GOOD MORNING. 

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

Child poverty

1. Taoiseach Micheál Martin has cast aspersions on the ESRI’s definition of the poverty line – so where exactly does the line fall?

Data centres 

2. Energy Minister Darragh O’Brien has defended the large number of data centres in Ireland, telling The Journal that data centres are vital to Ireland’s industrial base. 

HSE

3. Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has said some regional health services are overspending on payments to staff and that is why they have had their day-to-day spending powers stripped. 

9/11

4. New York will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the devastating 9/11 attacks today with a ceremony marked by US president Donald Trump’s absence and right-wing outrage at the attendance of the city’s first Muslim mayor.

Migration 

5. There has been a 39% fall in the number of applications for international protection in Ireland since the introduction of the EU Migration Pact, according to junior minister for migration Colm Brophy.

US midterms 

6. US Vice President JD Vance called Democrats the “party of hatred” on Thursday and urged voters to reject them in November’s midterm elections, in a prime-time convention speech that showcased him as a possible heir to Donald Trump in 2028.

Fatal collision 

7. A man who was critically injured in a three-car collision in Co Meath last month has died. 

National Ambulance Service 

8. The health minister has said that female paramedics have been “let down by an organisation that doesn’t protect them”, adding that there are wider societal issues at play in the culture in the ambulance service.

Golf

9. Shane Lowry was two shots off the lead after a brilliant opening round of three-under 67 at the Irish Open in Doonbeg.