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

IRELAND

Tom Honan Spice Girls Fans (back, l-t-r) Bella Flynn, Celine Buckley, Lisa Donohoe and Amanda Mulvaney, (front, l-t-r) Kellie Buckley and Gemma Collins. Tom Honan

• Turnout started out low in the European and local elections and in the divorce referendum.
• A no-deal Brexit is “more likely than it’s ever been”, Tánaiste Simon Coveney said
• Galway native Kevin Hynes died while climbing Mount Everest
• Over 33,000 speed checks were carried out in Ireland – here are some of the speeds people were caught travelling at
• The Bernard Shaw has been refused permission to continue operating its iconic exterior beer garden and dining area.

INTERNATIONAL 

PA Wire / PA Images L-t-r: Theresa May at the beginning of her term in office as Prime Minister, and Theresa May today, when she announced her resignation. PA Wire / PA Images / PA Images

#THE END OF MAY: Theresa May has announced she will step down as Conservative leader on 7 June, paving the way for a Tory leadership contest. 

#FRANCE: A parcel bomb exploded in the French city of Lyon. There were a number of injuries, but no fatalities were reported, President Emmanuel Macron said.

#ME TOO: Disgraced Hollywood produced Harvey Weinstein has reportedly reached a provisional $44 million settlement with alleged victims and creditors. 

PARTING SHOT

Theresa May’s Brexit deal was voted down in the worst House of Commons defeat in modern history; but her short tenure in office won’t be shorter than Gordon Brown’s – and more than that, it’s actually part of a pattern.

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British broadcaster Michael Crick said that for the past seven decades, the UK has seen “a substantial, long-serving Prime Minister followed by lesser figure from same party who lasts roughly half as long”.

He cites: “Churchill-Eden; Macmillan-Home; Wilson-Callaghan; Thatcher-Major; Blair-Brown; Cameron-May. Only Heath breaks the pattern.”