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

IRELAND 

As the cold weather is expected to continue this week. asylum seekers and immigrants still hold up in their tents outside the International Protection office in Dublin Eamonn Farrell Eamonn Farrell

• Former RTÉ chair Siún Ní Raghallaigh has said that she believes her “enforced dismissal” from the role “seemed designed to traduce my reputation”. 
• Survivors of industrial schools have expressed frustration at a range of support measures proposed by the Government, saying the plan doesn’t address many of their needs.
• There has been a significant increase in the number of passengers taking rural Local Link services across Ireland over the past four years, new figures show.
• Gardaí are investigating “all the circumstances” following the discovery of a man’s body in open land in Co Leitrim.
• Hundreds of school principals have signed a petition calling for the Department of Education to reinstate pupils’ complex needs as a consideration in allocating special education teaching hours to schools.
• Transport Infrastructure Ireland has agreed to lower tunnels deeper into the ground during the construction of the Metrolink to avoid causing damage to buildings in the city centre.
• The High Court has granted the publishers of The Ditch permission to bring proceedings against two local authorities it claims have failed to maintain their staff ethics registers.
• President Michael D Higgins will remain in hospital until Thursday in order to monitor his blood pressure, after medical tests determined that he experienced “a mild transient weakness”. 

INTERNATIONAL

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Dragon spacecraft blasts off from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#US POLITICS Nikki Haley has won the Republican primary in the District of Columbia, marking her first victory of the 2024 campaign.

#LIGHTS OUT Haiti’s government has declared a state of emergency, imposing a night-time curfew in a bid to regain control of the streets after an explosion of violence at the weekend.

#INDIAN COURTS Three men have appeared in court in India after the gang rape of a Spanish tourist on a motorbike trip with her husband, with police hunting four other suspects, reports said today.

PARTING SHOT

Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar leaving the Village Butchers shop while canvassing in Ranelagh village today Eamonn Farrell Eamonn Farrell

With just days to go before the country goes to the polls for the family and care referendums, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has urged people to vote Yes Yes in a final push ahead of Friday.

Varadkar said there is no guarantee that any future Government would rerun the referendums if they do not pass and said the only way to guarantee removing “sexist” language from the Constitution is to vote Yes on the care question.

There has been an increase in public support for a Yes No vote in recent days, as disability activists and legal experts have expressed their concern over what the amendments could mean for disabled people and the elderly.

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