EVERY DAY, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know with your morning cup of coffee.
1. #SANDY: Several US states have declared emergencies and tens of millions of people are expected to be affected by Hurricane Sandy when it makes landfall later across a 1,500 kilometre swathe of land. Authorities have been shutting down much of the eastern seaboard in preparation for what is being described as one of the biggest storms in recent history.
2. #DEATH: The death of a 13-year-old girl in Donegal on Saturday night is covered in almost all of today’s newspapers with the Irish Independent leading on the story of Erin Gallagher from Balleybofey who was found dead at her home hours after she told people bullying her online that she would take her own life.
3. #STABBING: A man has reportedly died after he was stabbed in north Dublin overnight. The man was found on a road in Donaghmede at around 7am this morning and was taken to hospital. According to RTÉ News, he died a short time later.
4. #MEETING: The German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble is in Dublin today to meet with our own Finance Minister Michael Noonan and the Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Brendan Howlin. The meeting at Farmleigh House is likely to cover Ireland’s continued efforts to secure a deal on its legacy bank debt but the Irish Times reports that discussions will focus more on the Anglo Irish Bank promissory note.
5. #DUBLIN MARATHON: Over 14,000 people will be taking part in today’s Dublin Marathon as the city will be affected by numerous road closures across the north and south of the city centre. If you’re running today here’s a guide to surviving the 26.2 miles, here’s your playlist and here’s a bit of inspiration. If you’re not running then here’s what you need to know about the traffic arrangements.
6. #HEALTH INSURANCE: The State-owned health insurer, VHI, has warned that premiums could rise by as much as 45 per cent next year unless proposed new charges are phased in over a longer period then currently proposed. The Irish Times reports that charges for private patients using public beds could have implications for the insurer with health correspondent Paul Cullen citing internal documents in his report.
7. #UKRAINE: The ruling party in Ukraine has claimed victory in the country’s parliamentary elections. While an official final result is some way off exit polls showed that the Party of Regions, led by President Viktor Yanukovych, topped the list with Fatherland, the opposition bloc of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, coming in second. There was bad news for former Ukrainian football star Andriy Shevchenko’s political ambitions.
8. #CROKE PARK II? The government is making noises about a successor to the Croke Park Agreement on public sector pay and reform if a report in the Irish Independent is to be believed. Fionnan Sheahan writes that public sector workers face an overhaul in work practices in return for a limiting of pay cuts as the government looks to maintain the industrial peace.
9. #DISPUTE: A row has broken out between the Justice Minister Alan Shatter and the Sunday Independent over the newspaper’s reporting of the Minister’s response to correspondence from the Taoiseach Enda Kenny. The issue saw Shatter release two statements yesterday in addition to the emergence of two versions of a letter that he sent to Kenny.
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