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

Ireland

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris officially opening Dublin Airport Garda Station. Leah Farrell Leah Farrell

• It has been a big day for Sinn Féin in the Northern Ireland elections. We have a blow-by-blow account of the day’s events here.  
• A 20% reduction in the cost of Dublin’s public transport fares is to take effect from Monday. 
• The Kinahan organised crime group has been linked to at least 20 murders across four EU member states and is among Europe’s largest wholesalers of cocaine, a new report from the EU’s police and drugs agencies states.
• Public Expenditure Minister Michael McGrath has given the green light to exploratory discussions on public service pay.
• The Department of Children has said the State is currently in an emergency response and sometimes moving refugees to other locations is “necessary” to ensure all those fleeing Ukraine can be accommodated.
• A garda has told a murder trial that he walked over six kilometres to Cork University Hospital (CUH) alongside the emotional father of the two-year-old alleged victim.
• Convicted Garda killer Aaron Brady will stand trial in the non-jury Special Criminal Court for plotting to pervert the course of justice.
• It’s shaping up to be a warm and sunny weekend across the country. Met Éireann is forecasting dry conditions with temperatures reaching 15 to 19 degrees alongside light breezes.
• A teenager has died in a crash in Co Offaly. The male youth had been driving a tractor which crashed into a deep drain at Black Castle Bog, Clonmore near Rhode.

International

A Mercury Redstone stands silhouetted on Complex 5 as SpaceX launches 53 Starlink satellites at 5:42 AM from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida early this morning. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#ENGLAND Boris Johnson is facing an angry backlash from local Tories as the party saw key London strongholds fall to Labour while also suffering losses in councils across England.

#BRITAIN The boss of P&O Ferries has hit out at “misinformation” about the firm since it sacked nearly 800 seafarers.

#UKRAINE Ukraine’s Azov Battalion, leading Kyiv’s defence of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, accused Russian forces today of firing during a civilian evacuation of the huge steelworks, despite a Moscow-imposed ceasefire.

#CHINA Fifty-three people died in a building collapse in central China, authorities said, announcing the end of the rescue mission in a disaster which has been blamed on illegal construction.

#ISRAEL Israeli forces have launched a manhunt for attackers who killed three people in the central city of Elad as the country marked the anniversary of its founding.

Parting Shot

It’s a big day on the island of Ireland as residents of Northern Ireland find out who will represent them in Stormont. 

Turn outs for elections wax and wane from low to high depending on how engaged the population are in the democratic process. 

This morning we asked our readers would they support voting to be mandatory and the vast majority answered in the negative.

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