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

The sun brings out the brilliant yellow colour of the rapeseed crop in a field in Co Carlow. Eamonn Farrell / RollingNews.ie Eamonn Farrell / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

IRELAND

• The government agreed to begin withdrawing State-provided accommodation that is currently housing 16,000 Ukrainian refugees.
• Irish workers in Dublin-based Meta client firm Covalen were told that over 700 roles are at risk.
• The daughter of Noel Kirwan, an innocent man who was murdered by the Kinahan organised crime group, told cartel leader Sean McGovern that her father would be offended to have been killed by “somebody as stupid as you”.
• A Cavan man pleaded guilty to murdering his mother and attempting to murder his father at the family home in January 2025.
• A man who stole Noah Donohoe’s missing laptop denied that it is his hand in a picture discovered on the schoolboy’s phone after he was last seen. 
• A renewed appeal was launched for witnesses to the death of a 19-year-old man who reportedly fell from a moving vehicle in Cork on the night of 17 April.
• The PSNI released footage of the moment a car bomb exploded outside a police station on the outskirts of Belfast over the weekend.
• Dublin City Council and Lord Mayor Ray McAdam were criticised for the cost of hotel stays and business class flights on official trips last month.

INTERNATIONAL 

Journalists outside the E Barrett Prettyman US Courthouse before the arraignment of White House Correspondents' dinner shooting suspect Cole Tomas Allen in Washington DC. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#WASHINGTON DC: The man accused of opening fire at the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday was charged with trying to assassinate US president Donald Trump.

#GERMANY: The trial of an Irish man and four other activists accused of breaking into a German subsidiary of an Israeli arms company was postponed following a dispute in court over conditions for the defendants.

#JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE: US first lady Melania Trump called on American broadcaster ABC to “take a stand” against late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel.

#MICHAEL JACKSON: The controversial Michael Jackson film shattered the all-time box office opening record for a biopic, even amid strong criticism about how it handles child sexual abuse allegations against the late pop star.

PARTING SHOT 

How would you feel about a new 30-metre tall statue on Dublin’s George’s Dock? Well, that’s exactly what’s been proposed to Dublin City Council by a private firm as a new tourist attraction. 

The Giant, which could cost around €29m, would be the world’s tallest moving human-shaped statue. It would use technology that allows it to transform into any Irish or international figure to celebrate their legacy. 

But not everyone is sold on the idea. You can read all about it here, and take our poll to let us know what you think of the idea.