LAST UPDATE | 29 Apr
GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news you need to know as you start your day.
Mother and Baby Homes
1. In our main story this morning, News Correspondent Órla Ryan reports that Patrick Anderson McQuoid, who is not eligible for redress under the Government’s compensation scheme for survivors of mother and baby institutions, has said the exclusion of himself and others is a “cruel and a standing disgrace”.
Anderson McQuoid is a well-known campaigner who founded the Triskel Arts Centre in Cork. He was born in the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin in 1947 before being transferred to Bethany Home.
The Government’s long-awaited redress scheme finally opened for applications in March. However, thousands of people are excluded from the scheme including those who spent less than six months in an institution as a child.
Diplomatic spat
2. A planned London meeting for today between Justice Minister Helen McEntee and her UK counterpart, Home Secretary James Cleverly, was cancelled last night amid ratcheting tensions between the two governments over asylum seekers entering the Republic via Northern Ireland.
An Irish government spokesperson said late last night that the planned meeting for today “has been postponed and will be rescheduled in the near future”.
The front page of the Monday edition of The Daily Telegraph reports that the meeting was cancelled by Cleverly, who cited “a diary clash”.
The paper also claims that there is anger in London about suggestions that the Irish government is considering legislation to send asylum seekers who travelled here via Northern Ireland back to the UK.
Uninsured drivers
3. The number of claims relating to accidents caused by drivers who were uninsured or untraced grew by 11% last year.
That’s according to new figures published by the Motor Insurers’ Bureau of Ireland (MIBI).
Last year, the MIBI received a total of 1,927 claims. This represented 187 additional claims from the 1,740 they received in 2022.
Gaza truce talks
4. A Hamas delegation is due to arrive today in Egypt, where it will respond to Israel’s latest proposal for a long-sought hostage-release deal and truce in the Gaza Strip after almost seven months of conflict.
Egypt, Qatar and the US have been trying to mediate an agreement between Israel and Hamas for months, as the death toll in Gaza rises and calls for a deal intensify.
Hamas said yesterday it had no “major issues” with the content of Israel’s most recent offer for a truce.
Lyra McKee
5. The trial of three men charged with the murder of Belfast journalist Lyra McKee is due to start today.
Another seven men are set to appear at the Crown Court in Belfast over charges connected to disorder in Derry on the same date.
Lyra McKee, 29, died after being struck by a bullet during rioting in the Creggan area of Derry on 18 April 2019.
Newtownmountkennedy
6. People in Newtownmountkennedy in Co Wicklow have once again marched through the town in protest over plans to house asylum seekers at a disused site nearby.
Protesters yesterday chanted, “Newtown says no” and “Whose streets? Our streets” as they walked carrying Irish flags, banners and signs.
Fatal collision
7. A young man has died following a collision between a quad bike and a tractor and trailer in Co Galway yesterday.
The incident happened at around 1.15pm on the R353 Gort to Portumna road between Kilbeacanty and Derrybrien.
Aoife Johnston
8. HSE chief executive Bernard Gloster has said that the health service “failed” Aoife Johnston and that failure “led to her death”, but the hospital where she died is “much more safe now”.
Gloster apologised to the family of the 16-year-old, who died of bacterial meningitis on 19 December 2022 after a 12-hour wait in the overcrowded emergency department of University Hospital Limerick.
Aoife had initially presented to the hospital on 17 December, and was eventually admitted to intensive care, but passed away shortly after.
Weather
9. The week is is set to start off rainy, but it looks like the May Bank Holiday weekend could be dry and sunny.
Met Éireann has said it’ll gradually become warmer this week and through the weekend.
“There’s uncertainty in the detail from Thursday onwards, and while there’ll be further showers or spells of rain in places, there’s likely to be a good lot of dry weather too with sunshine,” the forecaster has said.
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