The news comes as it can be revealed that any union signing up to the revised deal...

5/19/2013: News: Ritz-carlton granted trespass order in feud over luxury suite

THE international owners of the five-star Ritz-Carlton Hotel at Powerscourt, Co Wicklow, obtained a High Court order last week barring the owner of one of its suites from occupying it. In affidavits lodged in the High Court last week it was claimed...

5/19/2013: News: Nigerians send nearly €500m a year home from Ireland

NIGERIAN migrants here are now sending nearly half-abillion euro back home each year. World Bank figures reveal that €468m in ‘remittances' was sent from Ireland to Nigeria in 2011. That's an average of more than €26,000 for each of the 17,642...

5/19/2013: News: Dowling centre-stage for the final time as he's laid to rest in US

in MASSACHUSETTS FEWER tears were shed than laughter shared as family and friends gathered to remember Vincent Dowling during a service held on Friday in his adopted home in the United States where he was remembered as obsessive, curious, an Irish...

5/19/2013: News: A pattern emerges in the Government's war on gadflies

WHEN you see a pattern emerging, it may be nothing more than that. But it usually deserves further study. When Alan Shatter causally divulged information about Mick Wallace that could only have come from a garda source, it seemed a familiar tactic....

5/19/2013: News: €80m Brian Boru blockbuster will ‘showcase' Ireland to world

THE biggest movie ever made on Irish shores is to begin filming here next year. Boru — the big-budget biopic of Brian Boru — is due to get the sign-off for funding of €80m in the coming weeks. The movie has been hailed as a massive coup for the...

5/19/2013: News: State faces being sued if IBRC fails to pay debts

THE CEO of a leading German-based investment fund has warned that his company may sue the State should the IBRC fail to honour its commitment to repay millions of euro owed to its subordinated bondholders. Dr Wolfgang Klopfer, of Munich-based Xaia...

5/19/2013: News: Ulster's Dunne battle ‘lacks sense'

AN ATTEMPT by Ulster Bank to intervene in the US bankruptcy proceedings of former ‘ Baron of Ballsbridge' Sean Dunne with a request for parallel proceedings here in Ireland has been described as both “vindictive” and “lacking in commercial...

5/19/2013: News: Tragic Jade, who suffered ‘devastating permanent injuries' as a baby, leaves behind estate worth €5m

A 12-YEAR-OLD girl who suffered “devastating and permanent injuries” as a baby has left almost €5m, according to documents lodged in the Probate Office last week. Tragic Jade Keane-Henderson was awarded €4.75m in a negligence case taken against the...

5/19/2013: News: Irish grads sting UK for college fees

IRISH students who studied in the UK and who have failed to repay more than €4.3m in student loans are to be tracked down by private investigators hired by the British government, the Sunday Independent can reveal. Authorities have confirmed that...

5/19/2013: News: Finance chief gets key economic data at the local Spar

THE Department of Finance Secretary General John Moran has revealed that when it comes to taking the pulse of the real economy, he likes to hear from taxi drivers and the people at his local Spar shop, believing their views to be better “leading...

5/19/2013: News: More shops forced to shut doors as town struggles in face of recession

IT WAS a neighbourhood cafe, bakery and cakeshop named after a U2 song, but after three years in business The Sweetest Thing closed its doors for the last time yesterday. The closure of the bakehouse and deli doesn't just rob Marine Road of the...

5/19/2013: News: Senator fury at RTE over Lowry tapes radio report

FIANNA Fail senator Diarmuid Wilson will be making a complaint to RTE over an “innuendo-laden” item on last Sunday's This Week radio programme dealing with the existence of a tangential “business connection” between him and Lowry tapes whistleblower...

5/19/2013: News: African gangs use ‘front' businesses to sell ‘meth'

AFRICAN gangs using front businesses as bases in innercity Dublin are the main suppliers to the city's growing market for the highly addictive substance methamphetamine, known as crystal meth. The drug has taken serious hold in recent months, gardai...

5/19/2013: News: Judge causes consternation by working too hard

ANOTHER row over the judiciary's work rate has erupted — but this one is over a judge working too hard. Judge Mary Ellen Ring, who was recently appointed to the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, has caused problems for civil servants, prison officers and...

5/19/2013: News: Openness alone is not enough to rebuild the trust

LAST Thursday morning, speaking at a breakfast conference in Dublin's swanky Four Seasons Hotel, the country's top civil servant charged with reforming the system delivered a devastating yet refreshingly honest critique of how the public service has...

5/19/2013: News: Pilot debt scheme will keep borrowers on never-never

I N refusing to participate in a new Central Bank scheme for borrowers, the credit unions are taking a leadership role long vacated by politicians. Last week, the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) took a stand. They refused to participate in a...

