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

IRELAND

A man in Stephen's Green Park, reading his book while surrounded by daffodils. Leon Farrell Leon Farrell

• The Taoiseach quashed claims that Ireland may soon send up to €1bn in non-lethal military aid to Ukraine, under new EU proposals, and said the plan would be agreed if the figure is “much lower”.
• A private law firm is representing the State in an independent review to determine whether a congregation of nuns can take back money set aside to deal with sex abuse claims, as reported by Saoirse McGarrigle this morning. 
• Former Formula One team owner, TV pundit and entrepreneur Eddie Jordan was hailed as one-of-a-kind after he died today at the age of 76.
• Two Dublin local authorities came together to push for national legislation to enable councils to levy taxes on overnight stays by tourists.
• A cargo ship, linked to the Russian ghost fleet, which has been investigated for suspicious activity in the Baltic was spotted by an Irish Air Corps aircraft dropping an anchor close to an undersea cable in Irish waters.
• The High Court heard an allegation that Web Summit founder Paddy Cosgrave “heavily edited” a recording of a heated call he had with a former director and sent it to other staff of the tech conference company in an effort to damage him.

INTERNATIONAL

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, left, speaks with Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#EUROPE: EU leaders met at a summit in Brussels today where they discussed a range of challenges facing the bloc, and hosted a video address by Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy.

#PALESTINE: A baby girl was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed apartment building in Gaza after an Israeli air strike.

#ISRAEL: Taoiseach Michéal Martin criticised statements made by Israel’s minister for defence as the bombing of Gaza continues. 

PARTING SHOT

MARGARET ATWOOD ONCE said, ‘Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.’

This dystopian maxim becomes a grim reality in Stephen Graham’s and Jack Thorne’s chilling teenage drama Adolescence, one of the most talked about and socially impactful television dramas to reach our screens in years.

Read Debbie Ging’s full Voices article here.