EVERY DAY, TheJournal.iebrings you nine things you need to know with your morning cup of coffee.

1. #COWEN: Former Taoiseach Brian Cowen has said that there was no plan B for the economic crash as the government did not believe skeptics who warned them about it. In an interview for TG4′s Comhra, due to be broadcast next month, Cowen said he accepted responsibility but accused the opposition of “rewriting history”, the Irish Independent reports.

2. #SEANAD REFERENDUM: Deputy Directer of Fine Gael’s Seanad abolition campaign Regina Doherty used parliamentary questions to find out information about the effectiveness of the Seanad, but has been told by ministers in her own party to find out for herself.

3. #CLARE: Three men were arrested and one man was hospitalised after a brawl in a cemetery near Ennis, Co Clare yesterday evening. A number of weapons were also seized by gardaí and the Irish Independent reports that four vehicles were damaged in the fight.

4. #PAIN: Some 203 patients who were on a waiting list for a chronic pain clinic at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda have been referred back to their GPs due to the closure of the clinic. The HSE said it could no longer provide the service because it could not recruit a consultant, the Irish Times reports.

5. #DANGEROUS DRIVING: An Irish man has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing the deaths of two people in Perth, Australia six years ago, Herald Sun reports. Eamonn Driver was extradited from Ireland, having returned home in 2007 before any charges were laid.

6. #SYRIA: US forces are getting ready to ‘punish’ Syria over an alleged chemical attack on civilians with Joe Biden saying there is ‘no doubt’ that the regime is responsible. Meanwhile the UN weapons inspections teams are also preparing for their second visit to the site of the alleged attack.

7. PERU: The solicitor of Tyrone woman Michaella McCollum Connolly has said that she and her travelling companion Melissa Reid have now begun to realise just how serious the situation is. The Peruvian system, Madden said, is geared towards getting prisoners to plead guilty which in the Irish woman’s case, could see her face two years in prison.

8. #CHINA: A six-year-old boy in China has had his eyes gouged out after being lured into a field by a woman, The Guardian reports. It had been thought that the boy’s corneas were removed for sale because of a donor shortage but they were found at the scene.

9. #I HAVE A DREAM: Today marks the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s most famous and rousing ‘I have a dream’ speech. The speech, which is Martin McGuinness’s favourite, inspired generations of Americans to stand up and demand equality for the black population. If you’ve never read it, here it is in full.

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