5/19/2013: News: Homeowners are stuck in a medieval morality play

‘RESTAURANTS?” said young James, incredulously. “I haven't eaten in a restaurant in years!” This, he said, was in answer to the tut-tutting banker's voice on the other end of the line, who was disputing his need for €10 a day to spend on food. James...

5/19/2013: Analysis: Penalty-points investigation can't be left to the gardai themselves

THE full internal garda report into the penalty-points scandal has not been published. Large appendices to the report, giving details of what internal garda investigators say they found, have been withheld. These are relevant to assessing the...

5/19/2013: Analysis: Garda and PSNI to link systems

THE Garda and PSNI computerised licence-plate recognition systems are being linked together as part of the massive security exercise surrounding the G8 meeting of world leaders in Fermanagh next month. Joining the “automated number plate recognition”...

5/19/2013: Analysis: King of cafe society Giorgio may have lost his palace, but he'll reign again

AT 5pm on Thursday, Dublin's ‘king of cafe society' Giorgio Casari was a king without a kingdom when the Unicorn — the restaurant he had run since 1994 — closed abruptly. In January 2012, Giorgio was effectively served with an eviction notice by...

5/19/2013: Analysis: Business ‘should give more'

THE Taoiseach's election strategist, Frank Flannery, has urged Ireland's leading businesspeople to loosen their purse strings when it comes to charitable donations. Mr Flannery is spearheading preparations for a “national giving” campaign under a...

5/19/2013: Analysis: The twist of fate that links Richard Boyd Barrett and Fr Michael Cleary

IN The Importance Of Being Earnest Jack Worthing, abandoned at a railway station as a baby, belatedly ‘acquires' the requisite pedigree when Lady Bracknell discovers his true origins. Richard Boyd Barrett already came from a respectable family, but...

5/19/2013: People: It's just like old times as banks act the goat

SO the banks are lobbying Michael Noonan to reduce the interest rates on State Savings. They are claiming that the relatively high rates available to those who put their money in the old Post Office are distorting the market. That the banks, with all...

5/19/2013: People: Anger as gay porn incident cleric is made parish priest

A CLERIC who accidentally showed gay porn to parents of schoolchildren in the North has been appointed parish priest of Clogherhead. The appointment, which was made without any warning to parishioners, has brought complaints from angry parents in the...

5/19/2013: Worldwide: Like a faded film star, Cannes loses some of its allure

WHEN Carey Mulligan ditched the Tiffany spangles and Prada sequins of her screen role in The Great Gatsby in favour of a baggy jumper and the dingy folk music venues of the new Coen brothers film, Inside Llewyn Davis, it seemed like a comment on this...

5/19/2013: Worldwide: Knickers to nauseating niceties: we're ditching decorum and getting real

PERHAPS it started with Bridesmaids, maybe it continued with Girls. But something has changed among women recently. It's in the way they address each other collectively, and the things they are now prepared to say. It was crystallised in a moment at...

5/19/2013: Worldwide: Al-qaeda plunders Syria's oilfields

AL-QAEDA'S Syrian wing is financing its activities by selling oil from the fields that once helped to prop up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Up to 380,000 barrels of crude oil were previously produced for the regime by wells around the city...

5/19/2013: Worldwide: Regional accents are for the birds

BIRDS boast a colourful array of regional accents. In Britain, the public are being urged to record birdsong on mobile phones, in an attempt to document the vast range of avian dialects. Ornithologists want people to focus on the yellowhammer, which...

5/19/2013: Worldwide: Obama threat to go rogue and speak out

PRESIDENT Obama apparently has his own Hollywoodinspired aspirations. According to a nugget buried in a New York Times story on Thursday, Obama has been telling aides that he is tempted to pull a “Bulworth” — that is to make like Warren Beatty's...

5/19/2013: Worldwide: Afghanistan's hardline religious heads block legislation for women's rights

CONSERVATIVE religious politicians in Afghanistan yesterday blocked legislation aimed at strengthening provisions for women's freedoms, arguing that parts of it violate Islamic principles and encourage disobedience. The fierce opposition highlights...

5/19/2013: Worldwide: Support for Britain's UKIP growing

SUPPORT for the UK Independence Party has reached a record 19 per cent, according to a poll which saw both Labour and the Tories losing ground. Labour was down three points to 35 per cent, the Conservatives down one to 29 per cent and the Liberal...

5/19/2013: Worldwide: Four killed in Iraq sectarian attack

SUSPECTED Sunni Muslim militants killed four state-backed Sunni fighters in Iraq yesterday, apparently viewing them as collaborators with the Shi'ite-led government of a nation plagued by sectarian hatred. Sunni-Shi'ite tensions in Iraq have been...

5/19/2013: Worldwide: Italians protest against austerity

THOUSANDS of people protested in Rome yesterday against austerity policies and high unemployment, urging new prime minister Enrico Letta to focus on creating jobs to help pull the country out of recession. “We hope that this government will finally...

