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

Ireland

• Anti-refugee protests that took place in Ballymun over the weekend have been condemned, with Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien saying that protestors do not have a right to intimidate people.
• Gardaí are continuing to investigate the fatal assault of Matt O’Neill in Carrigaline, Co Cork, on the evening of 28 December. 
• Politicians have been urged to consider a personal alarm and to avoid holding their constituency clinics alone in fresh security advice issued to Oireachtas members.
• 150 Ukrainian refugees are to be housed in Croke Park until next week, a letter from the GAA to locals has explained. The women and children will be sleeping on camp beds and in sleeping bags in the stadium’s corporate boxes.
• Cork District Court has heard that the State is awaiting directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions in connection with the case of a man charged with the murder of 28-year-old Brazilian national Bruna Fonseca.
• A pilot project that will see patients brought directly to Ennis Hospital instead of waiting on a trolley at University Hospital Limerick has launched today in an effort to combat “inhumane” levels of overcrowding. 
• The Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces has said the problem of retention of military personnel is “significant” but that current near total employment in Ireland is a major stumbling block to solving the issue. 

International

#BRAZIL: Authorities in Brazil have vowed to protect democracy after thousands of ex-president Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters stormed congress, the supreme court and the presidential palace, with more than a thousand protesters arrested.

#UKRAINE: Two British men have gone missing in Ukraine, the country’s national police said.

#OZONE LAYER: The ozone layer is on track to fully recover within four decades as vital repair efforts are proving successful, a report published today has revealed. Scientists have hailed the progress as “fantastic news.”

#PAKISTAN FLOODS: The United Nations’ Secretary-General today called for “massive investments” to help Pakistan recover from last year’s devastating floods and better resist climate change, as financial pledges poured in.

 Parting Shot

RTÉ HAS ANNOUNCED the six-strong shortlist of contenders to be chosen as Ireland’s entry into this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place in Liverpool on Saturday, May 13.

Despite failing to win the contest since 1996, Ireland still holds the record for highest number of contest wins, with a total of seven.

The entry of John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten of legendary punk band The Sex Pistols, and his band Public Image Ltd has stolen the headlines , but here are the five other songs that will go before the public for the chance to perform under Ireland’s banner this summer. 

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