EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you start your day.
1. #DOMESTIC ABUSE: Overcrowded refuges for women and children who suffer from domestic abuse had to turn people away on 2,537 occasions in 2011, TheJournal.ie has learned. Overcrowding means many victims of abuse have no choice but to be accommodated in a Garda cell, as they fear for their safety after leaving an abusive home environment.
2. #DRUNK: Some TDs who took part in the Dáil votes on whether to liquidate IBRC – as part of the deal to abolish the promissory notes – were drunk when they did so, Gerry Adams has claimed. The Sinn Féin president told us he knew of at least two TDs who were intoxicated during the debates, as the Dáil’s bars remained open during the late sitting last month.
3. #GARDAÍ: Garda anger at the proposals of the Croke Park deal will be evident in Dublin this evening, according to reports. The Irish Times and The Star both claim that Gardaí are opting against taking overtime by working at Croke Park (the stadium) tonight, for Dublin’s NFL clash with Mayo – meaning the game will have to be policed by people reassigned from other shifts. The GAA usually pays Garda authorities for the extra work, with the money passed on to staff in overtime.
4. #CROKE PARK: One of the country’s largest public unions, representing an estimated 32,000 primary school teachers, has decided not to make any recommendations to its members about whether to approve the proposed ‘Croke Park 2′ pay deal. The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation will issue ballot papers to members in two weeks’ time. On the topic of Croke Park, meanwhile: here’s our Explainer on how the deal is approved (or rejected) by the nation’s public workers.
5. #VAT: Ireland’s mobile phone networks have been urged to take action and drop VAT on text messages intended as donations to charities – with those charities saying the networks are failing to implement a Revenue ruling that VAT on donation texts could be waived. “We’re losing valuable income, as are some other well deserving Irish charities, with no mechanism to claim back the over-charged VAT,” said the Jack and Jill Foundation’s Jonathan O’Brien.
6. #POST: The cost of sending a letter is to rise. The communications regulator has approved a request from An Post to raise the price of a postage stamp for an ordinary letter, from 55c to 60c. An Post had originally sought an increase of 10c – bringing the price to 65c – but revised the request downward in January, and had it approved by ComReg yesterday.
7. #UNITED STATES: Barack Obama has signed an executive order, giving immediate effect to US budget cuts worth $85 billion. The order came after the Democratic and Republican parties in Congress failed to reach an agreement on how to avert the spending cuts, even though both opposed the one-off measures that have now been necessary. The cuts relate to the ‘fiscal cliff’ saga from a few months ago.
8. #FORNICATION: The government of the Maldives says there’s nothing it can do to stop a 15-year-old girl from being sentenced to 100 lashes, and eight months’ house arrest, for having premarital sex. A court has given the girl the option to defer the lashes until she turns 18 – but CNN says Amnesty International is calling for a review, alleging that the ‘premarital sex’ was actually sexual abuse by her stepfather.
9. #AWKWARD: A Californian mother demanded that the Peruvian government issue a nationwide alert, seeking information on her ‘missing’ son and his girlfriend – simply because her travelling son had stopped posting updates to Facebook. Garrett Hand and his girlfriend were trekking around South America in areas without much electricity, internet or phone coverage, Gawker reports, and Hand’s panicked mother prompted a major search to try and track down the couple.
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