5/19/2013: Worldwide: North Korea test fires three missiles

NORTH Korea fired three short-range guided missiles into its eastern waters yesterday, a South Korean official said. It routinely tests such missiles, but the latest launches came during a period of tentative diplomacy aimed at easing tensions. The...

5/19/2013: Worldwide: Daring Doris, 99, abseils for charity

A BRITISH pensioner has celebrated her 99th birthday by abseiling from the top of an 11-storey building. Doris Long, from Hampshire, took part in the fundraising event off the 110ft high University of Portsmouth's Mercantile House in aid of The Rowans...

5/19/2013: Worldwide: Hollande approves gay marriage law

FRENCH President Francois Hollande has signed a law authorising gay marriage and adoption by same-sex couples, after months of nationwide protests and debate. His signature means the first gay marriages may be celebrated in France within about 10 days.

5/19/2013: Analysis: Disarming the time bomb was a ‘no-brainer'

HAVING just finished the filmed interview, Sarah posed topless against a rough concrete wall. The jagged edges of the unpainted concrete looked sharp and sore, mirroring the healing scars on her new breasts. In January 2010, Sarah found out she had an...

5/19/2013: Analysis: Angelina has lived each moment of her message

IF THERE'S one icon that seems to unite people in worship these days, it's Angelina Jolie. She's the one that women want to look like, and men want to, ahem, get to know better, let's put it that way. Personally, I never understood the appeal. Jolie's...

5/19/2013: Analysis: Sex victims see price of craven unwillingness to face facts

IWAS listening last Thursday morning to the BBC's flagship news programme, Today, when I lost my rag and began shouting at the radio about pusillanimity. What was being discussed arose from the conviction the previous day of seven men for raping,...

5/19/2013: Analysis: More than one message in apparition at Knock

AFEW weeks ago, when some TDs allegedly felt threatened by excommunication over abortion, Rev Eoin De Bhaldraithe, of the Cistercian Abbey at Moone, wrote a lucid letter to the Irish Times, explaining why those who voted for abortion — as distinct from...

5/19/2013: Analysis: Dynamic of abortion debate has shifted as new consensus tentatively emerges

ABORTION is once again dividing the nation. Or so we're led to believe. What this latest poll actually shows is that, far from being riven down the middle on this issue, there is now a growing consensus amongst the Irish public on most of the issues. A...

5/19/2013: Analysis: A thoroughly Irish coup

NOT for the first time, an attempt is being made to overthrow and discard our constitutional system of republican government. A cabal of insurrectionists, sympathetic to the agents of a foreign state are, as you read this, plotting and executing a coup...

5/19/2013: Analysis: Labour still between rock and a hard place

OUR latest opinion poll, conducted earlier this month, shows little change in terms of party support, with most of them tipping along at more or less the same position as last month. Both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have slipped back (an insignificant)...

5/19/2013: Analysis: Retirement age must rise by eight or 10 years

SINCE 2008, economic policy in Ireland has been understandably focused upon the deflation of the bank credit bubble and its budgetary consequences. But Ireland faces serious economic policy problems which pre-date the financial crisis. Two reports...

5/19/2013: Comment & Analysis: He took what life he had and made it matter

WHEN I heard Donal Walsh had died, I couldn't help thinking of Spike Milligan's line: I told you I was sick. For those of us who didn't know Donal, who didn't live with his illness and see its progress, there was a strange sense of surprise that he had...

5/19/2013: Comment & Analysis: It's the young who will fix this country

REBUILDING Ireland is a task not beyond the young people of this country. It can be done, but what we don't need is sneery, predictable ageism. This country still operates on the basis that ability is directly linked to age. Our generation is being...

5/19/2013: Comment & Analysis: Quotes of the week

“At some point it's got to stop and people need to evaluate what is the impact globally and domestically. I think Ireland has hit that point. I do think you need to keep tabs on whether it is too much because you could really face the spectre of losing...

5/19/2013: Comment & Analysis: Political class get their just deserts

THE starkest feature of today's Millward Brown opinion poll is the icy disdain the electorate have displayed for the political class of 2013. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael may continue to be the best supported of the Irish political parties. But, as both...

5/19/2013: Analysis: ‘We should never have listened to Cowen' Sean Jr

SEAN Quinn Junior's jaw is swollen. Nobody punched him, Quinn Jr explains with a quiet smile. A week earlier he had his wisdom teeth out. He takes out his iPhone to show pictures of how badly bruised he was then. It's a moment that reminds you he is...

5/19/2013: Analysis: Shatter has disgraced his ministerial office and he must resign

LIKE SO many people, I was utterly gobsmacked at the blatant and disturbing abuse of ministerial power I saw on last Thursday night's Prime Time programme. Even for a notoriously out-of-touch minister, it was an appalling moment of shocking arrogance....

