Dundalk Grammar School named the best feeder school in Co Louth

Dundalk Grammar School is the top feeder school in Co Louth for sending students to third level education, according to the latest figures published in today’s Irish Times.

The Crescent-based school saw 81 of the 84 students who sat the Leaving Certificate earlier this year go on to third level education, a percentage total of 96% Ten of those students went to UCD, ten more to Trinity and nine each to DIT and Maynooth.

The majority (15) stayed locally and attended Dundalk IT.

The Grammar’s record made it the 14^th best feeder school in the province.

Drogheda schools Our Lady’s College, Sacred Heart and St Mary’s occupied the next three place on the list.

In fifth was St Vincent’s, which had an 86% rate of students attending third level with 137 of the 160 who sat the Leaving last summer going on to college or university.

It was closely followed by the De La Salle (83%), the Bush (79%), Dun Lughaidh (79%) and Coláiste Rís (78%).

St Mary’s College saw just 90 of its 138 Leaving Cert students go on to third level – a rate of 65% – while O Fiaich College had the lowest total in the Dundalk area with 47%.

Dunleer school Scoil Uí Mhuirí had the lowest total in the county at 44%.

Majority of voters believe Gerry Adams was a member of the IRA, poll finds

Gerry Adams

A large majority of voters believe Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams was a member of the IRA despite his consistent denials, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI opinion poll.

However, the poll also shows that the Louth TD’s arrest as part of the police inquiry into Jean McConville’s murder will have no impact on how the majority of people vote.

Asked if they believe that Mr Adams was or was not a member of the IRA, 68 per cent said he was, 9 per cent said he was not and 23 per cent had no opinion.

Sinn Féin voters were much more inclined than supporters of other parties to say Mr Adams was not a member of the IRA but even so a majority of them said he was.

Better-off voters and farmers were more inclined to say he was a member than working class voters.

Asked if they were more or less likely to vote Sinn Féin in the light of the Adams arrest, 7 per cent said they were more likely, 22 per cent said less likely, 65 per cent said it would have no impact and 6 per cent had no opinion.

More women than men said they were less likely to vote Sinn Féin in the light of the arrest.

The youngest, 18 to 24 age group, were twice as likely as the over-65s to say they were less likely to vote for Mr Adams as a result of the arrest.

In terms of party support Sinn Féin voters differed markedly from the rest with a significant number saying they were more likely to support the party following the arrest of Mr Adams.

Few supporters of the other major parties said they were more likely to vote for Mr Adams as a result of his arrest but the bulk of them said that the episode would not affect their decision.

Source: The Irish Times

McGlinchey calls for removal of the gun from Irish politics

Dominic Óg McGlinchey

Dominic Óg McGlinchey, whose mother Mary was murdered in Dundalk in 1987, has called on dissident republicans to start “a conversation about the removal of the gun from Irish politics.”

In an interview with The Irish Times today, he said it was time for people to “evolve or die”, saying he didn’t see “mass appetite at a street level for the armed campaign.

Dominic Óg is the son of INLA leaders Dominic and Mary McGlinchey. He was 16 and with his father when he was gunned down in Drogheda in 1994 and aged 9 when his mother was shot in Muirhevnamor in Dundalk in 1987 just after she had bathed him and his brother Declan. He and his brother after the killings of his mother and father were raised respectively in grandparental homes in Toomebridge, Co Antrim, and Bellaghy, Co Derry.

He claimed his father was killed six months before the 1994 ceasefire to “facilitate the peace process” and blames one of the IRA, British military intelligence or people acting for the Irish government for his murder.

He said it was “make your mind up time” for dissident groups, saying they had to decide whether to take paramilitary or political action but added that they couldn’t do both.

You can read the full article here, as well as his version of events from 27 years ago when his murder was killed in Muirhevnamor.

 

Louth boss O’Rourke voices concerns at black card, claiming a loophole has already been found

Aidan O’Rourke

Louth boss Aidan O’Rourke has been one of the most vocal in his criticism of the black card since its introduction was announced and he voiced his concerns about it even further in the wake of the Wee County’s 2-6 to 0-8 defeat to Dublin in the O’Byrne Cup on Wednesday night.

The Dromintee man believes Dublin have found a loophole to the new rule, which they utilised to full effect in Parnell Park two days ago.

He claims Dublin players avoided black cards on the night by cynically “bear hugging” Paddy Keenan.

Under the new rules, a player has to “deliberately pull down an opponent” to the ground to be awarded a black card.

However, O’Rourke says that wrapping a player up with a bear hug-style challenge that keeps both players’ feet on the ground is a way around the saction.

He is adamant that the ploy is already being coached and blamed Dublin for doing it to Keenan on a number of occasions on Wednesday.

