GOOD MORNING. 

Here’s all the news you need to know as you start the day. 

Derelict Ireland

1. Boarded-up houses and crumbling buildings are a common feature of towns and cities across Ireland. There are nearly 20,000 derelict houses in Ireland, and local authorities can apply to acquire these properties via a Compulsory Purchase Order (CSO).

The Journal has been keeping track of the vacant and derelict properties that councils have sought to acquire in previous months. Last month, just two local authorities applied to CPO any properties.

Global Sumud Flotilla

2. A flotilla carrying humanitarian aid and activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, will leave from Barcelona today to try to “break the illegal siege of Gaza”.

The Global Sumud Flotilla, which will also sail with two Irish activists today, said the vessels will set off from the Spanish port city to “open a humanitarian corridor and end the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people”.

Endless cycle

3. A new 3-kilometre stretch of cycle lanes in south Kildare has sparked strong opposition from locals, who say the project “starts nowhere and ends nowhere” and has been forced on their community without proper consultation.

Restaurant closures

4. The government is expected to reduce the VAT rate for the food sector from 13.5% to 9% due to a ‘crisis’ of closures. But Paul O’Donoghue writes that there is very little evidence that such a crisis exists. 

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

5. Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in China to attend a showpiece summit hosted by President Xi Jinping with around 20 other world leaders.

Kneecap

6. Irish language rap trio Kneecap used their Electric Picnic set yesterday to call on the Irish government to amend the law so that the Central Bank can no longer facilitate the sale of Israeli State bonds.

Electric Picnic

7. Presidential candidate Catherine Connolly told The Journal‘s Diarmuid Pepper at Electric Picnic that she “takes for granted” that any candidate for the presidency would be able to speak Irish.

Race for the Áras

8. Staying with the presidential election, Taoiseach Micheál Martin finally endorsed former Dublin GAA manager Jim Gavin to be Fianna Fáil’s nomination for the race.

NGO funding

9. Ireland is among the few European countries who have bucked trends and have continued to increase public funding for the non-profit and charity sector – 0nly now, we’ve no way to track how much is being spent.