The Limerick Blogger: latest Limerick news and Limerick events

If you are a lover of your sleep, then be sure to head to bed an hour early tonight as you will be losing an hour overnight.

At 0100 hrs, the clocks go forward one hour to mark the beginning of Summer Time.

Useless fact of the day, the whole “Daylight saving time” was introduced in Ireland when the British Parliment came up with the idea in 1916 in an effort to save energy during the Great War.

In the UK between 1940 and 1945, the clocks used to go forward two hours in Summer.

An estimated 1,000 delagates from accross the country are attending the Labour Party Conference, Picture: Labour Party flickr photostream (cc)

MULLINGAR, WESTMEATH Will be blogging this one from afar.  There were difficulties getting accomodation for this one.  Such is what happens when you hold big events in small towns.  None the less we will struggle on.

Live webcast is availible on Labour Party Website. Macromedia Flash is required.

Liveblogging at Scribble Live.

If you wish to get involved, send your messave via twitter with the hashtag #lp09

1609 James Heffernan proposes motion at the conference on Motion 61

Conference calls on the Labour Party to devise, develop and implement a range of strategies to make the Labour Party a serious mainstream contender in rural constituencies.

1622: Motion 61 has been carried.

1628: Proceedings in the main hall adjourned until 1930 hrs.

2025: Europe South Election candidate, Senator Alan Kelly was given the privilage of introducing party leader Eamon Gilmore at the conference.

The remaining 150 jobs at Flextronics in Raheen are to go as the company winds down it’s operations in Limerick.

While no official statement has come from the company, SIPTU understands that all the remaining workers will be made redundant by the end of the year, with the lay-offs begining in May.

Flextronics in Limerick currently has Dell as it’s main customer, and with the announcement in January that it is to cease manufacturing in the city, the Flextronics closure was viewed by some as inevitable.

If you have four hours to spare on 24th April, you might consider taking part in a bucket collection for the Special Olympics Ireland.

Details below:

Special Olympics is all about changing the lives of people with intellectual disability by giving them a real opportunity to achieve in life, through sport. Belonging to Special Olympics has a powerful impact, not only on people with an intellectual disability but also on their families, volunteers and the wider community in LIMERICK city and county.

If you can spare 4 hours on 24th April to help with our bucket collection or your company would like to make a donation – please contract Gaye Moore at gaye.moore@twb.ie. Or limerick@specialolympics.ie or 087 2766012

If you want your preferred election candidate featured in the diary, get them to send us their stuff.  Here is some of what we received today.  There were no press releases received yesterday.

• The Fine Gael party is looking for a new image, and the party’s new logo, due to be launched at their ard feis next week, has been leaked.  Maman Poulet has it.
• Over 60 delegates from Limerick will be leaving for Mullingar, county Westmeath for the Labour Party Conference.  The conference runs from Friday to Sunday, with the leader’s speech to be televised at 2030 hrs on Saturday.
• The Greens are also heading for a conference, Their European Election candidates, including South constituency candidate Senetor Dan Boyle, will be attending the conference of the European Greens.  The conference will be streamed at europeangreens.eu.

Following the presentation by Taoiseach Brian Cowen of a copy of the Corrigan Brother’s single, “There’s No One as Irish as Barack Obama” during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Washington, news reaches us that the US president has requested a copy of their upcoming album, “An Irishman invented Rock and Roll.”

‘To have your cd single presented to the President of the United States is an honor that few artists achieve but to have him request a copy of the album is overwhelming and a most wonderful experience’. There is one on the way to the White House by courier” said groups lead singer, Ger Corrigan in a statement released earlier today.

The request was made on March 20th according to the statement.

Gardai based at Roxboro have seized €18,000 at a derelict house in O’Malley Park.

The drugs were uncovered during ongoing investigations

No arrests have been reported in relation to the drugs find.

Seven men were charged tat Limerick District Court in relation to unrest in Moyross in the days following the murder of Darren Bennet.

Patrick McCarthy (36) College Avenue, Moyross, Anton Stanners, (32) Pineview Gardens, Moyross, Gerard Walsh, (37) White Cross Gardens, Michael Healy (20) Cliona Park, and a 17 year old who cannot be named for legal reasons were all charged with public order offences.

The charges arise following an incident on 19th March when missiles were thrown at members of the Gardai by a crowd as they escorted a number of families from their homes.

Stanners, Healy, and the 17 year old are also charged with assaulting a number of Gardai on the same date.

Healy was also accused of a public order offence near the crime scene in Craeval Park, where Darren Bennet had been killed.

Two other men, Mark O’Donoghue, (25) Delmage Park, and Kenneth Carr, (24) of Glenlara, Mount Kennet were also charged with public order offences which were alleged to have taken place on 18th March.

Carr pleaded guilty to the offence, which the court heard included repeated attempts to gain access to the crime scene, which had been cordoned off.  He received a two month prison sentence.

“An aggravating factor is that he attempted to interfere with the crime scene and therefore with the adminstration of justice”, said Judge Aeneas McCarthy as he handed down the sentence to Carr.

A national day long work stoppage by public sector workers scheduled for March 30 has been deferred.

The decision comes after ICTU accepted an invitation to enter talks with the government.

More later.

Here is your summary of what local election candidates are up to in the run up to the election.

Full press releases from the politicians are below the fold.  As was done during the General Election, these will be unedited.

• Councillor Diarmuid Scullyu wants to ban election posters for the upcoming campaign Putting forward a motion which was supported by independents, opposed by Labour, and which Fianna Fail absented themselves, he said, “The average cost of printing, erecting and properly disposing of an election poster is €12.  Most candidates in the forthcoming local elections will be placing hundreds of such posters on lampposts all over our city.  The total cost of posters for all candidates running for election to Limerick City Council will easily run in excess of €100,000.
• Sinn Fein have selected their candidate to run in the Newcastlewest electoral area of Limerick County Council.  Mike Mac Domhnaill, a secondary school maths teacher by profession, is standing on issues such as the extension of a gas pipeline into west Limerick, and to ensure improved educational infrastructure.
• Green Party Candidate James Nix wants to honour the Irish team who won the recent Six Nations Grand Slam by bringing to completion the planned riverside walkway.

As mentioned before, undedited releases are below the fold.  If you want your preferred political party to be featured here, get them to send us their stuff.

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