Every morning, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you really need to know by 9am.
1. #GE11: The final dozen: 154 seats have been filled, with 12 seats left still up for grabs. A recount is taking place in Wicklow from 9am at the request of Dick Roche, and in Laois Offaly and Galway West. Check who your new representatives are in our handy constituency map.
2. #GE11: Enda Kenny is to begin talks on the formation of a new government with Labour today- although the Independent’s print edition seems convinced that the question has already been popped in a late night phone call. If so, Enda mustn’t have told Leo Varadkar – who said last night the party is still open to talks with like-minded independents.
3. #DYNASTY: It’s the final episode for several long-running family dramas, as the weekend’s results brought an end to the Haughey, Hanafin and Coughlan political families. Only the Lenihans survived – and only just.
4.#LIBYA: An Irish citizen has escaped from Libya by pretending to be Turkish, the Irish Independent reports. Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs are hoping to get more Irish people out today, after a further three got out yesterday. Gaddafi is refusing international calls for him to step down, as foreign ministers from around the world are gathering in Geneva to discuss their response to the mounting humanitarian crisis, the BBC reports.
5. #SEAN DUNNE: Sean Dunne has been told to go back to the drawing board with his plans for the Jurys/Berkeley Court Hotel in Ballsbridge, as planners ask him to reduce it in size and scale, the Irish Times reports.
6. #LILLIS: Records filed with the Companies Registration Office show that the company run by Celine Cawley was wound down last week, releasing almost €754,511 – €345,000 of which went to her husband Eamonn Lillis, who is serving a seven year sentence in Wheatfield Prison for her killing. The estate is the subject of a looming court battle between Lillis and the Cawley family, Patrick O’Connell of the Irish Daily Star reports.
7 #NEW ZEALAND: The first funeral – that of a five month old baby boy – has taken place for one of the victims of the New Zealand earthquake. High winds and dust storms are continuing to make life miserable for the residents of Christchurch. Search teams are continuing to search for victims, but are finding only the dead in the rubble. The Irish Daily Star reports that the families of those still missing, including the family of JJ O’Connor, who had been missing in the Pyne Gould Guinness building, have been asked to provide DNA. TVNZ reports the chief coroner Neil MacLean as saying that in many cases, visual identification isn’t possible.
8. #DRIVING: Up to one in two drivers admit to chatting, texting or surfing the net while in control of a the car, according a new survey by AA Motor Insurance.
9. #OSCARS: In an uneventful night at the ceremony, the King’s Speech won 4 awards, but the only real excitement was provided by actress Melissa Leo, who accidentally used the F-word.
Irish director Michael Creagh is coming back to earth with a bang, after his night of partying at the Oscars, where he had been nominated for his short film, The Crush. He didn’t win – but he’s hopeful that the nomination will have opened a few doors. His expectations are surprisingly modest, however – he’ll be happy if he gets to make a few extra TV commercials in Ireland, the told the Irish Independent. “I haven’t working in a month, and I still need to pay the bills”.
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