EACH WEEKDAY EVENING, TheJournal.ie brings you five things you need to know before you head out the door…
1. #PROMISSORY NOTES: The Government has finalised a deal to defer the payment of a €3.06 billion promissory note which was due on Saturday, Finance Minister Michael Noonan has confirmed. It has instead been swapped for a long-term government bond in a move which he described as a “very definite gain in debt sustainability”.
2. #CENSUS 2011: Highlights of the Census of 2011 have been published today, revealing over half of Ireland’s 4,588,252-strong population live in Leinster. The Census data also shows that the number of divorced people has increased by more than 150 per cent to 87,770 since 2002.
It also found that 1.77 million people say they can talk ‘as Gaeilge’ and more than half a million residents speak a language other than English at home.
3. #VACANT: At the time of Census 2011, there were 289,451 vacant dwellings around Ireland – making up 14.5 per cent of all housing stock. Just 59,000 were holiday homes.
The housing stats threw up a number of other interesting items, including the fact that the average weekly rent fell by only 1 per cent between 2006 and 2011 and detached housing remains the single most popular type of dwelling across the country.
4. #ESCAPED PRISONER: The Garda Representative Association has told Justice Minister Alan Shatter to prove he is “not soft on crime”, claiming that the criminal justice system is failing the public. The group’s remarks come following the publication of a report into the escape of garda killer Martin McDermott earlier this month. His transfer to the low-security prison in Cavan – from which he had escaped before – was a mistake, admitted Shatter.
5. #WEATHER: We hope you’re enjoying the sun rays today as they might not be around for too much longer. Met Éireann believes that temperatures will gradually lower over the next few days and the current conditions probably won’t last past the weekend.
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