METRO Wednesday, October 7, 2009 D TODAY: Dry with sunny spells. Breezy and cool. Max 14C TOMORROW: Cool, bright and mostly dry. Max 14C METRO Weather BY ED CARTY Bank backs cut in public sector pay A SENIOR Central Bank executive has weighed in to the deepening dispute on public-private pay, claiming the salaries of state employees doubled in the last decade. With trade union Siptu on strike footing over wage cuts, the banks assistant director general Tom OConnell said the public sector has enjoyed huge pay rises. If you go back to 1996, both public pay and welfare tripled, he said. A Siptu spokesman dismissed the economics and hit back: No wonder the finances are in such a mess. Siptu said their study into public-private pay between 1998 and 2008 put state employees less than one per cent ahead over this period. The Bank has warned the Government should be looking to cut spending in the forthcoming Budget. However, Dr Mary Murphy, spokeswoman for The Poor Cant Pay campaign group, said the Central Bank was behaving entirely inappropriately and interfering in politics. It is not the job of the Central Bank to say that the poor should pay for the failures of our banking system, she said. Many households are faced with the nightmare of negative equity, thanks to the failure of the Central Bank to ensure a culture of responsible lending within banking. One might expect that an institution which has spectacularly failed to carry out its function would show some humility in making recommenda- tions which will drive the most vulnerable households further into poverty, Dr Murphy added. WRITE ON Sarah Carragher, 16 and Colin Flynn, 16, remind students to get their entries in for the TalktoEU Schools Essay Competition. The competition asks students to compose a 1,000-word essay on the topic, Whats This European Union Thingy Doing For Me? Picture: Photocall Drag queens stun thugs in street fight TWO men who attacked a pair of cross-dressers picked on the wrong men they were cage fighters on a night out. Dean Gardener, 19, and Jason Fender, 22, from Swansea in Wales, taunted the pair parading down a street in wigs, short skirts and high heels. A court in Swansea was shown CCTV footage where Gardener is seen confronting one of the men in pink wig, black skirt and boob tube and then swinging a punch. But his friend in a black dress and long wig springs to his aid, delivering two lightning-quick punches to the two men. Gardener and Fender pleaded guilty to using abusive words and behaviour and were given a four- month community order. MENU THE Home Digest .................... 4 Guilty Pleasures Celebrity Gossip ................... 6 World Digest .................. 10 Letters & Puzzles ...... 12,18 MetroLife Arts and Entertainment.... 14-15 60 Second Interview Maeve Donovan .................. 16 TV ............................. 16-17 Classifieds ............... 19-20 Sport ........................ 21-24 Help keep Dublin clean and tidy for everyone by taking your Metro with you and recycling it Mother gets 6 years for death crashA MOTHER convicted of causing the death of her daughter and another child in 2007 has been sentenced to six years in prison for dangerous driving. Longford woman Mary Carberry, who lived in Co Kildare at the time, drove to her home county after spending an afternoon drinking with a friend. The 33-year-old collected her children from school in Kilcock at 2.50pm in the afternoon and went with a friend and the children to a pub in the town, where she drank until 5pm. The mother-of-four took a taxi home but shortly afterwards drove to Longford with her friend and their four children. She crashed into an embankment near Edgeworthstown killing her daughter Ava, aged six, and friend Michaela Logan, aged nine. Judge Desmond Hogan sentenced her to six years in prison but suspended the last two years of the sentence. DID YOU KNOW? A POLICE officer in San Francisco called Bob Geary was the subject of a local vote on whether he should carry a ventriloquists dummy called Brendan OSmarty while on patrol. He won and was allowed to keep the puppet. Tributes to Concern founderCHARITY chiefs yesterday paid tribute to Concern founder Fr Aengus Finucane, who has lost his battle with cancer. The Limerick-born priest set up the global aid organisation with fellow missionaries in 1968 after working in war-torn Biafra. Concern Worldwides chief executive Tom Arnold said the 77-year-old had been an inspirational leader whose work saved countless lives. He had an absolute commitment to the poorest of the poor, Mr Arnold said. There can be few Irish people who have contributed as much to improving the lives of so much of humanity. Fr Finucane worked extensively in Bangladesh, South East Asia and Rwanda as part of his work with Concern. He served as chief executive of the charity from 1981 until his retirement in 1997, when he was made honorary president of Concern US. Fr Finucane was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year and died at a nursing home in Kimmage. Inspiration: Fr Finucane Free events to show Dublin as a city of ideas DUBLIN is to be branded as a city of ideas during a week-long festival aimed at restoring hope, it was announced yesterday. Lord Mayor Emer Costello said next weeks Innovation Dublin celebrations were about tapping into opportunities and renewing a sense of civic pride. More than 200 free events have been organised by Dublin City Council including science demonstrations, story-telling, business workshops, concerts and virtual games. Croke Park, the new Lansdowne Road stadium, the citys traffic control room, the Mansion House and Dublins mail centre will also open. index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html