5/19/2013: Analysis: John Bruton should be thanked for revealing Grumpy Old mindset

Gerontocracy is a posh word used to describe the rule of a state by leaders who are significantly older than most of the adult population they rule. Sometimes, as was the case during the original Greek democracies, the concept works. But the fading...

5/19/2013: Analysis: RTE'S belated Lowry report leaves us none the wiser

LAST Sunday RTE promoted and broadcast a radio report referring to the controversial and secretly recorded tape of an alleged conversation between Michael Lowry and Kevin Phelan in 2004. A transcript of that tape was recently published by the Sunday...

5/19/2013: Analysis: I am not the one who is acting like a demagogue

TWO weeks running, the Sunday Independent has devoted many pages to personal criticism of me. These criticisms were supposedly based, first on the content of an article I wrote in the Irish Independent about the unwisdom of a threat of suicide being...

5/19/2013: Motoring: It's more than just safe now

EVEN the Eurovision venue last night was solid, functional and only really burst into life when the sun went down and the lights and sounds came up. The contest in Sweden's third city of Malmo was almost a metaphor for the country's major car brand,...

5/19/2013: Motoring: Hybrid is for disciples only

THE Toyota Yaris Hybrid is a great piece of engineering. Toyota has shrunk the size and weight of its hybrid system to fit into a supermini without compromising on space in cabin or boot. There are many pluses: low fuel costs (Toyota claims more than...

5/19/2013: Irish Life: Aras needs an austerity of a different stripe

THERE seems to be a consensus that President Higgins's popularity has much to do with his command of language. He is praised for “speaking out” on this issue or that. But even those who admire the oldschool socialist values that suffuse his rhetoric...

5/19/2013: Irish Life: It's essential to get all your ducks in a row

WHY did the chicken cross the road? A good question, given the unadventurous egg-laying pair of ladies who live in Canice Hogan's magnificent old mill in the aptly named Mill Street of this country town. These home-loving hens show little interest in...

5/19/2013: Irish Life: CRYPTIC CROSSWORD NO 887

Across 1 Startle in the manner of old judge (5). 4 One takes action in straightforward little dispute (9). 9 Game for some light music (9). 10 One property right for foreigner (5). 11 Fevered cultists may become suicidal (4-11). 12 Next become weary of...

5/19/2013: Irish Life: BRIDGE

THE “new” Irish open team got off to a great start when Tom Hanlon, John Carroll, Mark Moran and Rory Boland travelled to Bonn for the German National team championship. They qualified for the “A” final and finished 5th. From there Tom Hanlon went to...

5/19/2013: Irish Life: CHESS

THE 14th European Chess Championship finished last Thursday in Legnica, Poland. As is common in big tournaments (there were 286 competitors in Legnica), it resulted in a tie — no fewer than 10 Grandmasters scored 8 points in 11 rounds. Those were...

5/19/2013: Irish Life: Have a heart, fill your boots with art

THE Art with a Heart pop-up art sale continues today on the top floor of the St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre in Dublin. It's in aid of the Variety Club children's charity. The sale features work from emerging and established artists, as well as...

5/19/2013: Irish Life: Tenor hits right note to mark 200th anniversary of Moore's famous poem

TO celebrate the 200th anniversary of the publication of Thomas Moore's The Last Rose of Summer, tenor Anthony Kearns will perform in the scenic walled gardens of Jenkinstown Park, Co Kilkenny, on June 22. It was there that Ireland's national poet...

5/19/2013: Irish Life: Guaranteed a laugh with Healy trilogy

THE Danny Boy Triangle trilogy by Shay Healy is now out on Amazon Kindle. Healy's book chronicles the rip-roaring musical adventures of Danny Toner in Dublin, New York and Nashville. “It costs only $2.99,” says the Eurovision guru. “And as James Joyce...

5/19/2013: Irish Life: Making cut for animation festival

DUN Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology has announced a July 19 deadline for entries to the Blackrock Animation Film Festival (October 11 to 12). Enter at www.iloveblackrock.ie/animation-festival. The winning entries will be showcased at...

5/19/2013: Irish Life: 999 staff pulling together for school

MEMBERS of the fire, ambulance and garda and nursing services (999 Pulling Together) from the north-east region will join a Motor Tricycle Pull in Navan, Co Meath, on June 7, to raise funds for St Mary's Special School, Navan. It will be followed by a...

5/19/2013: Irish Life: Courting success with legal drama

CEIRE O'Donoghue and Fair City's Geoff Minogue star in Under Pressure, a one-act legal drama by barrister Rachel Fehily is at Bewley's Cafe Theatre from May 27 to June 8. Directed by Gina Moxley, the play is based on Rachel's criminal trial work. See...

5/19/2013: Irish Life: Butler clan reunion in Marble City

A GATHERING of the Butlers takes place at Kilkenny Castle on Friday August 30. The clan has been meeting in its ancestral city since 1967 but this year they're asking all Butlers to make a special effort to come together.

