GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news you need to know as you start your day.
Emergency housing
1. In our main story this morning, Assistant News Editor Stephen McDermott takes a look at the multi-billion euro industry that’s sprung up around housing refugees in Ireland, and how businesses here are making vast sums of money out of the ongoing crisis.
Cold weather
2. A nationwide weather warning is currently in place following another frosty night in Ireland.
A Status Yellow ice warning for Ireland kicked in at 8pm. It will remain in place until 9am.
Met Éireann had warned that it would become icy in many areas overnight, especially in Ulster and Leinster.
Hit-and-run in Tipperary
3. A woman in her 80s has been seriously injured after being struck by a tractor in Co Tipperary.
Shortly after 3.30pm on Friday afternoon, gardaí and emergency services were alerted after a pedestrian was struck by a tractor at Sean Kelly Square, Carrick On Suir.
The driver of the tractor failed to remain at the scene.
Gaza ceasefire talks
4. Israel has broadly accepted a ceasefire deal with Hamas, a senior US official has said, as the first American airdrops of humanitarian aid were carried out over Gaza since the current conflict began in October.
The framework agreement envisages a six-week cessation of hostilities, which could begin immediately if the Palestinian militant group signs off on the release of the most vulnerable hostages it holds, the official told reporters on a call.
Opinion poll
5. Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill is now more popular than any of the main political party leaders in Ireland, including Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald.
That’s according to a new poll from the Sunday Independent and Ireland Thinks.
It reports that O’Neill, who became Northern Ireland’s first nationalist First Minister last month, has an approval rating of 55%, putting her ahead of Tánaiste and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin on 47%.
Dog seizures
6. Dublin City Council are to increase dog seizures by introducing more animal wardens are to the city, as almost 150 dogs were taken into the authority’s care in the second half of last year.
Latest figures from the Council show that only half of the dogs taken into the city’s pounds in the last six months of 2023 were rehomed. The remainder of dogs were put to sleep, kept in the authority’s kennels or returned to their owners.
Boxing incident
7. Gardaí have appealed for witnesses after a man was seriously injured in a violent incident which occurred at the National Boy 4 Boxing Championships in Castlerea, Co Roscommon, on Friday.
Garda seizure
8. Three men have been arrested after a handgun, rifle, and ammunition were seized in Kildare.
Gardaí from the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau targetting firearm trafficking stopped vehicle in the Kildare area yesterday morning at about 10am.
During the course of the search, officers recovered one M1911 handgun, one G3 rifle and 40 rounds of ammunition.
Trump
9. Donald Trump won three Republican presidential contests yesterday, edging closer to becoming the party’s candidate in the November election.
The former US president won the Missouri, Michigan and Idaho caucuses, BBC News reports.
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