Former senator gets community service

A former leas-chathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann has been ordered by Judge Katherine Delahunt to perform 75 hours' community service in lieu of a six-month sentence for not declaring a IR£2,500 donation he received from lobbyist Frank Dunlop.

Liam Cosgrave (aged 49) of Merrion Park, Blackrock, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to knowingly furnishing a falsified statement where he failed to declare that he had received any donation exceeding IR£500 between May 15 and December 31, 1997.