5/19/2013: Irish Life: Art group unveils its annual show

THE Kilmacud Art Group holds its 18th annual exhibition in St Laurence's parish centre, Lower Kilmacud Road, Stillorgan, Dublin, on May 25 to 26. Open at 10.30am.

5/19/2013: Obituaries: Joe Farman

JOE FARMAN, who has died aged 82, was a research scientist with the British Antarctic Survey whose discovery, in 1982, of a “hole” in the ozone layer has been described as one of the most important scientific finds of the 20th century. The Earth's...

5/19/2013: Obituaries: Kenneth Battelle

KENNETH Battelle, who died last Sunday aged 86, was one of the first celebrity hairdressers, and styled the tresses of Jacqueline Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe in the early 1960s. Although well aware that he was ministering to the hair of both women at a...

5/19/2013: Obituaries: Paul Shane

PAUL SHANE, who died on Thursday, aged 72, made the leap from provincial stand-up club comedian to television stardom when he played the lowbrow holiday-camp compere Ted Bovis in the popular 1980s BBC sitcom Hi-De-Hi! Jimmy Perry, who co-wrote the...

5/19/2013: Obituaries: Hardy hybrid blooms despite our cold clime

ONE of the most beautiful rhododendrons is in flower these days, despite the unseasonable weather. This is Loder's rhododendron, claimed to be the finest of the many thousands of rhododendron hybrids that exist. Rhododendron species crossbreed freely...

5/19/2013: Obituaries: Johnny Vaughan

JOHNNY Vaughan, who died on May 5 in Cork University Hospital after a short illness, was Independent Newspapers' representative in Cork for many years, and was an outstanding footballer with a very good Cork Athletic team in the Fifties. He attended...

5/19/2013: Obituaries: Sly bankers and other stingers

IN this country we can't be beaten for celebrating, in good times or bad, making a hooley whenever or wherever we may gather and the notion takes us, or takes control of our senses, rather. However, I am still waiting to hear or read about a Festival...

5/19/2013: Deaths: Summer fun on the festival trail

LIFE is what you make it. And, one way or another, you can have a brilliant summer in Ireland by following the festival trail — and many do. I am not just talking of food festivals, but also literature, music, comedy, the lot. As you are sitting down...

5/19/2013: Deaths: State must fix mortgage crisis plan and make it work

THE ducks are lining up but the banks are holding the guns. If the Government, the Central Bank and the Financial Regulator had done their jobs, bankers would have been in the firing line, but it's the other way round. The legislation is on the way to...

5/19/2013: Letters: Government too weak with banks

Madam — I congratulate Willie Kealy on his wonderful piece of journalism ( Sunday Independent, May 12, 2013), regarding John Bruton's speech, which he made in his capacity as President of the Irish Financial Services Centre. In it he informed the...

5/19/2013: Letters: SUNDAY INDEPENDENT QUIZWORD NO 101

ACROSS: 4. Who was recently voted Premier League Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year by his fellow professionals? (4) 6. What is the medical name for the kneecap? (7) 8. What do you call the back seat of a motorbike? (7) 9. The goldfish is...

5/19/2013: Letters: Labour has lost ability to oppose

Madam —Willie Kealy's and John Whelan's articles ( Sunday Independent, May 12, 2013), regarding the ex-Taoiseach John Bruton's input to austerity, made for very interesting reading. That Mr Bruton is championing the doctrine of austerity and reduced...

5/19/2013: Letters: THIS WEEK'S BIRTHDAYS

TODAY Grace Jones, model, actress and singer, is 65. Amanda De Cadenet, former model, is 41. James Fox, actor, is 74. Peter Mayhew, actor who played Chewbacca in Star Wars, is 69. Pete Townshend, guitarist with The Who, is 68. Dusty Hill, ZZ Top...

5/19/2013: Letters: Hogan's vision for LDCS is flawed

Madam — We wish to correct a number of serious inaccuracies in the article by John Drennan ( Sunday Independent, May 12, 2013) regarding the operation of LEADER and the Local Development Companies. We are independent not-forprofit companies — not...

5/19/2013: Letters: Austerity is about choices

Madam — Mr A Leavy (May 12) argues that President Michael D Higgins is wrong about austerity and that Marc Coleman's article (May 5) supports his stance, but they are all wrong. The argument that there is no alternative to the current version of...

5/19/2013: Letters: Bruton article hit nail on the head

Madam — I write to offer a complimentary word to Willie Kealy on a quite superb article published on your front page ( Sunday Independent, May 12, 2013). I find it uplifting, not to say encouraging, when a journalist hits the nail on the head,...

