EVERY WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you the five stories you need to know before you head out the door.
1. #MEATH EAST Fine Gael’s Helen McEntee is set for victory in the area’s by-election today. The first count put the daughter of the late junior minister Shane McEntee at about 38.5 per cent of the vote, a clear 5.5 per cent ahead of Fianna Fáil senator Thomas Byrne. The newly-formed Direct Democracy Ireland party polled ahead of Labour. Turnout was 38.2 per cent.
2. #ARREST A man has been arrested following the armed robbery of a Dublin off-licence in Clondalkin last night. One garda was injured when two gardaí entered the premises after seeing two men jump from a car and enter the off-licence. The second man is still being sought by gardaí.
3. #LEAVING CERT The Leaving Cert programme is to be overhauled by the Department of Education, with plans to reduce the number of degree programmes, cut grade bands and change the predictability of exams. One change looks at combining degree programmes, as Education Minister Ruairí Quinn said that over-specialisation can lead to confusion for students.
4. #GARDAÍ Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said that Minister for Justice Alan Shatter is not “silencing” gardaí who disagree with him, during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil today. He faced opposition criticism after Shatter sanctioned disciplinary action against four garda sergeants who walked out while he spoke at the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors’ annual conference.
5. #CYBER ATTACK A ‘bazooka’ cyber attack has slowed traffic on the internet, security experts have said. The attacks targeted the Geneva-based Spamhaus, which publishes spam blacklists, and may have led to cyberspace congestion. This could have affected the overall internet – so if you have experienced slower internet this week, that may be why.
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