EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you really need to know as you start your day.
1. #GE11: Fine Gael is due to publish its plans to hold a referendum on constitutional change within a year of the new government taking office. That plan includes reducing the number of TDs. Also today: Labour will publish its sports policy; the Workers’ Party will publish its election manifesto; Sinn Féin will publish its education plan; and the Green Party are holding a special Valentine-themed event to highlight their commitment to supporting gay marriage.
2. #POLL: The latest Red C/Sunday Business Post poll suggests that Fine Gael is pulling ahead as it is up three to 38 per cent of support. Labour and Fianna Fáil are each down two to 20 per cent and 15 per cent, respectively. Sinn Féin has 10 per cent, the Green Party has three per cent and Independents 14 per cent.
3. #ROADS: A man has died following a single-vehicle road crash at Limavady, Co Derry, last night. Separately, a pedestrian in Dublin was injured after being struck by a car at Clanbrassil Street last night. The man remains in stable condition in hospital.
4. #ASSAULT: Gardaí in Dublin are appealing for witnesses to a serious assault on Friday night on Lower Abbey Street to come forward. A man in his late 20s was taken to the Mater Hospital after an altercation with a man in his early 30s, and is in critical condition.
5. #EGYPT: As protesters in Cairo call on the military to setting a timetable for elections, work is underway to clear the debris from the 18 days of protests and the following day of celebrations. The BBC reports that the military has committed to overseeing the transition to civilian rule, but wants the current government to remain in place until the next has been elected.
6. #BAILOUT: The Sunday Times reports that a financial forecast compiled by Commissioner Olli Rehn show that Ireland needs to find another €5bn to meet its debt ratio requirements by 2014, or €3bn if that deadline is extended to 2015.
7. #CHILEAN MINERS: Live coverage of the dramatic rescue of 33 men who had been trapped in a mine in Chile was interrupted twice as rescuers attempted to hide what was really happening from the billion people watching around the world, Jonathan Franklin writes in the Sunday Times. Old footage was substituted to cover up dangerous repair work as it was carried out during the rescue.
8. #UK: Police in Wales have charged a man, 26, with the murder of pregnant 19-year-old Nikitta Grender. Grender had been found dead by firemen called to a blaze at her flat. A post-mortem showed she had been stabbed.
9. #IFTAS: At the Irish Film and Television Awards last night, Martin McCann took the Lead Actor award for his film Swan Song, while Rewind’s Amy Huberman took Lead Actress. Domhnall Gleeson won the Rising Star award, and Best Actor for the TV production When Harvey Met Bob.
[caption id="attachment_83462" align="alignnone" width="266" caption="Amy Huberman, IFTA winner of the award for best actress in a lead role for 'Rewind'. (Photo by KOBPIX.)"]
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say