LAST UPDATE | 9 Feb 2025

GOOD MORNING.

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

1. Counselling notes

A commitment by the previous government to ban outright the use of rape survivors’ counselling notes as evidence in trials is likely to be rolled back, The Journal understands. 

Survivors of sexual violence have been questioning the justice of their private counselling notes being used as evidence in court cases and have been pushing for an outright ban on the practice.

2. Labour government

A Labour MP who was sacked as a minister by Sir Keir Starmer over comments made in a WhatsApp group has said he regrets the “badly misjudged” remarks.

Andrew Gwynne, the MP for Gorton and Denton, has been sacked as health minister and suspended from the Labour Party.

3. John Cooney

Irish boxer John Cooney has died at the age of 28 after suffering a brain injury during a professional bout in Belfast last Saturday.

The Galway man was rushed to hospital following his ninth-round stoppage defeat to Welshman Nathan Howells in their British Boxing Board of Control Celtic super-featherweight title fight at Ulster Hall.

4. Analysis

The most important thing to note about the possible impact Trump’s second presidency could have on Ireland is that there is absolutely no clarity on anything.

Paul Donoghue writes that despite the endless digital ink spilled over how multinationals could pull out of the country, or we could be crippled by a trade war, there have been no concrete policies announced which will have a major impact specifically on Irish trade.

5. The Journal Investigates

Editor of The Journal Investigates Maria Delaney writes: people are being failed by the sheer volume of vapes being illegally sold in Ireland, our investigation over the past month has shown.

Experts told us this was a failure of enforcement by authorities and of regulation by the government.

6. Housing crisis

25 newly-built homes at a housing estate in Kildare were sold within minutes of a viewing launch yesterday morning, as a number of buyers who had slept overnight in their cars earlier this week secured many of the properties.

The properties on offer consisted of two- and three-bed homes in Harpur Lane, a housing estate in Leixlip, Co Kildare which first opened in 2022.

7. Presidential election

Some 14 million Ecuadorans will go to the polls today to decide who will lead their violence-wracked Andean nation through its worst crisis in half a century.

Sixteen candidates are vying to become president, including two frontrunners – hawkish young incumbent Daniel Noboa and his leftist opponent Luisa Gonzalez.

8. Fatal assault

A man in his 20s has been arrested after a man (60s) was found dead following an assault in Malahide yesterday morning.

The incident occurred at approximately 8:30am. The deceased man was found unresponsive in a residence in Malahide, Co Dublin. 

9. Sitdown Sunday

It’s a day of rest, and you may be in the mood for a quiet corner and a comfy chair.

Check out this week’s Sitdown Sunday for the best long reads of the week.