EVERY DAY, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know with your morning cup of coffee.
1. #STIMULUS: The cabinet is likely to approve a €2 billion stimulus package today with a number of infrastructure projects set to be announced by senior government ministers later. Roads, schools and primary healthcare facilities are likely to be approved as part of the package with the emphasis on announcing potentially job-rich measures with Ireland’s unemployment rate now having hit 14.9 per cent.
2. #MICHAELA: The government has not ruled out the possibility of sending Irish representatives to Mauritius to carry out its own investigation into the murder of Michaela McAreavey, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmroe has said. His words came as Fianna Fáil’s justice spokesperson Niall Collins called for a senior Garda investigator to be sent to the country to review files related to the case. The Mauritian government has already condemned the leaking of photos of Michaela’s body to a Mauritian newspaper which printed them on Sunday.
3. #BONDHOLDERS: Finance Minister Michael Noonan is to hold talks with the president of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi today as he makes the case for a reduction of Ireland’s bank debt burden. The talks come amid speculation that Draghi has indicated the ECB’s new policy is to burn senior bondholders as part of a rescue package for Spain’s troubled banking sector. Ireland was forced to guarantee all bondholders when it accepted a bailout in 2010.
4. #ALCOHOL: The Junior Health Minister Róisín Shortall is planning a wide-ranging crackdown on advertising of alcohol in Ireland which will include internet age-checks for websites carrying alcohol ads and an end to drinks companies sponsoring sporting and cultural events like Arthur’s Day, the Irish Daily Mail reports. However, it’s widely reported this morning that the plans will not be discussed at cabinet today before the summer recess amid claims that Shortall’s plans are not going down well with some ministers.
5. #SYRIA: The most senior Syrian diplomat to defect from the Syrian regime of Bashar Assad has said that the government will not hesitate to use chemical weapons against people if it is cornered. Former ambassador to Iraq, Nawaf Fares, told the BBC that there were unconfirmed reports that such weapons have already been used and has also suggested that Al Qaeda has been assisting Assad’s increasingly isolated regime.
6. #COURTS: A woman has been sentenced to 16 months in prison after she was found to have sexually asssaulted and exploited her four-year-old daughter by filming her with the child’s father naked from the waist down, the Irish Independent reports. The case, heard at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday, only came to light after a video of the incident was discovered by a member of the public who had recovered a smashed mobile phone and viewed the contents of its SIM card.
7. #YAHOO: Marissa Mayer is the new chief executive of the technology company Yahoo after the struggling giant poached the 37-year-old from rival Google. Mayer is Yahoo’s third CEO in the space of a year after her predecessor Scott Thompson stepped down in May over allegations he put a fake qualification on his CV while in September of last year Carol Bartz was fired as part of a “leadership reorganisation”.
8. #VITA CORTEX: President Michael D Higgins is to meet former workers from the Vita Cortex plant at Áras an Uachtaráin today. The workers have been invited to the Áras following the successful resolution of their long dispute with the owners of the Cork foam factory which resulted in them staging a sit-in that lasted for 161 days.
9. #POSH VISIT: The former Spice Girl and fashionista Victoria Beckham is coming to Dublin this week. The female half of Posh and Becks will be visiting Brown Thomas and asked her Twitter followers last night what the weather was like and what she would wear. Well Posh it’s bucketing down right now so we’d suggest a full rain mac and wellies. Stylish, no?
Just click Like.
Comments (17 Comments)