LAST UPDATE | 16 May 2022
GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
1. Newly qualified doctors, nurses and other medical professionals are leaving Ireland in pursuit of a work-life balance, better pay and more opportunities.
Although the emigration of medical professionals is not uniquely an Irish problem, there are a number of push factors within the healthcare system which drive people to leave. There has been a 44% increase in the number of Irish doctors granted visas to work in Australia since 2018.
Speaking to The Journal, several healthcare professionals who have worked both in Ireland and abroad described having to take second jobs just to keep afloat in Ireland, “traumatic” degrees and a new found respect for them and their work in Australia and the UK.
2. Ukraine is preparing for a new Russian push in the eastern Donbas region today, as Kyiv said its army’s counterattack around Kharkiv had gained momentum.
Since failing to take the capital at the beginning of the invasion in late February, control of Donbas has become one of Moscow’s primary objectives – but Western intelligence has predicted its campaign will stall amid heavy losses and fierce resistance.
“We are preparing for new attempts by Russia to attack in Donbas, to somehow intensify its movement in the south of Ukraine,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address.
3. Boris Johnson will hold emergency talks with Northern Ireland’s political leaders later in a bid to break a Stormont deadlock caused by post-Brexit trading arrangements.
The powersharing institutions have been plunged into crisis in the wake of the recent Assembly election with the DUP refusing to re-enter a devolved government in protest at the contentious Northern Ireland Protocol, which has created economic barriers between the region and the rest of the UK.
The UK Prime Minister’s visit comes amid heightened tensions between the UK and EU over the prospect of him moving to override elements of the protocol by way of domestic legislation at Westminster.
4. The Government is being urged to extend visas for thousands of students working here or else face a staffing crisis in the hospitality industry this summer.
Representatives for English language students here are calling on the Government to extend Stamp Two visa permissions due to expire on 31 May until 31 September.
5. Nearly 6,000 Ukrainian children and teenagers have been enrolled in schools across the country, the Department of Education has said.
Of the 5,843 students, 3,968 are in primary schools with the remaining 1,875 enrolled in secondary schools here.
6. In the US, one person was killed when a man opened fire at a southern California church before being stopped and tied up by parishioners in what an official called an act of “exceptional heroism and bravery”.
Four people were critically wounded by gunfire at Geneva Presbyterian Church in the city of Laguna Woods, 50 miles south east of Los Angeles, Orange County Sheriff’s Department officials said. A sixth person had minor injuries but was not struck by bullets.
7. Back in Ireland, representatives from St Vincent’s Healthcare Group will appear before the Oireachtas Health Committee today to answer questions about plans for the new National Maternity Hospital (NMH).
The new National Maternity Hospital is due to be built on the campus of St Vincent’s Hospital, but it has been met with controversy over ownership of the land.
8. Ryanair has posted a €355 million loss for the 12 months to the end of March after another pandemic-curbed year for air travel.
The low-cost airline said it hopes to return to profitability in the current financial year but the sector’s recovery “remains fragile”, Ryanair group chief executive Michael O’Leary said.
9. The first-ever apprenticeship for bar managers is being launched in Limerick, with the aim of tackling a shortage of hospitality staff in Ireland.
The three-year course is the result of a collaboration between the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland (VFI) and Griffith College, and is supported by Ireland’s State agency for further education, Solas.
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