LAST UPDATE | 10 Jul 2021

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

Pregnancy and Covid 

1. Earlier this week,  we asked people to share stories about how maternity restrictions had an impact on them during the pandemic. 

Thousands of people have given birth over the course of the past 15 months, when restrictions were in place at maternity units for patient and staff safety.

These restrictions resulted in pregnant women going through parts of labour and certain scans alone.

In our lead story today, Orla Dwyer has compiled your stories to expose the pressures on expectant mothers and fathers experienced during the pandemic. 

Dublin Bay South

2. It’s all over and Labour Ivana Bacik has won the seat. 

Fine Gael is traditionally strong in the constituency (created in 2013) and before Thursday, could have expected that after over a decade in government, it had a good shot of holding onto its seat. 

The territory (previously Dublin South-East) was formerly the base of the party’s revered leader Garret FitzGerald and has been dubbed as “Ireland’s most affluent constituency”.

Housing crisis

3. It can be hard to figure out, let alone keep up with, every single word, term or phrase related to housing in Ireland.  

Cuckoo Funds, Part V, Judicial Reviews, the list goes on – but what do these terms actually mean?

As part of The Good Information Project we’ve gathered commonly-used terms in Ireland and put them in one go-to place.

Delays 

4. There will be disruption to rail routes in Dublin this weekend as work is done to upgrade some train lines around the capital this weekend.

From 5pm today until 9am tomorrow, line works between Hazelhatch and Portarlington will result in bus transfers on all intercity services to/from Heuston, and revisions to Heuston Commuter services.

Birds and the Bees

5. Erin McGreehan writes about hope for the Irish bee and its importance in sustaining Irish agriculture. 

She writes how Ireland has a long history of producing quality honey and was a major exporter of comb honey up to the mid-20th century when it was an important income for many farming families. There is no reason why we can’t get to that point again.

RIP

6. Chris Eubank’s son, Sebastian Eubank, has passed away, the British boxing icon has confirmed.

The 29-year-old’s body was reportedly found on a beach in Dubai, where he lived.

Indoor dining

7. Indoor hospitality is likely to reopen on a date between 19 and 26 July, Tanáiste Leo Varadkar has said.

Monday 19 July will be the earliest possible date, while Monday 26 July will be the latest, he said.

Controversial statues

8. A Confederate statue that helped spark a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville is set to come down today, the city announced.

Charlottesville said in a news release that the equestrian statue of Confederate Gen Robert E Lee, as well as a nearby one of Confederate Gen Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, will be removed over the weekend.

Weather

9. Met Éireann says it will be a mostly cloudy morning with some patchy mist and drizzle clearing soon

 Some good sunny spells will gradually develop but with scattered showers too – turning heavy in the west towards evening. More general rain will edge into Atlantic counties before nightfall.

Warm with top temperatures of 18 to 21 or 22 degrees, in a light southerly or variable breeze.