The Front Pages
Tut, tut – what has Ivor Callely done now? According to this morning’s Irish Independent, everyone’s favourite disgraced senator failed to declare seven of his properties to Oireachtas authorities. Callely could now be facing a possible investigation by the Seanad’s Committee on Member’s Interests and if guilty, disciplinary action.
According to the Independent’s sources, the senator has returned to Dublin from his west Cork home to take legal advice before responding to the numerous claims regarding his conduct. The Independent has found that Mr Callely registered just two properties on the last three annual registers, though publicly available records show he had a stake in at least seven properties during this time.
The Irish Times clearly is exhausted with Callely stories, and runs with today’s headline ‘Future civil servants may be second rate, warns pay chief’, after the Chairman of the Higher Public Servants Remuneration Committee stated that future generations of top civil servants may be ‘second division’ material.
Chairman Tony O’Brien said that despite Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan’s plan to open up top public service jobs to private-sector applicants, the private sector will instead “attract the cream in the futureâ€.
“I’d worry about the future. They’ll be second division, and that will be a challenge for the Government.
Tales from the Tabs
‘Croc-zilla: First picture of the 22ft-long monster that terrorised Australian community’
More sterling stuff from the Daily Mail today as they expose the first photo of a giant crocodile that had been terrorising a remote Aboriginal community in Australia’s Northern Territory. Aussie farmer Jeida Francis is claiming the killing of ‘croc-zilla’, stating that the reptile had been wreaking havoc upon his farming family:
‘It was massive. This one was getting nasty and too close. It was attacking our cattle.’
The giant beast is 22ft long and clearly from the photograph, the length of a truck. Sadly for Jeida and his community, it is thought that two more giant crocodiles are still roaming the area – and may be even bigger.
The Sports Pages
Today’s morning papers are mostly reporting on Sharmrock Rover’s admirable performance last night in the torrential Modena rain against Italian giants Juventus. Rovers lost 1-0 thanks to a stunning free-kick from Juve veteran Alessandro Del Piero and lost 3-0 on aggregate over both Europa League Third-Round Qualifying legs.
In transfer news, Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole is the source of much speculation this move, as the Daily Mirror is linking the unsettled defender with a move to Real Madrid, claiming the Blues will sign another Benfica star, Fabio Coentrao, in his place. The Daily Mail, however, believes that Real Madrid’s French striker Karim Benzema could be offered in a part-exchange deal for Cole.
Numerous tabloid reports are also linking Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor to Juventus this morning, though City have confirmed through their Twitter account that they have ‘no plans to sell Emmanuel Adebayor; our new No.9 for this season – and that’s official.â€
Finally, Manchester City are apparently keeping tabs on Barcelona’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has apparently been told he is surplus to requirements at the Catalan side (Telegraph). Many websites such as Goal.com are also reporting that the Swedish striker is keen on a loan move to AC Milan.
