METRO Thursday, October 1, 2009 D METRODigest A FERRY stranded off port for 24 hours after a lorry crashed through its rear door did not have the necessary equipment to secure vehicles on board, maritime investigators yesterday revealed. Almost 200 passengers and crew were stranded overnight on the Stena Voyager in January when the articulated truck, which did not have its handbrake on and was out of gear, broke free shortly after the craft left Stranraer in Scotland en route to Belfast. The ferry was unable to berth again as the lorry, which was left hanging precariously off the stern, was obstructing access to the docking terminal. Eventually, weary passengers were lifted off the vessel one by one by a fire service cherry picker. Stranded ferry was under equipped THE son of former MEP Kathy Sinnott has been laid to rest in his native Co Cork. Friends and family gathered at Our Lady and St Johns Church in Carrigaline to say their last goodbyes to Kevin, who drowned in the US last week. The 22-year-old philosophy student went missing while swimming in a lake in Dawsonville, Georgia, near the college he was attending. His body was recovered from the water after an intensive search operation. A Dawson County police spokesman said alcohol was not a factor in the drowning, which has been treated as a tragic accident. Ms Sinott and two of her sons flew to the US and brought his body home at the weekend. Drowned son of former MEP is buried AN ARMY of 8,000 community workers marched to the Dil yesterday to fight funding cuts. Childcare providers, adult education staff and drug rehab groups protested against the closure of local projects and the potential axing of 6,500 jobs under An Bord Snip Nua proposals. Communities Against Cuts marchers filled Molesworth Street as activists handed out United States Of Nama bank notes. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions, meanwhile, also called on workers to take part in a day of protest around the country on Friday November 6 against cuts in spending and pay, and against the Governments perceived lack of action on the jobs crisis. A total of 55 unions are affiliated to Congress, representing more than 600,000 workers in the Republic. 8,000 hit streets over community cuts MORE than 60 Dublin restaurants will offer three-course dinner menus for 25 or 30 to mark Dine in Dublin Restaurant Week which runs from October 12 to 18. Participating restaurants include Fallon & Byrne, Saba, Bleu Bistro, Brasserie 66 and the Steakhouse, owned by Marco Pierre White (pictured). Up to 20 hotels will also participate by offering ten per cent off their lowest quoted accommodation rates. The inaugural Dine in Dublin week in April boosted the economy by 500,000. Dinner week to boost sales A COURT has dismissed a charge of possession of a mobile phone against the so-called Black Widow, Catherine Nevin. Judge Aeneas Joseph McCarthy at the Dublin District Court said there was no forensic or DNA evidence linking the 58-year-old, who was convicted of murdering her husband Tom Nevin in 2000. Earlier, the court heard evidence from a prison officer who said she found Nevin (pictured) holding a mobile phone under a blanket in her cell on January 28, 2008. Nevin charge dropped A TEN-YEAR-OLD girls attempt to sell her grandmother on eBay was thwarted by regulations on human trafficking. Zoe Pemberton advertised her grandmother Marion Goodall, 61, of Clacton, Essex, in the UK, on the internet auction site, describing her as annoying but cuddly in her joke listing. But eBay bosses removed the advertisement because the site does not allow humans to be bought and sold. We had to take it down but it was quite amusing and there were a number of offers, an eBay spokeswoman said. Model Suzanne McCabe (left) and 98FMs Siobhn OConnor get some practice in the National Basketball Arena ahead of the Irish Red Cross World Record Attempt for the largest pub quiz ever, to be held in the arena in Tallaght on October 29 index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html