February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Patrick Markey
Michael Murray wasn’t your average bank robber.
A sociology graduate with another diploma in philosophy, Murray attained his degrees through the Open University while languishing in prison.
Now Murray will have plenty of time to reflect on the meaning of life’s existential meanderings. A Cork judge recently sentenced him to another eight years, saying his educational achievements were matched by his criminal record, reports the Examiner newspaper.
Education had also been Murray’s downfall. He was allowed out of Mountjoy prison to attend a four-hour course and decided to go on the run. While on the lam, Murray put his talents to the test — he robbed more than £5,000 from two banks within four days. He was arrested two weeks later in Cork.
Bad hair day
Sign up to The Irish Echo Newsletter
Some might consider a halo a blessing, or at least a sign of something positive. Not Siobhan McClafferty.
A model and former Miss Ireland, McClafferty recently settled a "bad hairdo" lawsuit in which she had sued a Dublin hair salon for damages to her hair, reports the Examiner newspaper. She said after a hair cut there, a white halo seemed to appear around the top of her head, resulting in another five inches having to be cut off from her locks, thus damaging her modeling career.
McClafferty, a model agency director, had sued for £30,000 in damages, which included a £10,500 bill for alleged loss of earnings as well as medical and hair treatment expenses. She had alleged that her hair had been "grossly damaged" during a 1995 visit to the high-end Dublin salon.
Hot-headed pol
While the European electoral issues stirred little fervor in most parts, in Galway some passions were running higher than most — especially those of MEP candidate "Ming."
The would-be European representative tried to force his way into the RTÉ studio in Galway recently, which was broadcasting a news radio program, to highlight what he claims is an RTÉ policy of censorship, reports the Galway Advertiser.
Independent candidate Luke "Ming" Flanagan entered the RTÉ buildings on Augustine Street, but he was restrained by RTÉ staff as he was heading for the broadcasting room. Flanagan claimed he was being unfairly treated by RTÉ because he had not been given the same air time as the other 11 Euro candidates in Connacht/Ulster.
"Yet again RTÉ would not let me on the radio, so I went there to protest at what I see is the unfair treatment of non-party candidates or lower profile candidates like myself," complained the defiant Flanagan.
The editor of the "News at One" radio program, Donal Byrne, said only four candidates were asked to take part on the broadcast because of the brevity and the number of candidates in the constituency.
"It is not true to say Ming has been barred from RTÉ. . . .We try to maintain a balance between all candidates," Byrne said.
Red card hell
Thomastown United fans are probably wondering what happened at the Fair Green football pitch in Kilkenny.
Their team might well be Premier League leaders, but that didn’t stop their recent match descending into a shambles when 10 people were sent off during the playoff, reports the Kilkenny People.
They were beating the second placed Freebooters by two goals. But that was not before two players, and their manager, were shown red cards by referee Tom Walsh.
But despite inferior numbers, the Freebooters showed some steel and scored two sensational goals.
Thomastown were visibly shaken, and the red cards began to flash for United. Thomastown were soon in tatters. They had four players gone for early showers and a club official was also given a red card. And if that wasn’t enough, after the game two more cards were produced for Thomastown players.