5/19/2013: Letters: Legacy of two Donals

Madam — Young or old, it's the human legacy left behind that counts. Last weekend, within a day of each other, two noteworthy people sadly passed on to their eternal reward. In normal circumstances they would have nothing in common, other than both...

5/19/2013: Letters: As Mr Spock said, ‘It's illogical'

Madam — Secondary school students should be taught logic and critical thinking in their junior and senior years. Unfortunately we educate young men and women without any knowledge in these disciplines and then expect them to participate effectively in...

5/19/2013: Letters: Compelling read

Madam — Jody Corcoran's courageous self-disclosure in his analysis on benchmarking, ( Sunday Independent, May 14, 2013) is refreshing and compelling reading. He points out that public sector pay is not mirroring that in the private sector, as shown in...

5/19/2013: Letters: LETTER OF THE WEEK

The writer of the best letter to the editor of the Sunday Independent will receive three bottles of The Dubliner Irish Whiskey Liqueur, courtesy of First Ireland Spirits. Winners under 18 will receive an alternative prize of equal value. The Dubliner...

5/19/2013: Letters: Maths syllabus lacks challenge

Madam — I came to Ireland when I was nine and I went to third class. That year, in maths, we were doing four things: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. In fourth class, we were doing exactly the same thing. Nothing new. Grand, I...

5/19/2013: Letters: High praise for Mr Kealy's work

Madam — I just had to contact you immediately after reading Mr Kealy's article. He is right on the button with every word and worthy of knocking Brendan O'Connor off the front page (and that's saying something). Mr Kealy, keep up the good...

5/19/2013: Analysis: Shatter conduct blights justice system

LAST week, Alan Shatter, Minister for Justice, couldn't stop himself from behaving peculiarly. If we had a Taoiseach who cared about such matters, the minister would be in deep trouble. As it is, I doubt his behaviour will have any...

5/19/2013: Working Mums: HAVING IT ALL

Essentially, as Master, I'm responsible for the day-to-day operation of the hospital, but also for the strategic direction of the hospital. I'm also busy at home; as I say, in my parallel obstetric career. A lot of my work is non-negotiable. You can't...

5/19/2013: Working Mums: RACHEL KELLY

When I had my first daughter, I was a project manager in the financial services sector, running IT systems that ran across Europe. I used to have to travel back and forth to Paris. I think I only got about eight weeks for maternity leave. It was...

5/19/2013: Working Mums: PAULA CALLAN

I've just launched my own brand of make-up, Buff Makeup. It's a really busy time. My life is kind of mayhem, but in a good way. Because it's not nine-to-five, I can go in a bit later if I want to take the kids to school. I have a live-in au pair, so...

5/19/2013: Working Mums: SARAH PRASAD

I've been working really intensely since being appointed to develop the eating-disorder programme in St Patrick's [University Hospital] about 18 months ago. Thank God for modern technology, because I can take a good amount of the paperwork home and I...

5/19/2013: Working Mums: ASHLING KILDUFF

When I had Eva, I had only just taken over the Design Centre. I had her on a Monday and went to Paris on Friday. It was like that from day one. I found it OK. I was totally focussed on running the business. I knew that I had to get the job done because...

5/19/2013: Working Mums: MARGARET NELSON

We employ around 90 people in FM104 and the job is 24 hours a day, seven days a week. My motherhood/working life structure is a bit more busy than I suppose a lot of people's would be, because my husband Joe Nally works in London from Monday to...

5/19/2013: Working Mums: RACHEL DALTON

I was freelancing in PR when I had Hugo, which was more challenging. I didn't even have any staff to help support me when I was pregnant or after I'd had him. So that was very challenging. Concentration is also something that goes in pregnancy, or...

5/19/2013: Working Mums: TANYA AIREY

When I had the first two children, I had them in a fantastic creche. You could leave them in at eight o'clock. And unfortunately, or fortunately, you could pick them up at six o'clock or half six. I had them when I was very young and we were only...

5/19/2013: Working Mums: SARAH COLGAN

I'm working at the moment with Animo on The Design Doctors series for RTE One, which is coming out in the autumn. I don't have maternity leave as such as a freelancer, but I did take the first nine months off. I found that, hands down, it was a more...

5/19/2013: Working Mums: FIONA FOY-HOLLAND

Before we had Abigail I was head of personal shopping for Arnotts. Very contented. While I was pregnant I came to the decision that I wanted to be a stay-at-home mother. I felt that I wanted to be there for Abigail. That was a very strong pull for me....

5/19/2013: Working Mums: RUTH GRIFFIN

My job is not nine-to-five, Monday to Friday. There's a lot of evening and weekend work. AJ's in Montessori four mornings a week. So that's when I get lots of my studying and modelling jobs done. He was never in creche, I never had a childminder or an...

5/19/2013: Working Mums: LOUISE STOKES

I am expecting my second baby in a couple of weeks. And I have a husband [restaurateur Christian Stokes] who also works for himself. So we don't have the normal nine-to-fives. I set up Loulerie myself and that was my baby. And then I realised how...

