LAST UPDATE | 21 Apr 2024

GOOD MORNING.

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

Donegal evictions

1. Families in Donegal say they feel like “pawns on a chessboard” over plans to remove them from their homes.

In our lead story this morning, Eoghan Dalton reports on the standoff in the Ballymacool estate in Letterkenny between the property firm which owns the homes, their tenants and the local residents association.

A spokesperson for the property firm said that the “last thing” it wants to do is to “throw somebody out” on the street, adding: “…We are living in a a capitalistic kind of society where if you buy a house and decide to sell it, you have the right to sell it. I don’t think we’re living in Bolshevik Leninist Russia.”

US military aid 

2. The US has approved a military aid package worth more than €60 billion for Israel and Ukraine.

It comes as Iran and Israel appear to be pulling back from the brink of outright war.

Death of young boy

3. A seven-year-old boy has died in an incident at a swimming pool in Co Clare.

Gardaí have confirmed that local officers and the emergency services responded to the scene in Killaloe shortly before 3pm.

He was taken from the scene to University Hospital Limerick where he was pronounced dead.

It is understood that gardaí believe it was a “tragic accident” and a file is now being prepared for the coroner.

‘From bees to bullets’

4. Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has said that the European Union’s priorities have changed “from bees to bullets” as a new strategy seeks to “abandon” the Green Deal and international conflicts populate headlines.

He also said that maintaining Irish neutrality amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza is important in promoting peace in the region.

Ryan was speaking to a crowd of around 350 at his party’s annual conference in the RDS, where he addressed a long list of issues that also included housing and political disillusionment.

Palestine protest

5. Christy Moore was among the speakers at a pro-Palestine march in Dublin city centre today.

It was part of an ongoing series of marches calling for an end to the Israeli campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 30,000 people since October.

More than 1,000 protesters assembled at the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Square and marched to Leinster House for a rally outside the Irish Dail parliament. 

‘Bait bikes’ tactic

6. Could ‘bait bikes’ put a dent in the 20,000 bike thefts seen in Dublin each year?

Such a scheme was carried out in November 2020 when London police attached a GPS tracker to a bike that was later stolen.

The bike was tracked to a warehouse in east London and there, police recovered 57 bikes with a value of £100,000.

Ukraine

7. Apart from a big summit every-now-and-again, we rarely hear of the European political groupings in Irish media.

These groupings are important for the functioning of a ‘working parliament’ as they compel MEPs to come to a consensus with politicians from across the political spectrum in Brussels who they, on a national level, would usually not agree with.

So what are European political groups? And what is their importance ahead of the next European elections in June?

Swift quiz

8. Taylor Swift fans were treated to a surprise on Friday when the pop star announced an extended version of her new album.

‘The Tortured Poets Department’ is Swift’s 11th studio album and had apparently leaked online a day early.

So to coincide with the release of her latest album, let’s test our respective knowledge on Taylor Swift.

Donegal bust Derry

9. Donegal dethroned champions Derry with a clinical four-goal display to advance to the Ulster semi-finals.

Mickey Harte’s side were undone by the fly-keeper tactics which have been trending in football, as Odhrán Lynch was caught out of position on a few occasions resulting in goals.

Along with an Oisín Gallen penalty, Jim McGuinness’s side also struck the net through Jamie Brennan and a brace from Daire Ó Baoill to slay the champions and advance to the final four.