Jim Mansfield Jnr jailed for 18 months
Property magnate Jim Mansfield Jnr, who ordered the destruction of CCTV footage showing him with his former employee on the morning he was kidnapped by republican terrorists Dessie O'Hare and Declan 'Whacker' Duffy, has been jailed by the Special Criminal Court for 18 months.
Sentencing Mansfield Jnr at the three-judge court today, presiding judge Mr Justice Alexander Owens said the actions of the convicted man fell into the category of "foolish and selfish criminality, whose efforts did not succeed".
The non-jury court found that when Mansfield Jnr ordered the CCTV footage to be destroyed, he knew there would be a major criminal investigation including an examination of his role in these events.
Co Sligo aggravated burglary
Gardaí in Sligo are renewing their appeal for information on an aggravated burglary, which has left a man in a critical condition in hospital.
Thomas Niland (73) is on life support in hospital following a serious assault in his home in Skreen, on the evening of January 18th.
Mr Niland suffered serious head and upper body injuries when three men broke into his home and stole a small sum of cash.
Australia to open borders to vaccinated
People with family and friends in Australia will be able to travel to see them again later this month.
The country is set to open its borders to all vaccinated tourists and business travellers from February 21st in a further relaxation of pandemic restrictions.
Australia imposed some of the world’s toughest travel restrictions on its citizens and permanent residents in March 2020 to prevent them from bringing Covid-19 home.
Cost-of-living crisis
The Government is continuing to work on measures to help offset rising household bills.
Charities have said they are encountering an increasing number of calls for help due to record inflation.
A one-off payment to tackle the cost of living crisis for low-income households is set to be agreed by a Cabinet subcommittee before being rolled out in a number of weeks.
The committee will meet this week to discuss measures to tackle the impact of inflation. The Government has previously announced a €100 rebate for every household to tackle rising energy costs.
St Patrick's Day Parade returns
The 2022 St Patrick's Day festival has been revealed, with the parade retuning for the first time since 2019.
Organisers have said this year's festival is the biggest and most ambitious ever produced, with the theme being 'connections'.
The March 17th parade is returning with more pageants, marching bands and participants than ever before.
Also scheduled as part of the celebrations is a new Festival Quarter located at Collins Barracks. The day-to-night urban festival will feature acts such as Lyra, Damien Dempsey, and Neil Delamare. The Festival Quarter will also host the Irish Food & Craft Village.
Ireland and the UK to focus on Euro 2028 bid
Ireland and the UK will not bid to stage the 2030 World Cup and will focus on a bid for Euro 2028 instead.
The five national associations have concluded that the continental finals represents a better option than the global centenary tournament after conducting a feasibility study.
UEFA announced last year that parties interested in hosting Euro 2028 need to confirm that interest by March 23rd, with the bidders to be announced on April 5th. The bidding process for the 2032 finals will also run in parallel.
