Every morning, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know with your morning coffee.
1. #DÁIL DEBATE: Independent TD Michael Lowry has been granted 40 minutes speaking time in the Dáil to deal with issues arising from the Moriatry tribunal. He will be given two speaking slots: one to make a personal statement after the debate opens and also time to speak after a question and answer session, RTÉ reports. Meanwhile, the opposition is angry that Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte will field questions during the proceedings, rather than the taoiseach.
2. #CORK: The major waterpipe that burst in Cork city in the early hours of Monday morning, forcing 30 residents to flee their homes, was given the all-clear during last winter’s cold snap .
3. #BANKS: The state might have to take a stake in the only lender in the country which has not received government assistance so far, Irish Life & Permanent. The outcome of the hotly anticipated Central Bank stress tests are expected to show that IL&P’s books on residential and buy-to-let mortgages will force the lender to hand over a significant chunk of ownership to the state – a move that will effectively nationalise the domestic banking sector, the Irish Times reports.
4. #SKELETON: The remains found in a park in Dublin last week have been confirmed to be those of missing woman Bernie Gavan, the Irish Independent reports. The 59-year-old, described by her family as a “beautiful person, who was kind, artistic and intelligent”, went missing in 2007. Gardaí have said that no foul play is suspected in her death.
5. #MAJELLA O’HARE: The mother of Majella O’Hare, a 12-year-old schoolgirl who was killed by a British paratrooper in 1976, met the Secretary of State Owen Paterson in Belfast yesterday to receive a formal apology from the British government for her daughter’s death. The Belfast Telegraph reports that 88-year-old Mary O’Hare welcomed the apology but said that it would never bring back her daughter.
6. #PSNI: The PSNI has launched a criminal investigation following the Police Ombudsman accusing a prison officer of planting a note in the cell of a dissident republican suspect, Brendan McConville. The note in question is thought to have mentioned personal detals of the now retired Governor of Maghaberry Prison, Steve Rodford, who resigned from his post in 2009 over fears for his security, reports the BBC.
7. #OBAMA: Obama has defended the leading military role of the US in Libya over the past week, referring to Muammar Gaddafi as a “tyrant” and saying that countless lives had been saved by the intervention of coalition forces, the Guardian reports. However, he stressed that regime change in Libya by military force was unacceptable.
8. #JAPAN: The Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has said that his government is in a state of “maximum alert”. Meanwhile, Plutonium was found in soil at the Fukushima nuclear plant has caused further alarm, RTÉ reports.
9. #FREE WILLIE: Successful musicians are well-known for getting perks: the best seats in the house, complimentary drinks, and mobs of adoring fans willing to wait on their every need. Well, American country music singer Willie Nelson can add a new bonus to his stardom following his arrest for possession of marijuana in Texas last November, according to the Telegraph.
His penance? A $100 fine and performing the prosecutor’s favourite song, Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain. “You can bet your *** I’m not going to be mean to Willie Nelson”, said Texas County Attorney Kit Bramblett.
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