D Friday, November 20, 2009 METRO 13 METRONEWS AT THE SPEED OF LIFE VAMPIRE movie New Moon has been condemned by the Vatican as a deviant moral vacuum. The latest film in the Twilight saga is based on the hugely popular series of books by Stephanie Meyer, an American mormon. But that means little to the Catholic Church in Italy. This film is nothing more than a moral vacuum with a deviant message and, as such, is something that should be of concern, said Monsignor Franco Perazzolo, Vatican condemns new vampire film BELGIAN prime minister Herman Van Rompuy was named as the new president of the European Council yesterday after Britain dropped its insistence that former prime minister Tony Blair (pictured) should become president. The decision ends weeks of deadlock which saw British prime minister Gordon Brown insist on Mr Blair for the job. It was only when he backed down that the breakthrough was made. Belgian wins EU presidency vote BOYZONE crooner turned Coronation Street actor Keith Duffy joined Irish model Ruth ONeill yesterday to announce details of the last charity ball of 2009, which will be in aid of Irish Autism Action. The Keith Duffy Masquerade Ball 2009, in association with Raymond Weil watches, takes place on Saturday, December 5, in the great hall at The Royal Hospital Kilmainham. Duffy unveils ball for Autism Action BRITISH prime minister Gordon Brown offered an olive branch to X Factors Jedward yesterday, insisting they were very good at some things after criticising their singing. Mr Brown conceded he had burned his boats with twins John and Edward Grimes (pictured). The UKs Labour Party last week a mocked-up poster of Tories David Cameron and George Osborne as the Irish teens, with the slogan: You wont be laughing if they win. Jedward good at other things driver, he said he could only follow instructions given by the inspector, with whom he allowed her to speak through an intercom. He explained that it was too dan- gerous for the bus to drive through Cherry Orchard because of the foot- ball, said Ms Farmer. I responded that if it was too dangerous for the bus how did he expect two lone females to get home? But the inspector hung up. He obviously did not want to dis- cuss it any further, she said. The driver drove us as far as he could towards Park West but the walk still took us 20minutes in bad weather past Cloverhill Prison along a dark desolate road. Ms Farmers only company was a young girl who has lived in the area for a matter of weeks, and would have had no clue how to get home on her own. If anything had happened to us we had nowhere to turn, there were no cars going past and no chance of hail- ing a cab. Ms Farmer branded Dublin Bus ir- responsible, adding: It shows they care more for their buses than they do for the safety of the passengers. A spokesman for Dublin Bus said dropping passengers along the divert- ed route was all we can do. Dublin Bus left female passengers strandedBY ROSS McDONAGH DUBLIN BUS has been criticised for leaving two female passengers kilo- metres away from their stops late at night because of a diversion. The passengers have questioned the companys policies after they were forced to walk for 20minutes through a dark and desolate area of the city because another bus had been at- tacked earlier that night. Shortly after 9.30pm on Wednesday, a rock was thrown through the win- dow of a bus in Cherry Orchard, and all bus routes through the area were immediately diverted. An hour-and-a-half later, the diver- sion was still in place as passenger Dawn Farmer was attempting to make her way home to Park West from the city centre on the 79A bus route. Ms Farmer said the driver told her the bus was to be rerouted to Cherry Orchard Hospital due to the foot- ball. The driver told us that it was going to be a ten-minute walk; it is not a ten-minute walk but as it was the last bus I had no choice other than to get it, she said. Cherry Orchard Hospi- tal is in Ballyfermot, Dublin 10 and we live in Park West, Dublin 12. After raising her concerns with the morE SpAcE for SciEncE Student Ian Fahey with a scale model of the Herschel Telescope at the launch of Irelands European Space Education Resource Office in a 475,000 project supported by the European Space Agency to promote the study of science using space as a theme in schools Picture: Photocall Trucker denies causing death by drivingA TRUCK driver has been accused of dangerous driving causing the death of a wheelchair user in 2006. Jason McWeeney, 34, of Tamerisk Park, Tallaght pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to dangerous driving causing the death of Alan Dempsey at a Finglas junction around 1.40pm on July 10, 2006. The court heard how a witness, who had been waiting at a nearby bus stop before the accident, ran over to the crash scene and rang emergency services seconds after hearing an unmerciful bang. The witness said the driver jumped out of his truck, saying: I didnt see him, I didnt see him and the deceased, who was still alive at the time replied: How the f*** did you not see me. Detective Garda Karen Barker said McWeeney told her at the crash scene that he first became aware of a collision when his trucks back axle went over something after driving wide around a bend at the Cappagh Road and Cardiffsbridge Road junction. The detective garda told the court that McWeeney had appeared sober and in shock while speaking with her. Crash-scene expert Garda John Reynolds said the lorrys blind spots put the driver at a visual disadvantage and were particularly dangerous for pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists. The trial continues before a jury of six men and six women. FLOODING in the country is probably worse than any other time in the past 20 years, the Irish Farmers Association said yesterday. The south and west are the worst hit with garda closing the town of Bandon in Co Cork, Ennis in Co Clare reporting bad flooding and delays and diversions because of flooding of a 4km section of the N17 Galway-Tuam road. The situation is extremely serious, IFA spokesman Roy OBrien said, with tens of thousands of acres of farmland in the west flooded, and farmhouses in north Co Galway being cut off by rising flood waters. The bad weather played havoc with public transport yesterday with the Dart, Northern Commuter and Maynooth Commuter services hit by delays and on the Galway-Dublin rail line, bus transfers operating between Ballinasloe and Athenry hit by congestion because of floods on the roads. Met ireann says the wet weather will continue over the weekend and into the first half of next week. index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html