5/19/2013: Working Mums: TATIANA OULIANKINA

I didn't take much maternity leave with my first child, and then, when I was in The Clinic on RTE, I started to work every day. And that was difficult because we started at half six in the morning. Then there was this programme, No Frontiers, and I...

5/19/2013: Working Mums: ORLA DIFFILY

I married Robert O'Connor, and I have a gorgeous daughter called Zoe. Unfortunately, the relationship didn't work out, but we remain great friends and Zoe has a fantastic relationship with him. I was very fortunate to meet my current husband, Barry...

5/19/2013: Working Mums: SUZANNE HOURICAN

My husband works very long hours. He travels a lot to the States, often for a week or so at a time. That part is tough. Because I work for myself, I didn't really have a proper maternity leave. But on the plus side, my schedule is a lot more flexible...

5/19/2013: Working Mums: LISA FITZPATRICK

I'm lucky that I get to collect the kids every day from school. Then I work most Saturdays and my husband takes over then. Most of my work is at night. My husband drops the kids to school every day. If I'm doing meetings, they're always early, because...

5/19/2013: Fashion: SHOW TIME

Ihate to disappoint you all, but the stunning garments you see on our pages today aren't for sale. Well, they might be, but you have to read on to find out. The people who designed these gorgeous ensembles are graduating from NCAD's fashion design...

5/19/2013: Style Notebook: GET THE LOOK:

It can be hard to make the move into actual summer clothes, as opposed to wearing your winter clothes, but with no socks. Sooner or later, you need to break out the legs. Boots worn with a skirt can be a nice way to ease yourself into it, if a sandal...

5/19/2013: Style Notebook: THE SILLY SEASON UNIFORM

Is there anything more dated than the garishly bright outfit and over-the-top headpiece so many of us adopt for any summer weddings or days at the races? Strong colour doesn't work on pale Irish skin, leading to overuse of fake tan. Yuk. This uniform...

5/19/2013: Style Notebook: Stylemma

Dear Stylemma, We have a big family event coming up. I need to get my 12-year-old daughter a new outfit, but I am fighting with her over what is appropriate. She wants to wear a bandage-style dress, a look I hate, and feel is inappropriate age-wise,...

5/19/2013: Style Notebook: H&M MEN'S SHIRTS

H&M's men's cotton shirts are one of our secret summer wardrobe basics. You'll get a 100 per cent cotton shirt — cotton tends to get softer and more comfortable with age — for about 20 quid. They tend to be cut longer than the women's versions, so are...

5/19/2013: Style Notebook: Navy

Navy should be the building block of your summer wardrobe. Goes with everything, makes a change from black or white

5/19/2013: Style Notebook: STYLEWATCH: A BTB GONE TOO FAR

The BTB (Bride-to-be) often comes into her own, style- and looks-wise, in the run-up to her wedding. It's not that we felt there was nothing about the Rosanna Davison look that needed to be changed. We would love to have seen a lighter hand with the...

5/19/2013: Style Notebook: GET PAMPERED FOR CHARITY

Treat yourself to some pampering in the name of charity at Brown Sugar hair and beauty salon, which is opening specially today to host a charity fundraiser in aid of Down Syndrome Dublin and The Mater Foundation Spinal Injuries Unit. Last year, the...

5/19/2013: Style Notebook: IT'S PIPPA'S BAG

While K-Middy's style sometimes gets a little prim for our taste — it's not her fault, she's a future queen — sister Pippa Middleton continues to regularly catch our eye. We prefer her when she's doing smart casual than her full-on summer-wedding...

5/19/2013: Beauty: RED ALERT

Want to smell good, look good and feel fantastic? Well here's how to do it, with beauty expert Triona McCarthy, whohas her weekly round-up of lotions and potions to keep you looking red hot

5/19/2013: Beauty: LUXURY LATHER

I've been thinking: if heat makes things expand, then I don't have a weight problem, I'm just hot! Ha! Best get in the shower then and cool down, and use one of the new body washes from Dr Hauschka. There are four to choose from: Rose, Almond,...

5/19/2013: Beauty: TRIONA'S TRENDS

I'm seeing red at the moment. Everywhere! From my lip colour, to my clothes, to anything I buy for the house. It has to be red. The painting in the background of my photo, above, is by my late sister Tricia, and it has inspired me to do my hallway all...

5/19/2013: Beauty: MERUMAYA CRUSH

I have a bit of a girl crush on Maleka Dattu, the woman behind brand new beauty range Merumaya, available exclusively from Arnotts, where I met up with her at the recent launch. In 2010, Maleka used her extensive knowledge of beauty to create her own...

