EVERY WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you the five stories you need to know before you head out the door.
1. #ABORTION: As the final draft of Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill is expected to be published shortly, the Taoiseach has been telling the Dáil he has been called a murderer and has been receiving letters written in blood and plastic foetuses from pro-life lobbyists. But Independent, pro-life senator Rónán Mullen has accused Enda Kenny of having “played the victim” and of using spin tactics to deflect from his “deeply unpleasant” proposal to legislate for abortion under the terms of the X Case. Kenny insisted that the abortion legislation, which the Cabinet has been discussing today, is about saving lives and said he understood the matter is a sensitive issue.
2. #FIONA DOYLE: The Wicklow woman, who was raped for 10 years by her own father, has backed calls to bring in minimum sentencing for rape. A judge initially let Patrick O’Brien out on bail but reversed the decision after heavy criticism and the 72-year-old was jailed. Fiona Doyle agreed with a Law Reform Commission report stating that judges be allowed recommend a specific minimum term an offender should serve.
3. #MENTAL HEALTH: The Mental Health Commission has warned that services in Ireland could deteriorate further after it was revealed that less than a third of the 414 vacant community mental health posts had been filled. A diminished focus on recovery was another “serious deficiency” highlighted in the mental health report.
4. #INFECTED BABIES: A hospital in Derry has confirmed that three babies have been infected with MSSA since May. Altnagelvin Hospital, which was at the centre of last year’s pseudomonas outbreak, says the affected infants are currently ‘stable’ in the neonatal intensive care unit.
5. #BOSTON MOBSTER: The trial of James “Whitey” Bulger, the notorious Boston gangster arrested in 2011 after 16 years on the run has begun. The 83-year-old faces 19 murder charges, as well as federal rackeeteering charges, over a decades-long career.
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