LAST UPDATE | 14 Apr 2022

GOOD MORNING ALL.

Here’s all the news that you need to know this morning.

1. Simon Coveney is in Kyiv

Simon Coveney is travelling to Kyiv today, the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

The Foreign Affairs Minister is to meet his two counterparts – Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, and will travel to areas directly affected by the Russian invasion.

The Department said that Coveney’s visit to Kyiv will be the first by any foreign minister on the UN Security Council since the war began.

2. War crime of rape

Evidence of rape by Russian soldiers is growing in Ukraine as the International Criminal Court investigates suspected war crimes. It comes after three European countries - Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden – sent €2.5 million to the International Criminal Court towards the investigation into war crimes in Ukraine.

3. Michael Snee’s murder

A man aged in his early 20s arrested yesterday by gardaí investigating the murder of Michael Snee remains in custody, and is expected to be questioned later today.

4. Teenager killed in Kilkenny

A teenager has been killed and two youths have been hospitalised in a single-vehicle crash in Co Kilkenny. Emergency services attended the collision at Dowling in Piltown after 8pm.

5. Splitting headache

A new support pathway for patients with headaches or migraines is to be rolled out across ten sites nationally, following a successful pilot that reduced the number of repeat visits patients had to make to hospitals.

The pilot, which was carried out in three neurology centres in Galway University Hospital, Tallaght University Hospital and St James’s Hospital in Dublin, also partnered with the Migraine Association of Ireland to include additional services such as peer support groups and help with self-care and symptoms management.

6. Boris Johnson’s crumbling government

Boris Johnson’s battle to remain in power has been hit by the resignation of a justice minister, who warned the scale and nature of breaches of coronavirus rules in Downing Street are inconsistent with the rule of law.

 Conservative peer David Wolfson said he had “no option” other than to resign over the “repeated rule-breaking, and breach of the criminal law, in Downing Street”.

It comes as further pressure is put on members of Johnson’s government over their tax status in the UK – after Rishi Sunak’s wife came under the spotlight, Sajid Javid is now being scrutinised over his ‘non-dom’ status.

Tax experts said that to have maintained non-dom status Javid would have had to assert he did not intend to live in UK indefinitely and furthermore demonstrate to HMRC that he had stronger “personal links” to the country of his chosen domicile than he did to the UK

— Jim Pickard (@PickardJE) April 14, 2022

7. Opinion poll

An Ipsos/Irish Times opinion poll has indicated that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have made gains since December, but a huge gap still remains between them and Sinn Féin.

Sinn Féin remain top of the poll at 33% (down 2 percentage points), Fianna Fáil are on 23% (up 3 points), Fine Gael on 22% (up 2 points), Labour are on 4% (no change) and the Green Party are on 3% (down 2).

8. 300 new jobs

Medical device-maker Boston Scientific has announced plans to invest €100 million in its Galway campus, adding 300 jobs to the operation. Boston Scientific says it exports nearly four million medical devices from Galway every year, including heart stents and valves, vascular balloons and oesophagal stents.

9. In case you missed it

Last night, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly ordered an external review into the abandoned secondment of Dr Tony Holohan to an appointment at Trinity College “to examine learnings and recommendations that could inform future such initiatives”.