5/19/2013: Beauty: MOST WANTED

I don't know how many times I've had a pedi and forgotten to bring open-toe shoes and ended up buying flip-flops to stop my nails getting ruined. Well, not any more, thanks to Jessica Fusion, which has revolutionised the gel-nail market in Ireland and...

5/19/2013: Beauty: CULT PRODUCT

Have you heard of Shittens — disposable mittens made of hygienic wipe tissue and anti-bacterial agents that are in development in the States? Use them to wipe your baby's bottom, your own bottom or your pet's bottom — who knew we needed these? Until...

5/19/2013: Beauty: TRIONA'S TRICKS

I'm still looking longingly at my big bottle of Absolut Vodka, which I can't drink 'cause I'm nursing my beautiful baby boy. So here's another use for it — add some to the last bit of shampoo in the bottle. It helps to prevent build-up and removes old...

5/19/2013: The Panel: TOUCHBASE

The search for the perfect base, it seems, is one without end. This is, of course, fuelled by the fact that cosmetic companies are never-ending in their production of new skin-improving and -enhancing make-ups that are better than anything that ever...

5/19/2013: Health: GETTING TO A GOOD PLACE

When Dubliner Jimmy Goulding was told he was HIV-positive, he was glad. He could see no other way of getting out of the living hell he then inhabited. He was strung out on alcohol and drugs, and was working in the sex industry, solely to fund his...

5/19/2013: Health: RETIRING, NOT SHY

The news that Gay Mitchell MEP is to retire from parliament arrived as a thunderbolt to his loyal subjects along Dublin's Grand Canal. You were never short of an opinion with Gay, and tagged on to each trenchantly held view was the press release, which...

5/19/2013: Recipes: CORIANDER CAMP

When it comes to coriander, people are divided as to whether they like it or not. I am firmly on one side of the fence, undoubtedly in the camp of those who love and champion coriander. To me, it is not divisive but divine. I adore those big, generous...

5/19/2013: Recipes: CRAB AND CORIANDER TART

Serves 6. For the shortcrust pastry, you will need: 250g (9oz) plain flour 125g (4 ½ oz) butter, diced Pinch salt ½ -1 egg , beaten For the filling, you will need: 3 eggs and 1 extra egg yolk, beaten 300g (10 ½ oz) crab meat, fresh (or frozen will...

5/19/2013: Recipes: CRUNCHY ROAST CORIANDER POTATOES

Serves 8. You will need: 2 tablespoons coriander seeds 900g (2lb) peeled floury potatoes (weight when peeled) Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 6-8 tablespoons olive oil or warmed duck fat Preheat the oven to 220°C, 425°F, Gas 7. Crush the...

5/19/2013: Recipes: SWEETCORN AND CORIANDER CAKES WITH TOMATO SALSA AND CREME FRAICHE

( Pictured) Makes 6. For the salsa, you will need: 200g (7oz) (2 or 3) ripe tomatoes 1 spring onion, chopped, or 1 tablespoon chopped red onion 1 tablespoon chopped fresh coriander Salt, freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of sugar ¾ tablespoon...

5/19/2013: Recipes: RACHEL RECOMMENDS

This is the book that any past student of Rory O'Connell from the Ballymaloe Cookery School has been waiting for. Formerly head chef at Ballymaloe House and a most inspirational teacher at the Cookery School, he has written a wonderful book that is...

5/19/2013: Recipes: RACHEL'S TIP

Rather than buying expensive ceramic baking beans for blind baking pastry (as required for the crab and coriander tart, above) just use old dried beans or even rice and keep in a jar — they can be used again and again.

5/19/2013: Food: MEAN BEANS

Himself has just taken to watching Breaking Bad, in which the main character, Walter, begins cooking and dealing crystal meth when he discovers he is terminally ill, in order to leave his family financially secure. The other night, Himself was in deep...

5/19/2013: Food: LESS IS MORE

We love meat. But I find myself wondering whether future generations will look back and gag at the idea that supermarkets sold lumps of animal flesh. If you arrived on planet Earth this evening and saw how we carved up other living creatures, then sold...

5/19/2013: Tabletalk: NO HORS IN' AROUND

For a couple of years, I lusted long and hard after a designer dining table with an Indian white-metal top. They are very cool — I saw a similar one in Jamie's Italian in London's Covent Garden. The people in FXB's in Temple Bar would understand my...

5/19/2013: Tabletalk: THREE TO TRY

BEEF UP THE STEP INN Stepaside Village, Dublin 18. Tel: (01) 295-6202 Style Dine in either The Lounge or The Stone Grill of this legendary Dublin pub, which changed hands in recent times and is proving very popular. From the Dubliner burger to 8oz...

5/19/2013: Waking Hours: YANNICK G FOREL

Iam a night person. We bake all night. We have two teams — one works in the afternoon making the dough and the other starts in the evening and works all night. am usually there with them until the early hours of the morning, because I always make...