A 70-year-old former Fianna Fáil senator has been jailed for his role in attempting to extort €100,000 from a Department of Agriculture veterinary inspector.

A former Fianna Fail Senator has pleaded guilty at Monaghan Circuit Court to a charge of extortion.

A retired Fianna Fáil senator yesterday appeared, along with two others, at a sitting of a District Court on a charge of demanding money by menaces.

FORMER Irish Nationwide Building Society chairman Michael Fingleton, a Fianna Fáil senator and two developers are opposing a bid to fast-track a legal action against them over unpaid property loans of €13.5 million.