Stephen Silver verdict
A jury at the Central Criminal Court has failed to reach a verdict in the trial of Stephen Silver, who accepts that he shot Detective Garda Colm Horkan 11 times but denies his murder.
The jury were asked to consider whether Mr Silver was suffering from Bipolar Affective Disorder at the time of the shooting and whether his condition substantially reduced his responsibility for the killing.
Mr Silver's lawyers argued he should be found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility.
The seven men and five women spent just under nine hours considering their verdicts over three days before revealing they had a disagreement that they were not able to resolve.
Tech slowdown fears
The slowdown in the global tech sector poses a risk to soaring corporate tax receipts in Ireland next year and, in particular, in 2024, chief economist at the Department of Finance John McCarthy has warned.
Corporate receipts, mainly paid by a small number of large multinational companies whose European headquarters are based in Ireland, have risen by more than 400 per cent in the last 10 years to account for a quarter of the State's entire annual tax take.
Mr McCarthy said corporate taxes could reach €22 billion this year, above the €21 billion forecast two months ago.
Speaking before the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday, Mr McCarthy said he was "more worried" about later years.
Regency trial
Judges at the Special Criminal Court have ruled they will listen to 10 hours of conversations between murder accused Gerard 'The Monk' Hutch and ex-Sinn Féin Councillor Jonathan Dowdall.
The conversations were captured by gardaí, despite Dowdall's bugged jeep having been outside of the State during the majority of the recordings.
Mr Hutch’s defence lawyer, Brendan Grehan SC, submitted on Thursday that their "core argument" would be that gardaí were aware that Dowdall's Toyota Land Cruiser was outside the jurisdiction for eight of the 10 hours of those recordings from March 7th, 2016.
They argue the evidence harvested from that "illicit fruit" should be excluded from the trial.
Tolls
Motorists are about to be hit with the highest price rises allowed for road tolls.
State roads operator Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) said the decision to hike tolls was "driven by the current rate of inflation".
Under the changes, the cost of using one of the 10 toll roads on the national road network will rise by up to 60 cent a journey.
The cost of using the M50 and eight other tolled roads around the country will increase, with the Port Tunnel in Dublin being the only toll not included in the price hike.
The president of the Irish Road Haulage Association, Eugene Drennan, described the decision as "audacious", claiming the 10 per cent increase for trucks will add between €20,000-€30,000 for companies in the northwest which have to make the longest journeys.
