LAST UPDATE | 8 Dec 2023
GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news you need to know as you start your day.
1. In our lead story this morning, Jane Matthews reports on remarks by Brendan Howlin, the former leader of the Labour Party and now the party’s foreign affairs spokesperson, who believes the shift to the right in Europe threatens to destroy the entire European project.
Most recently, the Netherlands has seen a shift to the right with the electoral success of the Party for Freedom (PVV).
And Howlin believes that the rise of the right poses more of a threat in certain countries than it does in others, citing concerns for France in particular.
Shane MacGowan funeral
2. Shane MacGowan’s funeral takes place today, with his funeral cortege passing through Dublin before making its way to Co Tipperary for a private cremation.
The singer and musician, best known for being the frontman of The Pogues, died last Thursday at home, aged 65.
The cortege will begin at the South Lott’s Road Junction on Ringsend Road at around 11am, before moving across MacMahon Bridge and then onto Pearse Street, eventually concluding at Denzille Lane at around 11.45 am.
Gardaí have advised anyone who has travel arrangements in Dublin City between 10.45 am and 11.45 am to be aware of traffic restrictions that will be in place along the route.
3. Hunter Biden, the son of US President Joe Biden, has been hit with nine fresh indictments by the US Department of Justice in California for tax offences.
The special counsel investigation into the 53-year-old is set to intensify ahead of next year’s presidential election, after he was hit with the new charges which include three felonies and six misdemeanours.
4. The Supreme Court is set to make a definitive ruling on whether the Government’s Judicial Appointments Commission Bill is constitutional or not.
It’s decision will either be a setback or a win for the Government and Justice Minister Helen McEntee, who made the implementation of the law a priority in her Justice Plan for this year.
If the Bill if deemed unconstitutional, it will be struck down by the Supreme Court, and will never become law in its current form.
5. A survey of home care nurses has found evidence that some people receiving palliative cancer care at home are unable to afford heating.
The Irish Cancer Society, which funded the research by South East Technical University, has called on the government to extend eligibility for social welfare supports, including fuel allowance and the households benefits package, to anyone with a cancer diagnosis and in particular to those with a terminal diagnosis.
Researchers from South East Technical University surveyed 61 nurses from across Ireland, investigating energy hardship among people with a life-limiting cancer diagnosis receiving palliative care at home.
5. Justice Minister Helen McEntee will tell an Oireachtas Committee today that the events of the Dublin riots were the “exploitation of an appalling incident to simply wreak havoc”.
Pressure has been mounting on McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris in the wake of the riots, although that eased after the Fine Gael TD survived a confidence motion in the Dáil on Tuesday.
6. The UN Security Council meets on Gaza later today under acute pressure from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres ahead of a vote on urging an immediate ceasefire after weeks of war.
Even though the civilian death toll in the Palestinian territory is mounting and living conditions are described as catastrophic amid Israel’s bombardment, the outcome of the session is up in the air.
In a letter to the council on Wednesday, Guterres took the extraordinary step of invoking the UN charter’s Article 99, something which no one in his job had done this in decades.
7. Detectives in the North have charged a man with the murder of 23-year-old Odhran Kelly last Sunday.
The man charged, who is 31, is due to appear before Craigavon Magistrates Court later today.
A second 31-year-old man arrested as part of the PSNI’s investigation remains in police custody at this time.
8. Japan’s scientists have opened a potential new chapter with a start-up testing a prototype rocket engine that runs on fuel derived purely from a plentiful local source: cow dung.
The experiment saw the engine blast out a blue-and-orange flame 10-15 metres horizontally out of an open hangar door for around 10 seconds in the rural northern town of Taiki.
9. Masters champion Jon Rahm has joined LIV Golf in a massive coup for the Saudi-funded breakaway.
The 29-year-old becomes the second current major champion on the LIV circuit after US PGA champion Brooks Koepka.
ESPN reported that Rahm’s deal will run for three years and is worth $300 million.
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