The Court of Criminal Appeal today overturned the murder convictions of brothers Warren and Jeffrey Dumbrell who, in 2008, were sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2006 murder of Christopher Cawley. The Dumbrells' legal team successfully argued that the trial judge had made comments at a separate venue which could have prejudiced the outcome for their clients. A retrial has been ordered.

During the trial Justice Paul Carney delivered a lecture in UCC in which he spoke of the level of fatal stabbings and the length of the sentences imposed for manslaughter.

Ministerial Council meets at Farmleigh

A meeting of a North/South Ministerial Council at Farmleigh House in Dublin today is focusing on how to deal with the economic downturn. Attending the meeting are the North's First Minister Peter Robinson and the Finance Minister Sammy Wilson. A total of 26 ministers from North and South are participating, following which Mr Robinson and Mr Wilson will meet President Mary McAleese in Áras a Uachtaráin.

Motorway service areas to create 300 jobs

Applegreen, the motorway service stations operator, is to create 300 full- and part-time positions in three motorway service areas in counties Louth, Meath and Dublin. The facilities will be opened on the M4 at Enfield, Co. Meath, and on the M1 at Lusk, Co. Dublin and Castlebellingham, Co. Louth.

No dates have been announced for the opening of the service areas.

Concern over rumoured job losses at banks and eircom

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation Batt O'Keeffe was in Santry today to announce the creation of 425 jobs at the Stream Global Services. This news was well flagged more than a week ago so there was more interest in what Mr O'Keeffe had to say about the rumoured loss of 2,000 jobs at eircom and the same number between the two main banks.

Mr O'Keeffe said he would be very concerned if the stories were true but he had heard nothing about redundancies being planned by the banks. He was aware that eircom was in the process of reducing costs and referred to a redundancy programme, aimed at reducing staff numbers by 1,200, which is nearing completion. However the Sunday Independent, which started the rumour, claims that the 2,000 are in addition to 1,200.

Asylum seekers stage protest

Asylum seekers have been protesting in Mosney, Co. Meath following the news that 150 of the 800 who are being accommodated in the former holiday complex are to be moved.  The decision to relocate single men and women to vacant hostel accommodation in Dublin has been made on the grounds of cost. The leaders of the protest say that all concerned will refuse to board the buses that are arriving to collect them tomorrow.

Golfers gather in Adare

Some of the world's top golfers have gathered in Adare, Co. Limerick for the JP McManus Invitational Pro-Am, with most of the attention focused on Tiger Woods. This is his first appearance in a tournament outside the US since his marital difficulties were revealed, but it is the third time he is taking part in the event. Also in Adare are Graeme McDowell, Pádraig Harrington, Fred Funk, Rory McIlroy and Jim Furyk, as well as a number of film stars including Hugh Grant and Samuel L. Jackson.

Today's Papers

Variety is the key to this morning's headlines, although both The Irish Times and the Irish Independent stay with the economy. The Irish Times headline reads "Nama losses may amount to several hundred million euro" and the Irish Independent goes with "Noonan: I'll tell bank chiefs they have to go". Meanwhile the HSE takes another hit in the Irish Examiner's main story, with "HSE failing troubled youths in care".

The Irish News leads with a report into how sex crimes are handled; the headline reads "75% of rape cases result in no prosecution".

The Weather in Galway

The high winds of yesterday have dropped but we have had at least two showers this morning already and more are expected. Temperature 16C.

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