EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you begin your day.
1. #TARGET EXPRESS: A major haulage company operating on both sides of the Irish border has ceased trading, putting almost 400 jobs at risk. It’s reported in this morning’s papers that the company behind the business had been in a dispute with the Revenue Commissioners, with the company saying Revenue had rejected a proposal over the repayment of an outstanding bill.
2. #WHITE COLLAR CRIME: The Director of Corporate Enforcement has called for legal changes which would allow suspects of white collar crime to be held for longer. Paul Appleby – who retires today – has told RTÉ that current laws only allow for 24 hours’ questioning, and that this is inadequate.
3. #HOSPITALS: The HSE has confirmed a series of hospital bed closures in Louth and Meath as a result of attempts to rein in budget overspending. The beds will go in Dundalk, Drogheda and Navan, though the Drogheda closures are temporary. Unions have complained that the cuts may be in breach of the Croke Park Agreement.
4. #BACK TO SCHOOL: As the country’s children begin to head back to school – some of them without books, due to the ongoing difficulties at Schoolbooks.ie – the country’s three teachers’ unions have released new figures showing that a new teacher’s starting salary is 29 per cent less than that of a colleague who graduated two years earlier, even though both have the same jobs and duties.
5. #LOUISIANA: Barack Obama has declared a state of emergency in Louisiana as Tropical Storm Isaac creeps closer to landfall in the United States. The declaration means federal support is available for any relief operations. The storm is set to reach land either tonight or tomorrow; if it’s the latter, it’ll have arrived seven years to the day after Hurricane Katrina.
6. #ISRAEL: A court in Haifa has dismissed a complaint taken by the family of US activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed by a defence forces bulldozer during a Palestinian protest march in 2003. The court said Corrie could have avoided the dangerous situation, and found that a previous government investigation “had no mistakes”, the Jerusalem Post reports.
7. #CANNABIS: A 20-year study with over 1,000 participants has concluded that people who begin to smoke marijuana as a teenager are likely to lose a few IQ points, though those who begin smoking as adults do not. The report said respondents who smoked heavily from high school onwards, and who took IQ tests at ages 13 and 38, lost an average of eight IQ points in the second test.
8. #HOMOPHOBIA: The GAA has hit back at MEP Phil Prendergast after the Labour member said the association was not doing enough to tackle homophobia. Prendergast was commenting on Donal Óg Cusack’s remarks that he had been the victim of homophobic taunts from the terraces, and had claimed the GAA was sitting on its hands in tackling prejudice.
9. #THE REAL THING: Coca-Cola has been named as the most popular brand among Irish shoppers when they’re picking up groceries. The list, published by Checkout magazine, also shows Avonmore, 7up, Cadbury’s and Tayto as among the brands that shoppers are most likely to look out for.
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