GOOD MORNING.

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

Local councils across the country suspend homebuyer scheme amid row with department

1. Eoghan Dalton reports on how hundreds of families in towns and cities across the country are at increased risk of homelessness, as up to half of local councils have effectively suspended a last-minute measure designed to save tenants from eviction.

A conservative estimate from figures provided to The Journal means more than 300 households facing eviction are left in limbo due to the uncertainty.

Two years since the death of an icon: Sinéad O’Connor

2. Fans of legendary singer Sinéad O’Connor have been paying tribute to her online on the second anniversary of her death. 

Singer Imelda May hailed Sinéad as “the bravest woman” she knew as she paid tribute to her friend this week.

Trump in Scotland and EU poised for trade deal 

3. US President Donald Trump landed in Scotland yesterday ahead of a five-day visit.

During his time in the country, the president will meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Scottish First Minister John Swinney, as well as European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

As centres close across Ireland, payments for hosting Ukrainians rise

4. There has been a considerable rise in the number of households in receipt of the state payment for housing Ukrainians, as the Government has ended the contracts for over 100 centres that were housing them so far this year. 

Emer McAuley reports that since January of this year an additional 3,125 payments have been made to property owners, representing a 16% rise in payments since the beginning of the scheme. 

Conflict continues between Thailand and Cambodia

5. A border dispute is continuing today between Thailand and Cambodia, with the death toll rising overnight to 33.

The fighting has forced more than 170,000 people to be evacuated from each country’s border regions.

Ukraine and Russia exchange fire overnight

 6. At least three people have been killed as Russia and Ukraine continued to war overnight. 

In Ukraine’s Dnipro, one person was killed in a high-rise apartment complex.  

Irish hospital waiting lists longer than our peers

7. An internal Department of Health report found that Ireland had the longest outpatient waiting times out of a list of analysed countries, including Poland, England and Scotland.

 The report analysed waiting lists in Ireland and ‘comparable’ countries, including Norway, Spain, Canada, Poland, England, Wales, Scotland and Finland.

The cost of the Renters’ Tax Credit

8. Doubling the Renters’ Tax Credit to €2,000, something Taoiseach Micheál Martin pledged to do before the general election, will cost €160 million, according to an expert advisory panel at the Department of Finance.

Currently, the credit amounts to €1,000 per person or €2,000 per couple claiming. 

Creeslough families launch lawsuits

9. The Irish Independent reports this morning that several lawsuits have been filed by survivors and relatives of victims of the Creeslough tragedy. 

The cases have been brought against the operators of the Applegreen service station and a management company for neighbouring apartments, where an explosion took the lives of 10 people in 2020.