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Dublin: 10 °C Monday 20 May, 2013

The 9 at 9: Thursday

Nine things to know this morning…

Image: Ross Whitaker

EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you start your day.

1. #DEBT CRISIS: Taoiseach Enda Kenny heads to Brussels today to meet with European Commission President Jose-Manuel Barroso over the continuing eurozone debt crisis. The talks are expected to focus on using existing structures to boost confidence in the eurozone. Barroso is meeting with a number of EU leaders separately to discuss efforts to tackle the crisis.

2. #COMPLAINTS: The Financial Services Ombudsman William Prasifka told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland this morning that his office is seeing an upward trend in the number of complaints against financial service providers which are being upheld. He said that the financial services industry is not getting to grips with problems in the sector.

3. #BOMB ATTACK: A bomb exploded outside the City of Culture offices in Derry last night. Police cleared the area before the explosion and no injuries have been reported. Separately, a bomb exploded on a street in Drumcondra, north Dublin overnight, damaging a car.

4. #CALIFORNIA: Eight people were killed and another person injured in a shooting at a hairdresser’s near LA yesterday.

5. #BY-ELECTION: Thirteen candidates, including six independents, are confirmed for the Dublin West by-election to fill the seat left by the late Brian Lenihan. The by-election is being held on the same day as the two referenda and the Presidential election, 27 October.

6. #DOLE: The ESRI says that the impression that people on the dole are better off than if they got a paid job is mistaken, and that only about 3 per cent of people earn more from social welfare than they would in employment.

7. #APPLE: Apple has secured a temporary ban on the sale of Samsung’s new Galaxy tablet in Australia in the latest episode of an ongoing patent dispute between the two tech companies, AP reports.

8. #OCCUPY WALL STREET: As the Occupy protest movement continues in US cities, one of Iran’s top leaders Ayatollagh Ali Khamenei claims that the protests are a sign of a serious problem in the US which will ultimately topple capitalism there, CBS reports.

9. #CELESTIAL SIGHTS: The moon and Jupiter will make a “spectacular sight” in the sky tonight, according to Astronomy Ireland, with Jupiter appearing about ten times brighter than the brightest star in the night sky.

In the meantime, check out this dramatic image of a full moon over Kathmandu, Nepal last night:

Full Moon over Nepal

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Comments (14 Comments)

  • Dana has been drop kicked by geezes through the goal posts of life.

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  • No one disputes you will earn more money from a job than social welfare. How much time and money were spent to tell us that I shudder to think. The issue for most is the amount of disposable income you have. If you have a paying job above minimum wage you pay tax, prsi, levy, transport (car – tax, tolls, petrol, maintenance, parking, NCT), bus / train fare, any medical bills (no medical cards for us), and childcare, if applicable. If I left my house only to collect my dole I guarantee I would spend very little of that money. Programmes which allow people with children on the dole keep some of their benefits till they get on their feet is in my opinion the way to encourage people get off the system. You have to make a fairly decent wage to afford childcare in this country!

    Reply
    • 3% of 400,000 is still 12,000 people. That even that comparative number of people are better off on the dole is an indictment of our social welfare system.

      Secondly, how many would only make marginally more by working? And how many would find themselves working for a comparative pittance (leaving aside the intrinsic benefits of working, as many do)?

      It’s easy to come up with absolutes like this, but they serve only to trivialise the full picture.

      Reply
    • It’s so true Michelle… we pay our mortgage, bills etc…and just have enough to tick over ..but dread that anyone in the house gets sick or needs dental care,haircuts or any such extras.

      Reply
  • It is becoming very predictable in the way RTE are framing these debates with a focus on sensationalist grandstanding by the presenters. The viewing public would not have learned anything about the vision offered by the candidates.

    In particuar, Miriam Callaghan showed complete bias against Martin McGuinness. Asking the other candidates what they thought of Mr McGuinness’s candidature was a barely discuised invitation to dismiss him and launch a tirade. Unfortunately for Miriam and in fairness to the other candidates they had the good sense not to take the bait.

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  • Miriam entered the cheap gutter press section last night. A total headache and same old same old.

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  • Miriam O’Callaghan was such a disappointment…did someone forget to tell her these were Presdential candidates…not politicians….surely she should have been concentrating on the future not the past…….Sean Gallagher doesn’t play her game so she cut him off every time he tried to make a positive comment….Dana obviously is not in the running, however, i think she should have been treated a little more sensitively. Mary Davis was also badgered by the presenter….not really a debate as such and as for equal time to each…a joke. at least Vincent Browne got that right!!

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  • I think that some sections of the media have a hard neck with the way they are treating the candidates. Anyone would think that they, themselves have perfect lives and what really annoys me is the self-righteousness of the likes of the RTE brigade with their astronomical salaries, paid for by the tax payers.

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    • Absolutely correct, if the government are thinking of selling off some state bodies, perhaps they should think about RTE. Do we really need it? Public service broadcasting to them, seems to consist of just churning out the same rubbish as any commercial station.

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  • I hope Pat Kenny doesn’t follow Miriam’s format for the next debate. May I suggest a format. Pat as moderator,time control by an independent outside professional. Discussion between canditates to discuss only actual presidential issues such as what the nations vision could/should be. Questions from Pat only for clarification of points made. The top 5 main legal obligations of the president. Finally each canditate’s personal vision of their role as president.

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    • You can’t have a debate with seven. I don’t know what RTE or anyone else hopes to achieve in terms of clarifying each candidate’s position on the issues, but seven clamouring voices all pulling the debate in different directions will only serve to dignify the ones who stay out of the fray.

      Might as well bring in Simon Cowell.

      Reply
  • Is it not time to ditch RTE? In my absolute refusal to pay a TV License for this crap journalism I got rid of my TV. Now I don’t know where I found the time to watch it or understand why I watched it. I can get everything I want to see on my laptop, which, can be connected to a very large monitor – loving it.

    Reply
  • a referendum should be held on whether R.T.E should be allowed to continue or not. I know how I would vote..

    Reply
  • I think Miriam oCallaghan has lost the plot !!

    Reply

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