“Every game I watch is refereed differently now,” he is quoted in today’s Irish Times. “Offences that drew a black card at the weekend didn’t get a black card tonight.

“I’m reluctant to use the word shambles but that’s where we’re at. Players, officials, supports – nobody knows what a black card is going to be issued for.

“People will think I am a broken record at this stage but I just don’t think it’s working. Now, we have to give it time and we have to persevere. Hopefully officials will all get on the same page but at the moment it’s not happening,” he said.

“To be honest, the most annoying part of the game regarding the official was that Paddy Keenan was being cynically fouled every time he got possession.

“But he wasn’t brought to the ground, therefore it wasn’t a black card. That completely defeats the purpose of addressing cynical fouling. That is the most cynical foul that there is, a good player winning the ball, trying to break out of the middle third and he’s bear hugged.

“Okay, it’s a free but then nothing happens so what’s the point of trying to address cynical play?

“If you’re strong enough to bearhug a player and not let him get to the ground then you don’t get a black card and that is being coached at the minute, I know well that it is.

“The black card is well intentioned and the origins of it are probably well intentioned but the solution they’ve come up with is not a solution, if you ask me.”

Glen Dimplex to invest €40m in new Dunleer-based R&D facility

An Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the opening of Glen Dimplex R&D Centre in Dunleer this morning

Taoiseach Enda Kenny was in Dunleer earlier as Glen Dimplex announced a new €40 million investment in a new research and development facility.

The new facility, the second of its kind established by Glen Dimplex in the last three years in the area, will be located in a former manufacturing facility where operations ceased in 2008.

The new facility is focusing on what the company calls “smart electric heating technologies of the future”, with around 25 to 75 jobs set to be created by it in the coming year.

Source: Glen Dimplex to create 25 jobs in Louth (The Irish Times)

Call for Garda-PSNI inquiry into IRA killings in Dundalk area

Tom Oliver from Cooley, who was killed by the IRA for allegedly passing information on their activities to Gardaí in Dundalk

Relatives of those killed in IRA attacks in the Dundalk Border area have called for a joint Garda-PSNI inquiry following the publication of the Smithwick Tribunal report last week.

The calls relate to a range of cases where information which may have been of assistance to the killers was available to gardaí in Dundalk.

Last week the Smithwick Tribunal found that, on the balance of probability, the IRA was given a tip-off from someone inside Dundalk Garda Station, which assisted in the killings of RUC officers Harry Breen and Bob Buchanan in March 1989.

Amongst the cases that relatives want reviewed is the bombing of a Brinks Mat security van in 1985, moments after the RUC had taken over escort duty from gardaí as the van crossed the border. Four RUC officers, William Wilson (28), Stephen Rodgers (19), David Baird (22) and Tracy Doak (21) were killed.

Another up for possible review is the killing of Appeal Court judge Maurice Gibson and his wife Cecily shortly after crossing the border in April 1987 and the killings of Robert and Maureen Hanna and they son David as they returned from Disneyland via Dundalk in July 1988.

From a local perspective there has also been calls to investigation the killing of Cooley farmer Tom Oliver, who was murdered by the IRA after claims he had passed information to gardaí in Dundalk about IRA activities.

Another case that could be examined is the killing of contractor Terence McKeever, who was killed by the IRA in Cullyhanna in June 1986.

Speaking to The Irish Times, solicitor John McBurney, who represented the family of Harry Breen, and now represents the Hanna family, said there was evidence gardaí in Dundalk were told in advance of the movements of at least some of the victims.

He said the Smithwick Tribunal had sight of a memo from

gardaí in Drogheda providing details of the car in which Lord Justice Gibson and his wife Cecily were travelling.

Mr McBurney said the two older Hanna children “who were orphaned by the killing of their parents and brother” now wanted to know if details of the movements of Judge Higgins had also been supplied to Dundalk gardaí.

He said the families of other victims would also want to know if a tip-off played a part in their murders.

“These were killings which happened in the North and in the new spirit of co-operation between gardaí and the PSNI, we would like to see a joint inquiry or review of these cases,” said Mr McBurney.

Source: The Irish Times

De La Salle tops school league table in Dundalk

Click on table for full view

The De La Salle Secondary School in Dundalk is the best in the county when it comes to sending its students to third level college.

That’s according to the Irish Times’ 2013 School League Tables, which were published today.

The tables provide a detailed breakdown of the number of students who sat their Leaving Cert exams in each school this year and outlines which third level institution they went to afterwards.

In total 117 students sat their Leaving Certificate in the De La Salle, with the school registering 126 students for college – a rate of 108%.

