GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
1. Mental health
In our lead story this morning, Ceimin Burke reports that there is no evidence to support the claims that measures introduced to stem the spread of Covid-19 during the pandemic has led to an increase in suicide deaths.
The most recent Central Statistics Office (CSO) quarterly statistics are also being touted as evidence of a spike in suicides despite the data being largely in-line with previous, pre-2020 trends.
In the latest ‘vital statistics’ update, the CSO notes that recorded suicides were 192% higher in quarter two of 2021 than they were in Q2 of 2020.
However, the CSO has attached a major caveat to the 2020 figures, due to the fact that Covid-19 restrictions on Coroners’ Courts holding public hearings at the start of the pandemic meant the recorded number of suicides was artificially low that quarter.
2. Prison visits
The Irish Prison Service (IPS) has suspended visits by relatives as part of their Covid-19 response.
The IPS has announced that all physical family visits will be temporarily suspended from 10 January until 24 January, 2022.
The service will continue to provide video visits and prisoners will be entitled to receive one video visit per week.
3. Sidney Poitier
Tributes have been paid to the pioneering Black actor Sidney Poitier, who died yesterday aged 94.
His family said he was “a man who always put family first”, adding the loss of the “guiding light” has left “a giant hole our hearts”.
Tributes to his life and career flooded in from famous faces including US president Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris, former president Barack Obama and TV chat show host Oprah Winfrey.
4. Pakistan
At least 16 people died after heavy snow trapped them in their vehicles as tens of thousands of visitors thronged Pakistan’s hill town of Murree, the interior minister has said.
In a video message, Sheikh Rashid said the military has been mobilised to clear roads and rescue people still trapped, adding: “At least 16 to 19 people died inside their vehicles.”
5. Dublin assault
Two youths have been granted bail with strict conditions after they were charged attacking a teenage girl and her friend who were seriously injured in Dublin last week.
Darragh Lyons and Jack Cummins, both aged 18, were ordered by a judge to obey curfews which will be checked by gardaí.
The 17-year-old girl, who cannot be identified because she is a juvenile, and a male teenager, were both hospitalised after an assault in west Dublin at approximately 9.40pm on 30 December.
6. Simon Coveney
Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has dodged questions on a champagne reception held by officials in his department that flouted lockdown rules.
Coveney this week said he had not attended the bash at the Iveagh House in June 2020, where his staff were celebrating after Ireland won a seat on the United Nations security council, while strict lockdown measures were still in place.
7. Murder
Three men who chased and killed a 25-year-old innocent man in the US State of Georgia have been sentenced to life in prison.
A judge ruled out any chance of parole for the father and son who armed themselves and initiated the deadly pursuit of Ahmaud Arbery.
8. Courts
A preliminary hearing for a 13-year-old boy accused of sexually assaulting four women and a teenage girl in Dublin as he cycled past has been adjourned for updated welfare reports.
The schoolboy faces five counts of sexual assault at two residential areas on three dates in March and April last year.
9. Aoife Beary
Tributes were paid yesterday at the funeral of Aoife Beary, one of the survivors of the Berkeley balcony collapse in 2015, who was described as having a “big heart” and a “sense of adventure and daring”.
Aoife passed away on New Year’s Day after suffering life-changing injuries during the tragedy, where six young people lost their lives after an apartment balcony collapsed during a party in the California city.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say