EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you begin your day.
1. #CHILDREN: A campaign to insert a clause safeguarding the rights of the child into the Irish Constitution is set to be agreed by ministers at this morning’s cabinet meeting. The wording of the new clause, which has been under consideration for several years, will be presented to the cabinet by children’s minister Frances Fitzgerald. The referendum, likely to be held in November, is expected to involve a number of new articles to be approved by a single question.
2. #JAMES REILLY: The Minister for Health is to face a motion of no confidence from Opposition parties today, with both Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil to table the motions as the Dáil returns from its summer recess. While the government majority means the motions are unlikely to pass, it will put pressure on Labour backbenchers who are believed to be unhappy with Reilly’s swingeing cuts to the health service.
3. #ANGLO: The Irish Government is reportedly seeking to issue its largest ever bond – worth as much as €40 billion, with a 40-year maturity – in an attempt to replace the promissory note system which is currently being used to fund the wind-down of Anglo Irish Bank. A report from Bloomberg, citing two government sources, says the government could issue a 40-year bond to the current Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, which could then be used to access everyday funding from the European Central Bank.
4. #HOUSEHOLD CHARGE: Clare County Council has sent letters to third-level students in receipt of maintenance grants, instructing them to submit proof they have paid the household charge. The council says that if students fail to pay the charge then grant applications will not be processed – or even refused.
5. #CLERYS: Almost 350 jobs are to be saved in Dublin after a decision by a US private equity group tp purchase the troubled Clerys department store. It is understood that the store’s 147 staff will continue working under their agreed terms and conditions, while 200 people working for concessionaires will also keep their jobs. However Clerys’ sister-shop Guineys has been put into liquidation and will close down, while Clerys’ two retail park shops in Leopardstown and Naas are also to close – with the total loss of 29 jobs.
6. #TULLAMORE: The body of an 11-year-old girl who was found dead at her home in Tullamore over the weekend has been released to her family. The girl’s mother, named locally as GP Bernadette Scully, remains in hospital. It is expected that gardaí will interview Scully when her condition improves.
7. #USA: US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has come under fire after a secretly-filmed video emerged, showing him telling wealthy donors that Barack Obama’s supporters – about half of the voters in the country – did not pay income tax, “believed they were victims”, and lived off welfare. Romney has now conceded his comments were ill-stated, but has not retracted them.
8. #PROTESTS: Protests against an anti-Islamic film produced in the United States are continuing as anger spreads across Muslim countries. In Kabul, Afghanistan, 12 people were killed – including nine foreigners – when a suicide bomber attacked a bus in protest against the film, which mocks the Prophet Muhammad. Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has been encouraging more demonstrations, with the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah saying the US government was using “the excuse of freedom of speech to justify the broadcast of the film”.
9. #INEVITABLE? A mayoral candidate in Bosnia has adopted a novel approach in his mission to win voter support: in a bid to endear himself to internet users, Mirad Hadziahmetovic has decided to use pornographic images as part of his campaign. Yes, really.
The would-be-public-servant apparently decided to upload pornographic video clips to his official campaign site after realising that ‘large numbers’ of people use the internet to peruse sexual content.
He’s not expected to win.
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