EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you begin your day.
1. #MURDER A second man (35), is to appear in court over the stabbing of Christopher Jackson, whose body was found at his home on Prussia St at the weekend. The 35-year-old’s appearance follows that of Bernard Locke (39), who appeared at Dublin District Court yesterday morning.
2. #ALPS SHOOTING The seven-year-old girl who was injured during the Alps shootings has spoken to police, the Independent reports. Zainab al-Hilli reportedly appears to remember details of the killings. She had been in a medically-induced coma after being shot and also suffering a fractured skull in the attack. It may be days before police speak to her about the incident again.
3. #QUIT The leader of Fine Gael on Cork County Council has quit as he is facing a drink driving charge, the Examiner reports today. Cllr Michael Hegarty has also resigned as chairman of the Joint Policing Committee, but will continue as a councillor, RTÉ reports. Cllr Hegarty told the Irish Examiner that it “wouldn’t be proper” for him to continue as JPC chairman. Last week it emerged he owed the Revenue €81,823 and is working on repaying this, said the newspaper.
4. #UNIVERSITY RANKINGS The latest university rankings are out, and show that Ireland’s universities haven’t seen any major changes in their rankings since last year. Trinity College remains the country’s top-ranked university, but dropped two spots to 67 from its 2011 place. UCD, meanwhile, is up three space,s and University College Cork is down by 9 spaces.
5. #GAFFS More immigrants are buying homes in Ireland than ever before, new figures from the CSO show. Almost 40,000 people from outside of Ireland now have a mortgage in Ireland, which means that 7 per cent of the total immigrant population in Ireland is a home owner, compared to 14 per cent for people born in Ireland.
6. #THINK-IN Fine Gael TDs and Senators will meet at the party’s think-in this morning ahead of the upcoming Dáil session. They are meeting for their seminar in Westport, while Labour will meet in Co Kildare for its seminar. RTÉ reports that the upcoming children’s referendum is on the agenda for Fine Gael, while Labour will also discuss social protection reform.
7. #ADS The Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland has said that a Club Orange ad that depicted two oranges with the slogan ‘the best bits’ “had used sexual innuendo merely to attraction attention”. It upheld complaints about the ad after complainants objected to the advertisement on the basis that it was sexist and offensive to women. Complaints about a DoneDeal.ie ad, which said it was demeaning to men, were not upheld. The ASAI said the situation portrayed in the advertisement was “so unrealistic, it was not intended to be an endorsement of a particular type of behaviour”.
(BlinderCommercials/Youtube)
8. #DATA BREACH Eircom and Meteor have been ordered to pay €15,000 each to the Laura Lynn Foundation and Pieta House respectively after details of more than 10,000 customers were compromised between 28 December 2011 and 2 January 2012. The Irish Times reports that the Data Protection Commissioner prosecuted the companies before Dublin District Court yesterday. Both companies pleaded guilty to three charges each.
9. #9/11 Today marks the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and a ceremony in New York City later today will see relatives reading victims’ names at the site of the attack. However there is still no opening date for the memorial museum in New York, after a major row over funding.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say