Clarification: Niall Saul
Thursday October 15 2009
IN the edition of the Irish Independent of Saturday, October 10, under the headline: 'Coughlan: I was powerless to stop board giving car to Molloy', Tanaiste Mary Coughlan is quoted as saying that a FAS board member, Mr Niall Saul, had told her that the issue of former director general Rody Molloy's car was going to be discussed at a meeting of the board.
It has been brought to our attention that the Tanaiste did not say this. What she said was that she had heard Mr Saul discussing the matter in a recent radio interview.
We fully accept that Mr Saul had no involvement whatsoever in the negotiation of Mr Molloy's package, or discussions of any sort with the Tanaiste or any of her officials on that topic at any point. We note that Mr Saul was not present at the FAS Board meeting at which Mr Molloy's package was discussed. We further recognise that in the radio interview, Mr Saul was merely offering an opinion on the issue of such severance packages in general, based on his professional experience in dealing with such matters. We regret the error and apologise to Mr Saul for any embarrassment caused.
Toddler's funeral to be held tonight
THE funeral will take place tonight in New Zealand of an Irishman's two-year-old daughter, whose body was found on Monday.
Aisling Symes, whose father Alan is from Stradbally in Co Waterford, will be cremated after a funeral service in Ranui Baptist Church in West Auckland at 11pm Irish time.
Farmers' cheques delayed for week
MORE than 100,000 farmers who will have to wait until next week to get badly needed advances from Brussels.
Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith yesterday said that advance single-farm payments of €800m to Irish farmers had commenced early. A spokeswoman later claimed the announcement was wrong due to "a typo".
Weekend Lotto heads for €3m
Saturday's lotto jackpot is heading for €3 million after no one won the top prize in the midweek draw last night.
The winning numbers drawn for the jackpot, worth €2,584,809, were: 9 12 15 17 31 39 and bonus number 34.
There was one winner of the top prize in the Lotto Plus One draw worth €350,000.
The winning numbers drawn were: 5 7 20 21 33 45 and bonus number 30. There was also no jackpot winner in the Lotto Plus Two draw worth €250,000. The winning numbers were: 6 10 11 14 16 20 and bonus 8.
Irish Independent
