Hutch trial
Gerry “The Monk” Hutch has pleaded not guilty to the murder of David Byrne at a hotel in Dublin.
Hutch, 59, was arraigned before the city’s Special Criminal Court on Tuesday where the murder trial was opened.
Mr Byrne, 34, was killed in 2016 during a crowded boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel in one of the early attacks of the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud.
Briefcase girl
The Duchess of Sussex has said she disliked feeling “forced to be all looks and little substance” during her stint as a “briefcase girl” on the US version of Deal or No Deal.
Meghan reflected on her time working on the gameshow in 2006 on the latest episode of her podcast which featured a chat with Paris Hilton about the labels of “bimbo” and “dumb blonde”.
She says there was a “very cookie cutter idea” of what the briefcase girls should look like and that it was “solely about beauty and not necessarily about brains”.
Eviction ban
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said that he believes that the Government’s proposed eviction ban can be defended on public interest grounds.
The Fine Gael leader made the comments after the Irish Property Owners Association indicated that it is considering taking legal action over the one-off winter ban on notices of termination.
The Irish constitution protects the right to private property, but also acknowledges that these may “as occasion requires” need to be reconciled with the common good.
Mr Varadkar said that a legal challenge may be brought over Ministe for Housing Darragh O’Brien’s plans.
Junior Cert results
Transition year and fifth year students will receive their Junior Cert results on Wednesday, November 23rd, five months since they sat their exams.
The State Examinations Commission has cited a shortage of examiners and the second sitting of the Leaving Cert as some of the reasons for the delay.
A small number of subjects, where examiner availability was a particular issue, are still being marked.
The delayed results for 68,000 students will be available at schools from the morning of Wednesday, November 23rd, and online from 4pm.
Kerry cemetery probe
A fifth man (late 20s) was arrested as part of the investigation into the fatal assault at a cemetery in Tralee, Co Kerry, on Monday evening.
He was detained under Section 4 Criminal Justice Act, 1984 at Tralee Garda station and was released without charge late on Monday night.
Investigations are ongoing.
Thomas Dooley, 43, from Killarney, died after being stabbed while attending a funeral in Rathass Cemetery in Tralee on Wednesday, October 5th.
Trinity College commemoration
Four years after his death, Trinity College Dublin has paid tribute to the enormous impact on the university of the generosity of Dr Don Panoz, the deceased founder of the Elan Corporation
His legacy includes a new Chair and PhD scholarship programme at the Trinity School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Dr Panoz died in September 2018, aged 83, leaving part of his estate to Trinity College.
This followed his funding in 1994 of the Panoz Institute, a purpose-built home for the School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences on campus.
Russian attack
Russian air strikes have cut power and water supplies in a repeatedly bombed Ukrainian city and pounded energy and infrastructure facilities elsewhere in the country.
The attacks appear to be part of a quickening effort by Russia to drive Ukrainians into the cold and dark as winter bites.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said nearly one third of Ukraine’s power stations have been destroyed in the past week, “causing massive blackouts across the country”.
“No space left for negotiations with Putin’s regime,” he tweeted.
