LAST UPDATE | 23 Jul 2024

GOOD MORNING.

Here’s all the news you need to know as you start your day.

Palestine 

1. Hamas and rival Palestinian groups have signed a ‘national unity’ agreement in Beijing that China said was aimed at a “post-war” plan for the Gaza Strip.

Coolock

2. A local TD has accused the Department of Integration of “unwittingly doing such a bad job” that it is “driving people to the extremes” in Coolock, north Dublin.

Cian O’Callaghan of the Social Democrats said that the current lack of engagement is driving people away from moderate positions.

Joe Biden

3. US President Joe Biden’s “symptoms have almost resolved completely” from Covid-19, according to his physician.

Biden called into the Wilmington, Delaware, headquarters of his former campaign during a visit by vice president Kamala Harris, whose bid for the White House has been endorsed by the president.

Aer Lingus

4. Aer Lingus pilots will conclude voting later today on whether to accept a pay deal compromise put forward by the Labour Court.

The Labour Court recommendation of a 17.75% pay increase over a four-year period came after weeks of industrial action and hundreds of cancelled flights – this intervention came after IALPA threatened further industrial action could be taken. 

Murder investigation

5. A murder investigation has been launched following the discovery of a man’s body in south Belfast on Saturday. 

The PSNI has named the man as 34-year-old Kevin Davidson. He had been missing since 12 July. 

Clodagh Phelan

6. An Irish girl who died in Majorca, Spain after falling from a balcony at her hotel in Alcudia has been named as 11-year-old Clodagh Phelan.

Taoiseach Simon Harris said he was saddened to “hear of the tragic loss of Clodagh Phelan”.

Prison sentence

7. A violent criminal who stamped on a man’s head in a Dublin city centre attack on New Year’s Day, leaving the victim with a significant brain injury, will serve an extra nine months in prison after the State objected to the undue leniency of his two-and-a-half year sentence.

Rape case 

8. A woman who was raped by her stepfather on her 15th birthday has waived her anonymity to allow him to be named.

Anthony Byrne (55) was found guilty following a Central Criminal Court trial in May of two counts of raping his stepdaughter Kim Jordan in 2002.

Ms Jordan, who is now 36, waived her anonymity to allow Byrne to be named.

Investigation

9. Gardaí investigating the murder of Paiche Unyolo Onyemaechi have issued a renewed appeal for information 20 years after her body was found. 

Paiche was 25 years old at the time of her death. She had two children and was from Malawi.