EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you begin your day.
1. #BELFAST: Some 47 PSNI officers have been injured – four of them needing hospital treatment – during disorder in parts of Belfast overnight. Police were attacked with fireworks and petrol bombs after violence broke out in the aftermath of a parade.
2. #VOTING RECORDS: Former minister Michael Lowry has the poorest attendance record for Dáil votes, an analysis by TheJournal.ie shows – failing to cast a vote in 62 of the 79 voting sessions so far this year. Other TDs have managed to make it to four times as many.
3. #DIRTY OLD TOWN: Tourists landing at Dublin Airport are being greeted by heavy litter on the roads approaching the airport, Irish Business Against Litter has said – while Dublin’s north inner city has regained its unwanted status as a litter blackspot. IBAL’s survey has also declared, meanwhile, that Cavan is Ireland’s cleanest town.
4. #HEALTH CUTS: Transport minister Leo Varadkar has defended the €130 million package of health cuts announced by his Fine Gael colleague James Reilly last week – asserting that they were necessary to ensure the viability of the HSE. Varadkar also told Newstalk that figures in Labour – some of whom have suggested that the party is preparing for a general election – were merely “throwing shapes”.
5. #PENSIONS: The employers’ group IBEC has suggested that people with voluntary pensions savings funds should be allowed to access a quarter of their lump sums – saying doing so would not only help to stimulate the economy, but also provide an immediate tax windfall for the government.
6. #MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: The UN’s new envoy to Syria has admitted his job is “nearly impossible” – saying he sees little way for his task, of finding peace between the government and rebels, can be fulfilled. “’m coming into this job with my eyes open, and no illusions,” Lakhdar Brahimi told the BBC.
7. #MESSIAH: The self-proclaimed Messiah who founded the controversial Unification Church, Sun Myung Moon, has died in South Korea at age 92. The controversial Moon was a divisive figure, derided as a cult leader by outsiders but held in the highest esteem by the members of his church.
8. #MANUFACTURING: The latest report on Ireland’s manufacturing sector has shown that the rate of manufacturing output continued to rise in August, albeit at a slower rate than in previous months. The MarkIt report suggests that output has now grown for six consecutive months.
9. #BAD: The insurance company behind Michael Jackson’s farewell tour in London claimed the singer was a paranoid “basket case” who was unlikely to fulfil his tour obligations. Emails from the insurer, obtained by the Los Angeles Times, are being prepared ahead of a legal battle against the concert promoters, AEG – with the insurers trying to get out of a $17.5 million payoff linked to Jackson’s failure to play the dates at London’s O2.
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