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

IRELAND

Irish veterans attending the National Day of Commemoration Ceremony in Kilmainham Hospital, held to honour all Irishmen and Irishwomen who died in past wars or on service with the United Nations. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

• A man has died in a two car crash in County Louth this morning. 
• HSE Chief Executive Bernard Gloster has said that the recruitment freeze that has been in place for the health service since last year will end tomorrow. 
• Senator Róisín Garvey has been elected deputy leader of the Green Party today.
• Taoiseach Simon Harris has said the Government is open to increasing funding for Casement Park. 
• President Michael D Higgins has laid a wreath at a ceremony to commemorate all Irishmen and Irishwomen who have died in military service.
• We carried out some analysis to see if new traffic plans for Dublin could affect the economy in Dublin. 
• The free schoolbooks scheme is “death by a thousand cuts” for Irish booksellers, who have fears for the future of the industry if the scheme is expanded.
• The world is facing a health crisis which is as serious as the Covid-19 pandemic and could cause millions of premature deaths, but we’re not doing enough to mitigate the risks, experts have warned.

INTERNATIONAL

Spanish fans in Berlin celebrating on the streets ahead of tonight's European Championships final. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#TRUMP Donald Trump has released a new statement this morning in America and has called on Americans to “unite” and not allow “evil to win”.

#GERMANY A shooting in south-western Germany linked to a domestic dispute on Sunday left three dead and two wounded from the same family, police said.

#PALESTINE A senior Hamas official has said that the militant group is withdrawing from talks on a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict because of Israel’s “ongoing massacres against unarmed civilians” and its attitude in negotiations.

PARTING SHOT

Our English pals go into the European Championships final tonight and they may well not fumble it this time. Anyway we can only hope our gallant allies in Europe, the Spanish, stop them. 

Will all that in mind we asked Peter Flanagan to tell us what it is like to be an Irish man living in the belly of the beast – England.

He writes: “It’s not easy being Irish in Britain during an international football tournament. A London pub during an England game is bleached in terrors. St. George’s flags pinned to the walls, the bloated faces diced with red crosses, the slurred chorus of football anthems.

“Imagine being an Ewok trapped on the Death Star, sobbing quietly into your green fur while a hammered Darth Vader prepares to explode another planet. That is what it feels like.

“A fight or flight response is triggered. In the same way that a cat can smell a storm, the Irish living in the UK could sense the coming of the Euros this year in our bones. That’s why so many of us can be found hiding in trees during the games, mewling and eating mice.”

To read the rest of his despatch and vicariously live his traumatic existence follow the link here.