GOOD MORNING.

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

Protests in France

1. President Emmanuel Macron, under pressure after violent protests in France, acknowledged “failures in anticipation and intelligence”, but has refused the resignation of his interior minister, the presidential palace said.

Some opposition politicians had called for the sacking of Laurent Nunez after demonstrations over the cost of living descended into some of the worst urban violence in France in years.

Be prepared 

2. The government dropped plans to tell households to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours during emergencies because of concerns it could prompt anxiety about why the advice was being issued.

Records released to The Journal under the Freedom of Information Act show how officials who produced the Be Emergency Ready booklet moved towards simply asking people to maintain an adequate supply of essential items.

Crime spree 

3. Three people were arrested in Dublin on Sunday evening after a chase involving garda patrol cars, a helicopter and the armed support unit.

Gardaí in Coolock arrested three males following “a managed containment operation”, a garda spokesperson said.

Shortly after 7pm, while gardaí were on patrol as part of ongoing investigations into a series of burglaries and incidents of criminal damage in North Dublin, they “observed a vehicle with multiple occupants on Naul Road near Dublin Airport”.

Cyclist hospitalised 

4. A male cyclist in his 60s was taken to hospital on Sunday after being found unresponsive on a road in Schull, Co Cork. 

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses to what they said was “a serious road traffic incident”. 

Waterford arson attack

5. The funeral of four members of the same family killed in an arson attack on their Waterford home will take place today.

Philip and Kim English and their sons Callum (12) and Jayden (9) died following the attack in the Birchwood estate on Tuesday.

Their funeral mass will take place at the Sacred Heart Church in Waterford at 1pm, followed by burial in Kilbarry Cemetery.

Dereliction 

6. More than 7,000 vacant and derelict properties have been brought back into residential use across Ireland through the Vacant Property Refurbishment Grant, with Donegal leading the way.

The scheme, first introduced in 2022, provides financial assistance to eligible applicants seeking to refurbish vacant or derelict properties for residential use.

Deportation

7. 24 Romanian men convicted of criminal offences in Ireland were removed from the country on a charter flight on Sunday, with re-entry bans of up to 10 years.

The men, aged between 24 and 57, were flown from Dublin to Bucharest under removal orders enforced by the Garda National Immigration Bureau.

Pay talks

8. Formal talks on a new public sector pay deal are due to begin at the Workplace Relations Commission today, following last week’s nationwide strike.

More than 300,000 public sector workers took part in Wednesday’s action after a dispute over the basis for negotiations on a successor to the agreement that expired in June.

A second strike planned for this Wednesday has been suspended following agreement on a framework for the talks.

West Bank 

9. With the streets of Hebron deserted during a settler tour, I watched two young Palestinian children chat to a group of fully armed IDF soldiers.

It reminded me straight away of iconic photos showing similar scenes during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

I was born in Belfast in 1998, the year of the Good Friday Agreement. During seven nights in the occupied West Bank, I found myself thinking about stories I’d heard from family about the ‘bad old days’ at home: stand-offs with soldiers, inescapable checkpoints, and the financial toll of conflict on families just trying to get by.