The five men jailed over protests against a pipeline from the Corrib gas field off the Mayo coast are the only people with the power to resolve the dispute, it was claimed today.

LAWYERS for five local people who have been in jail for more than a week for breach of court orders restraining obstruction of the installation of a high-pressure gas pipeline in Co Mayo are to bring an application to discharge the order on foot of which the men are jailed.

IF YOU came out of Dunnes Stores with a bag of bananas unpaid for, it is highly unlikely that the security man would accept a plea of “mental blackout” in mitigation as you shrank with embarrassment in the street after being caught.