Boy (16) guilty of murder of Urantsetseg Tserendorj
A 16-year-old boy who stabbed Urantsetseg Tserendorj as she walked home from work in Dublin's city centre has been found guilty of her murder following a retrial at the Central Criminal Court.
The jury of six men and five women returned a majority verdict at the Central Criminal Court on Friday afternoon on what was the fourth day of deliberations in the case.
The accused, who was 14 at the time of the offence and cannot be named because he is a minor, had denied the murder of Ms Tserendorj, but had pleaded guilty to her manslaughter on January 29th, 2021.
The State did not accept his plea.
The jury returned the guilty verdict to Mr Justice Tony Hunt shortly before 12.30pm on Friday afternoon after eight hours and 59 minutes of deliberations.
Dáil climate change protest
Students and activists have accused the government of inaction on climate change at a protest outside Leinster House.
The demonstration, organised by students at Trinity College Dublin, coincided with the Cop27 UN climate conference being held in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh.
Activists with homemade signs sat cross-legged on Molesworth Street while listening to speakers criticise world leaders attending the summit, as well as Egypt’s human rights record.
The words “fossil fuel RIP” were spray-painted on the pillars at the gates of Leinster House, and the crowd chanted “system change not climate change” as they moved outside the gates.
Government remains committed to ratification of Ceta, says Tánaiste
The Tánaiste has said the Government remains committed to ratifying the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, after the Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the proposed ratification of the deal is unconstitutional as Irish law currently stands.
In a press statement issued after the ruling, Leo Varadkar said that it was "disappointing" that the ratification of EU-Canada trade deal is now not immediately possible.
"The Government remains committed to ratifying the CETA agreement in full," Mr Varadkar said.
"It will now take some time to reflect on the wider decision and consider its implications.
"Our initial assessment is that a referendum is not required and that ratification can follow once some changes are made to domestic law," he added.
Dara Calleary, Minister of State for Trade Promotion, said that Goverment will "reflect" on the ruling and "consider the next steps on how best to proceed and to reassure our Canadian partners that Ireland remains very much an advocate for free, fair and open trade".
Woman accused of impeding arrest of alleged killer of Lisa Thompson
A woman has been charged with impeding the arrest of the alleged "principal offender" in the murder of mother of two Lisa Thompson, who was found dead in her Dublin home in May.
A concerned neighbour raised the alarm after discovering the 52-year-old youth worker, who had suffered stab injuries at her house in Sandyhill Gardens, Ballymun, on May 10th.
In July, Brian McHugh of Cairn Court, Poppintree, Ballymun, was charged with the murder of Ms Thompson, and he is awaiting trial.
On Friday, mother of three, Deirdre Arnold (40) was arrested at 8.17am at her home in Briarfield Grove, Kilbarrack, Dublin.
She was taken to Ballymun Garda Station to be charged and then brought to appear before Judge Gerard Jones at Dublin District Court.
Garda Jennifer Keegan told the court the accused had “no reply” when she was charged contrary to Section 7 (2) and (4) of the Criminal Law Act, 1997.
Fine Gael politicians call for Dowdall donation to McDonald to be ‘handed over’
Three Fine Gael politicians have called on Mary Lou McDonald to “hand over” a €1,000 donation from Jonathan Dowdall, who has been jailed for four years for facilitating the 2016 murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel.
The two TDs and councillor have said that the funds should be put towards initiatives to prevent crime.
TDs Neale Richmond and Fergus O’Dowd, and councillor Kenneth Egan, said the Sinn Féin president should donate the €1,000 she received from former Sinn Féin councillor Dowdall to the Community Safety Innovation Fund.
It comes after Ms McDonald said there was “absolutely no comparison” between killings carried out during the Troubles and the “gangland crime epidemic”.
