GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news you need to know as you start your day.
1. Affordable housing
The first affordable housing purchase scheme in Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien’s constituency has been delayed by at least a year, with the delays causing stress and worry for applicants.
The Dun Emer housing scheme in Lusk, Co Dublin was initially due to be fully completed in October 2022, but some residents have been told it will be October this year before they will be able to move in.
2. 9/11 anniversary
Americans will look back today on the horror and legacy of September 11, gathering at memorials, firehouses, city halls and elsewhere to observe the 22nd anniversary of the deadliest terror attack on US soil.
Commemorations stretch from the attack sites – at New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pennsylvania – to Alaska and beyond.
3. Earthquake
Rescuers face a growing race against time to dig any survivors from the rubble of devastated villages in Morocco’s Atlas mountains, three days after the country’s strongest-ever earthquake.
The 6.8-magnitude quake that struck late Friday southwest of the city of Marrakesh has claimed more than 2,100 lives and injured over 2,400, many seriously, according to official figures updated late last night.
4. Free GP care
An additional 215,000 people are now eligible to apply for a GP visit card from today.
This cohort is made up of people aged between 8 and 69, who will qualify on a means tested basis, as the financial thresholds for qualifying have been increased.
The weekly income threshold for a single person living alone increased from €304 to €361 in the first phase, and will now increase to €418.
5. Ireland defeat
Ireland’s dreams of qualifying for the Euro 2024 campaign are all but over, after a 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands in the Aviva Stadium last night,
Despite a promising start, Ireland soon lost the momentum and were unable to get a goal back to equalise against the Dutch.
6. Luis Rubiales
Suspended Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales said today that he will resign from his post because of the scandal caused by his kiss on the lips of a Women’s World Cup player.
“I’m going to (resign), yes, because I cannot continue my work,” said Rubiales in an interview with television show ‘Piers Morgan Uncensored’.
7. US Open
Novak Djokovic has secured his record-breaking 24th grand slam title after defeating Daniil Medvedev in a gruelling US Open tennis final last night.
The 36-year-old Serbian beat Medvedev in straight sets, becoming the oldest US Open champion ever.
It is his third grand slam victory this year, after already winning the Australian and French Opens. It moves him further ahead of Rafael Nadal, who won 22 grand slams titles, and Roger Federer, who won 20, in the race for greatest tennis player of all time.
8. Peace funding
Northern Ireland is to get €1 billion worth of funding from the EU, it will be announced today.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and EU Commissioner Maros Sefcovic are in Belfast for the unveiling of the plan, along with a representative of the UK government.
The new funding plan will see €1.14 billion received through PEACEPLUS, a new EU programme aiming to build reconciliation and greater prosperity across Northern Ireland and the border counties of Ireland.
9. Fórsa staff on strike
Fórsa trade union members working in local authorities will begin industrial action today.
The union, which represents over 12,000 local authority workers, said that the decision to take action comes in response to the “failure” of local authority management to engage on the establishment of a job evaluation scheme for workers.
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