Gardai have uncovered a massive haul of cocaine in flood-hit Athlone. Two men have been arrested following the drugs seizure last Friday night.

During the search of a premises in Athlone, gardai from the Westmeath Divisional Drug Unit, assisted by local gardai, seized 20kg of cocaine with an estimated value of €1.4m.

Some 5kg of cannabis resin with an estimated value of €60,000 was also seized. Two men, aged 43 and 42, were arrested and were being detained yesterday at Athlone garda station.

€21m fund available to train Dell staff

A €21M fund to help retrain up to 1,900 redundant Dell workers will allow them to complete VEC, Fas, third-level courses and other approved training, Defence Minister Willie O'Dea said yesterday.

The workers lost their jobs earlier this year when the computer company decided to move production from Limerick to Poland. The decision to grant the aid package was carried in the European Parliament by 591 votes in favour and 61 against. Under the deal, the EU is providing €14.3m of the €21m fund, with the balance put up by the Government.

No winner of €2.7m Lotto jackpot

THERE was no winner of last night's €2,729,636 Lotto jackpot. The numbers drawn were 2, 8, 11, 24, 34, 38 (bonus 10).

There was one match 5+bonus winner who receives €25,000; 72 Match 5s win €1,182 each; 141 Match 4+bonus (€151); 2,746 Match 4s (€48); 3,830 Match 3+bonus (€23); and 43,324 Match 3s win €5 each.

In the Lotto Plus 1 draw the numbers were 5, 8, 14, 23, 25, 42 (bonus 6) and the Lotto Plus 2 numbers were 3, 5, 7, 10, 25, 38 (bonus 16).

And in the UK draw for stg£4.5m, the numbers were 3, 4, 27, 30, 36, 47 (bonus 8).

Bid to speed up devolution of powers

NORTHERN Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness yesterday met with Taoiseach Brian Cowen to discuss the transferring of policing and powers in NI.

Both men agreed there can be no preconditions on the move. However, Mr McGuinness said a date must be agreed before Christmas for the transfer to take place and take effect early in the New Year. He also used the hour-long meeting in Tullamore, Co Offaly, to raise his concerns over comments made by First Minister Peter Robinson.

The DUP leader recently said he would only agree to a deal on devolution when his party believed there was sufficient public confidence in the move. He has also sought concessions on the future stewardship of Orange Order parades in Northern Ireland, plus the future of the police reserve and access to personal-protection weapons for former security force members.

The transfer of the powers would establish a new justice ministry at Stormont in an administration led by the DUP and Sinn Fein.

The transfer of the powers was promised in the St Andrews agreement of 2006 which led to republican acceptance of the PSNI and paved the way for the DUP and Sinn Fein to enter government together.

Downing Street and the Northern Ireland Office have also been phoning senior DUP figures in a bid to hasten the devolution of policing and justice powers to Stormont.

The personal calls from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Secretary of State Shaun Woodward are part of a major lobbying exercise devised by the British prime minister's staff to try to persuade senior figures in the party to support the devolution of powers.

Mr McGuinness has already warned that the political process would be in deep trouble if the powers were not transferred to Stormont before Christmas.

The DUP has said that there was no prospect of this happening and party leader Peter Robinson made it clear on Thursday after a meeting in Downing Street that a huge volume of work had to be done before he would consider agreeing to the move.

Mr Brown and Mr Cowen are scheduled to meet in Downing Street tomorrow in order to discuss possible ways of resolving the impasse between the DUP and Sinn Fein.

Calls for Dun Laoghaire parking cuts

Business people in Dun Laoghaire have called on their local authority to cut parking charges before Christmas.

They fear the Dublin City Council initiative to offer free car parking in the wake of the Bus Gate debacle will draw shoppers from Dun Laoghaire to the city centre.

Volker Haninger, director of MESA tableware Ltd, said: "This measure of Dublin City Council is a brilliant idea for the city centre, but it will effect all retail businesses in the Dun Laoghaire area in a negative way; shoppers will be drawn away from Dun Laoghaire due to the council's parking fees which apply in every shopping street as well as all surrounding streets."

Mr Haninger added: "Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council should now suspend parking fees for a limited period, for the Christmas season to boost retail business."

Woman dies after being struck by van

A 37-year-old woman has died in Leenane, Co Galway, after she was struck by a van while walking on the N59 Clifden to Westport road on Friday.

She was taken to Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar and later transferred to Galway University Hospital, where she died yesterday.

Retired solicitor leaves €3.3m in will

Vincent Walsh, a retired solicitor of St Anne's, Ailesbury Road, Dublin, who died on May 6, 2009, has left €3,337,308 in his will, which went to probate in Dublin last week.

Other wills: Patrick V McGee, company director (retired) of Ardee, Co Louth, left €2,694,615; Peadar McCormack, Cypress Park, Templeogue, Dublin, left €1,781,225; Margaret Hanlon, housewife, Clanacool, Naas Road, Clondalkin, Dublin, left €1,694,265; Justin Standford, company director, of Hazlewood Park, Artane, Dublin, left €1,039,880; and Austin O'Neill, a retired Catholic priest of Nicholas Gardens, York, England, left €843,055.

The value of wills include property, including the family home, and should not be regarded as cash amounts.

Sunday Independent