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

IRELAND

Family members of Stardust fire victims, (l to r) Lorraine Keegan, Martina Hand, Antoinette Keegan and Pauline Braymer, outside the eleventh pre-inquest hearing at the RDS Dublin Leah Farrell Leah Farrell

• A major report on the future of the Defence Forces has been published with recommendations on the military’s structures, equipment and personnel.
• The trial of former solicitor Michael Lynn accused of multi-million euro thefts has opened before a jury.
• The Garda investigation file on the murder of teacher Ashling Murphy will be submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions in 10 days, a court has heard.
• A 34-year-old man has been charged with the sexual assault of a teenage girl in Fermoy, Co Cork which occurred at lunchtime on Monday.
• Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin has reluctantly withdrawn a claim that Taoiseach Micheál Martin was “lying” in the Dáil following the intervention of Ceann Comhairle Sean Ó Fearghail. 
• A Bill is to be introduced to the Seanad in the next couple of weeks that would see character references for sexual offenders being submitted under oath, which would allow the prosecution to cross examine those that submit character references.
• The coroner of the Stardust inquest will rule on whether or not a verdict of unlawful killing can be excluded for the considerations of a future jury later this week.
• A man has died after the motorcycle he was driving crashed in Co Wexford this afternoon. 
• The Mater Hospital is asking people to avoid its emergency department where possible as it faces pressure from an increase in Covid-19 patients.

INTERNATIONAL

A panda playing in the snow at Nanjing Hongshan Forest Zoo in China Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#BORIS: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has denied claims that a newly emerged photo is evidence of another lockdown-breaching party at No 10 Downing Street.

#SWEDEN: Sweden has halted wide-scale testing for Covid-19, even among people showing symptoms of an infection.

#ZOUMA: West Ham defender Kurt Zouma has been fined the “maximum amount possible” for mistreating his pet cat, the Premier League club has announced.

PARTING SHOT

A large family syndicate from Co Mayo are the winners of the largest Lotto jackpot in the history of the game in Ireland, after claiming the €19,060,800 in Dublin today.

The family, who wish to keep their win private, won the jackpot with a Quick Pick ticket they bought at Laura’s XL store in Castlebar town in Co Mayo.

Discussing the exact moment that they realised they had the winning ticket, a spokesperson from the winning family syndicate said “that Saturday night back in January is still a blur”.

There was a lot of excitement about the draw that night, so we watched it on the television at home. I had the ticket in my hand and to see the six numbers come out one after another was like an out of body experience – it’s impossible to explain.