NEED TO CATCH up? TheJournal brings you all of today’s top stories.

IRELAND

Rossa Fanning, Attorney General.

• Ireland’s Attorney General made a speech in the Hague today, in which he told the International Court of Justice why Ireland condemns Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land, in particular in the West Bank. 
• Westmeath County Council has said it has been the subject of a payment fraud of about €515,000. The fraud was initiated by a third-party, the council said.
• Residents in North Dublin have urged Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) to reconsider putting a MetroLink station in Albert College Park, rather than at the chosen location at a church on Ballymun Road.
• There was a heated exchange between Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty and Tánaiste Micheál Martin over housing today, with the government’s affordable housing targets were accused of being “pathetically low”.
• Researchers from Trinity College Dublin have discovered leaky blood vessels, together with a hyperactive immune system may be the underlying cause of brain fog in people with long Covid.
• A person attempted to get a job at an accommodation centre for asylum seekers in Dublin city in a bid to “cause trouble and enact racial discrimination”, prompting security concerns at the facility.

INTERNATIONAL 

#GAZA: Palestinians in Rafah city awoke during the night to the sound of an intense Israeli bombardment.

#ASYLUM SEEKERS: Albania’s parliament has voted in favour of a deal with Italy to hold thousands of asylum seekers while their asylum applications for Italy are processed.

#RAPE TRIAL: Former Brazil and Barcelona footballer Dani Alves has been found guilty of raping a woman in a nightclub in 2022.

PARTING SHOT 

Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty has been selected as the Grand Marshal for the St Patrick's Parade

Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty has been chosen as the Grand Marshal for the national St Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin.

Co Down native Kielty said he “couldn’t be more excited to be this year’s Grand Marshal”.

“It’s such an honour to be asked and I was genuinely gobsmacked when the call came in,” he added.

“When you’re lucky enough to be called Patrick, St Patrick’s Day always feels like an extra birthday and I can’t wait to get the world’s biggest party started on 17 March.”

Meanwhile, St. Patrick’s Festival CEO Richard Tierney said he’s “thrilled” to have Patrick Kielty as Grand Marshal.

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