The reason the figure is higher than the number of students who actually sat the exam is because the figures include PLC students, first year repeats and mature students who sat the Leaving Cert prior to 2013 but who applied through their old school. Therefore the third level progression percentage shows the total number of 2013 college registrations from each school, including those who sat the Leaving Cert last year.

The De La Salle figure of 108% was equalled by Sacred Heart School in Drogheda, who had 90 go forward to third level following on from 83 who sat the Leaving.

Coláiste Rís was second best in Dundalk at 97%, followed by St Vincent’s with 91%.

St Mary’s College and Dundalk Grammar School both had 82%, the Bush had 73%, Dun Lughaidh 71% and O Fiaich College 68%.

Scoil Uí Mhuirí in Dunleer had the lowest total in the county at 64%.

Related articles

• Non-fee-paying schools are most improved (irishtimes.com)
• How the school league tables were compiled (irishtimes.com)

Local businessman one of more than 200 investors suing Irish Life

Eoin Doohan

A local businessman is one of more than 200 Irish investors, many of whom are from the area, who is suing Irish Life over alleged losses of up to €15 million arising from the sale of a London property investment for almost 50% less than its €60 million purchase price.

Two of the 214 actions – those by Eoin and Anne Doohan of Belfry Gardens, Dundalk, Co Louth and by Grand Liqueur Ltd, are expected to proceed as test cases arising out of the July 2014 sale of the Austin Friars building in central London.

Mr Doohan, who runs a financial services company at the Quayside Business Park, said he and his wife lost about 70% of the €100,000 they invested in the Austin Friars Geared Property Fund for Pension and Life Investors in 2007 and it was also of “significant importance” to him that he had advised 63 others to invest their savings or pensions in the fund.

The proceedings are against Irish Life Assurance plc and Irish Life Investment Managers Ltd (ILIM) and centre on claims the Austin Friars fund was sold at the wrong time.

In an affidavit, Mr Doohan said he is an experienced investor and accepted the defendants cannot be responsible for the downturn in the global economy. While he accepted other investments through the same exceptionally difficult period had done worse, he believed the plaintiffs were caused significant loss because of the manner in which the Austin Friars fund was disposed of.

When the Doohan case came before Mr Justice Peter Kelly yesterday, he was told by Edward Farrelly, for the couple, that their loss was less than the €1 million threshold required for cases to be fast-tracked in the Commercial Court but, because there were 213 others making similar claims about this fund, it was considered they should be dealt with by the Commercial Court.

The judge said the matter may be able to proceed via one or two test actions to decide the issue of liability after which any loss could be addressed.

Source: Investors sue Irish Life over loss on property investment (The Irish Times)

Byrne retains his place on International Rules panel

Ciarán Byrne with the Cormac McAnallen Cup, which will be presented to the winners of the International Rules Series

 

Louth footballer Ciaran Byrne has retained his place in the Ireland international rules panel for the country’s second test against Australia at the weekend.

The 18-year-old – who captained his club side St Mochta’s to victory in last night’s Intermediate Championship relegation play-off against St Finbarrs – will be making his Croke Park debut as a result.

Byrne – nicknamed ‘Casey’ by friends – has a busy few months ahead. In six weeks he will turn 19 before heading Down Under in the New Year to start an AFL career with Melbourne-based Carlton. Before Christmas though, there is a pre-season camp in Arizona to look forward to.

He told The Irish Times, however, that he is determined to come back and play with Louth again some day.

For now he is looking to the future though and admits that playing alongside his future Carlton team-mate Zach Tuohy for his country has helped.

Related articles

• Louth forward Byrne receives International Rules call-up (talkofthetown.ie)
• Byrne named on Irish panel for first test against Australia (talkofthetown.ie)

Two staff suspended by Louth County Council pending investigation into housing acquisitions

The Dundalk Democrat originally broke the story about council officials selling the local authority their own homes

Two members of staff have been suspended by Louth County Council pending the completion of an investigation into the purchase of two houses by the council in 2010.

Yesterday, Talk of the Town reported that County Manager Philomena Poole had ordered a full investigation into claims that two senior executives in the council approved the sale of their own homes to the council for use as social housing.

The matter has been highlighted in the national media and was even raised in the Dáil by local TD Gerry Adams, with Minister for Housing Jan O’Sullivan also taking an interest in the matter.

The suspension of the two staff members was confirmed by the Department of the Environment to The Irish Times.

Source: Two Louth council staff suspended amid inquiry into house purchases (The Irish Times)

Related articles

• Housing Minister to examine Louth County Council report (talkofthetown.ie)
• Investigation launched into house purchases by Louth County Council (talkofthetown.ie)
• Audit of council house acquisitions to be carried out in Louth (talkofthetown.ie)