NEED TO CATCH up? TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of today’s news.

IRELAND

rtist and Naomh Og Builder Holger Lonze, living in Waterville, plays a medieval horn to welcome people to Poetry Day Ireland 2019 on the early monastic settlement of Church Island or Inis Uasal, Lough Currane, Waterville, Co.Kerry. Valerie O’Sullivan Valerie O’Sullivan

• Two men were charged and another arrested in connection with the thefts of ATMs in Northern Ireland.
• CCTV images showing one of the boys accused of murder walking with Ana Kriegel on the day of her disappearance were shown to the jury this afternoon. 
• Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that holding an investigation into claims by consultants that dead bodies were left decomposing on a mortuary corridor at University Hospital Waterford is not one of his priorities.
• Tega Agberhiere (16) – one of the teenagers injured in an apparent acid attack in Waterford – said he didn’t think he would ever be able to see again. 
• Health Minister Simon Harris launched his Bill for an opt-out organ donation system for Ireland.
• Prison officers expressed concern about the number of gangs in Irish prisons and about their regularly violent behaviour.
• Several Irish banks advised customers that delayed payments will be made after a European bank holiday caused disruption.
• The Road Safety Authority called on motorcyclists to take specific care on the roads ahead of the May bank holiday weekend.
• The Abbey Theatre said it has learned from talks with artists and is committed to changes that will improve its engagement with them.
• Aircraft manufacturer Bombardier announced that it was selling its Belfast operation. 
• An alleged “IRA man” who raped two teenage boys at a “republican safe house” two decades ago was jailed for seven years.
• TheJournal.ie spoke to people who have left their jobs to take up a new position in the HSE, but are now in limbo due to a recruitment freeze. 

WORLD

Pro-IRA graffiti that appeared just metres away from where the journalist Lyra McKee was killed in Creggan. PA Wire / PA Images PA Wire / PA Images / PA Images

#VENEZUELA: It was announced that one woman has died and more than forty people were injured in Venezuela yesterday during clashes between armed forces and opposition supporters.

#UNITED STATES: Florida’s House of Representatives has approved a bill allowing teachers to carry firearms.

PARTING SHOT 

It’s Poetry Day Ireland – with lots of poetry events and readings taking place up and down the country. Follow the #PoetryDayIRL on Twitter for a round-up of what’s been happening. 

For the day that’s in it, here’s a poem Paint Me, by Dean, about his experience of homelessness. Give it a look and a listen. 

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