GOOD MORNING.

Here’s all the news you need to know as you start the day.

Organised Crime

1. In today’s morning lead, Niall O’Connor reports that Ireland’s most senior organised crime investigator has said the main driving force behind large-scale cocaine smuggling around our shores are Irish criminals but that in the background they have aligned with Iranian-backed organised crime gangs.   

Sean Small

2. A 41-year-old man has been charged with the murder of Sean Small in Co Down on Sunday.

The 84-year-old man was found dead outside his home in Newcastle, having been the victim of a “brutal and sustained” attack, police said.

Kyran Durnin

3. Gardaí in Louth are continuing to appeal to the public for information in connection with the disappearance and murder of Kyran Durnin, who would have turned nine this year.

Kyran was last seen in June 2022. He was six years old at the time. Last October, gardaí announced that after extensive inquiries, there was no evidence that Kyran is alive, and a formal murder investigation was subsequently launched.

Mortgage approvals

4. Mortgage approvals hit a record high of almost €1.8 billion in July, new figures from the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) show.

A total of 5,467 mortgages were approved during the month, up 2.9 per cent on the same period last year and 12 per cent higher than June.

Mounjaro

5. Sales of weight loss injection Mounjaro have been temporarily paused in the UK to prevent pharmacies stockpiling ahead of a 170% price hike – a move which poses significant challenges for Irish users, with some users expected to turn to the black market as a result.

Mounjaro, which is made by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, has been significantly cheaper in the UK than Ireland, causing many Irish-based users of the drug to buy it in Northern Ireland to save over €100 monthly.

Irish Rail

6. Irish Rail today lodged a planning application for a new train station at Moyross, Co Limerick, which will be located on the Limerick to Galway rail line.

If planning is granted and funding allocated, construction on the station is expected to begin in 2026 and take 15 months to complete.

Import duties

7. Today the US ended tariff exemptions on small packages entering the country from abroad, causing the receiver to pay a 15% tax on packages worth over $100 (€85).

The tax exemption previously applied to all packages valued under $800 ($685), but Donald Trump’s administration ended the exemption due to claims low-value shipments have been used to evade tariffs and smuggle drugs.

Catherine Connolly

8. Catherine Connolly has criticised political parties that have yet to decide whether to run a candidate in the upcoming presidential election, calling it “disrespectful” to the constitution and the role of the office.

The Galway TD, who has already secured backing from Labour, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit-Solidarity, and a range of independents, is currently the only confirmed candidate to succeed Michael D Higgins.

Dinosaur

9. New fossils give palaeontologists picture of one of the ‘strangest’ dinosaurs ever discovered.  Spicomellus, which roamed the earth 165 million years ago, is the world’s oldest ankylosaur, a herbivorous group of dinosaurs known for their tank-like bodies.

It boasted an elaborate armoury of long bony spikes and a tail weapon, according to findings published in the science journal Nature.