Olympic gold

2. There has been an outpouring of celebrations this morning as Ireland’s Kellie Harrington defeated Brazilian fighter Beatriz Ferreira in the women’s lightweight boxing final at the Tokyo Olympics.

Harrington became the latest Irish athlete to take home a gold medal on the final day of the games. 

President Michael D Higgins and many others have offered their congratulations, with the president saying: “Hers is an exceptional achievement, and she is an inspiration for us all.” 

Direct Provision 

3. Asylum seekers are facing over two years for international protection applications to be processed despite a State commitment to cut delays to nine months.

The latest figures from the Department of Justice show that protection applicants are waiting almost 27 months for a decision on their application. Priority cases are currently waiting 19.5 months.

It comes after the Irish Refugee Council last month called for a “drastic reset” of the country’s asylum system which “remains fraught with administrative delays and substantial backlog”. 

Cork bus crash 

4. The funerals of a bus driver and a priest who died in a tragic bus accident earlier this week in Co Cork took place yesterday. 

Fr Con Cronin, who died after pushing his friend from the path of the oncoming bus, was hailed as the “people’s priest” who lived to help others.

Cillian, the son of respected bus driver Mark Wills, said his family are very proud of him and added: “I love him and will never stop and I know he loved us.”

Italy 

5. A German charity boat carrying 257 migrants rescued from the Mediterranean docked in Sicily after Italian authorities granted permission, and hours later a French humanitarian vessel with 549 migrants aboard received a similar port assignment.

After several days in limbo at sea, Sea-Watch 3 sailed into port at Trapani, western Sicily.

Access

6. There are “no plans” to reinstate certain schemes which give transport support to disabled people. 

Transport activist Suzy Byrne said that the removal of an allowance and a grant has had a hugely detrimental effect, noting “there are many people [for] whom public transport is not possible for a variety of reasons”.  

The removal of the Mobility Allowance and the Motorised Transport Grant in 2013 has “further impoverished” the poorest disabled people, Byrne said. 

Case number increase

7. The highest number of Covid-19 cases reported in a single day since January were confirmed yesterday with 1,828 new cases. 

198 Covid patients were in hospital, with 33 people in intensive care units. 

Soul-funk 

8. Dennis ‘Dee Tee’ Thomas, a founding member of the long-running soul-funk band Kool & the Gang – known for such hits as Celebration and Get Down On It – died at the age of 70.

He died peacefully in his sleep yesterday in New Jersey in the US, according to a statement from his representative.

Rainy days 

9. And finally, the rain trundles on this morning but heavy or thundery showers will become largely confined to Ulster and north Connacht. A continued risk of thunderstorms and localised flooding will remain there through the day.

The prospects are improving for other parts of the country with drier and sunnier intervals developing elsewhere with some well scattered showers.

However, further heavy showers will move into southwest Munster in the afternoon. Temperatures will reach highs of 15 to 20 degrees.