D Thursday, October 8, 2009 METRO Diplomat helps kidnapped Irish IRELANDs ambassador to Egypt Gerry Corr arrived in Darfur yesterday as part of an international team working to secure the release of an Irish aid worker kidnapped with her Ugandan colleague. Sharon Commins, 33, from Clontarf and Hilda Kawuki, 42, a nutritionist from Uganda, were abducted at gunpoint in Darfur on July 3. The two women work for Irish aid agency Goal. On Sunday, both will have been in captivity for 100 days. Sudanese officials were reported to be getting good signals from tribal chiefs this week that the situation may soon be resolved. SOMALI pirates in two skiffs fired on a French navy vessel yesterday after apparently mistaking it for a commercial boat. The French ship gave chase and captured five suspected pirates. No one was wounded by the shots directed at La Somme, a 3,800-ton refuelling ship, said French military spokesman Christophe Prazuck. France is a key member of the EUs naval mission, Operation Atalanta, fighting Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden. It has tracked and caught suspected pirates and handed over at least 22 to Kenya. Pirate error leads to capture by navy expenses, he said. You wouldnt treat a member of a trade union like that, or a worker, or there would be a general strike, said Mr Lenihan. I dont think there was great dignity about it and I dont think it was a good day for Irish politics. Mr Lenihan insisted it wasnt right or proper for the Labour leader to put down a motion of no confidence in the Ceann Comhairle ahead of a planned meeting of the Oireachtas Commission yesterday evening. Mr Lenihan argued that because of the Ceann Comhairles independence and im- partial role, Mr ODonoghue was not in a position to publicly defend himself. To try to save his job, Mr ODonoghue had promised to give detailed proposals that would deal with mounting criticism of his lavish spending which came to more than 200,000 for two years. ODonoghues resignation bad day for Irish politicsFINANCE Minister Brian Lenihan has denounced the forced resignation of Ceann Comhairle John ODonoghue as a bad day for Irish politics. The senior Fianna Fil minister said his party colleague was not given the oppor- tunity to explain his expenses before Labour leader Eamon Gilmore dramati- cally demanded he step down. A motion was tabled in regard to him before he got an opportunity to explain the position to the people who paid him the by brian hutton Change or lose Greens THE Programme for Government must be radically altered if Green Party members are to continue to support the coalition with Fianna Fil, according to Green TD Ciarn Cuffe. He told RT Radio yesterday that if the Green Party did not get a clear result on the issue of expenses, he did not know whether a new deal with Fianna Fil was possible. He added that it would have been unsustainable for John ODonoghue to remain in office, and that it was time for a comprehensive rehaul of the expenses system.Gone: Mr oDonoghue TODAYS TOP SHOT: Outback by Joan Donohue Metro readers from around the globe are invited to take part in one of the worlds largest photo competitions. this year the themes are: People, Places and Climate Change. For your chance to see your work in print around the world and win one of three trips for two to a Metro city of your choice, simply submit your photographs by Sunday october 18. upload your photos now at www.metrophotochallenge.com/ie METRO PhOTO ChallenGe 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