Every day, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you really need to know as you start your day.
1. #FIRE: A woman, 25, and a five-year-old boy have been killed in a house fire in Mahon, in Cork City. The two were among eight people in a house which caught fire at 3:15am; the two were the last to escape, but died later in Cork University Hospital.
2. #SHOOTING: Two men have been hospitalised in Newry after shots were fired during an altercation between two groups of foreign nationals. One, who was shot in the chest, is in a critical condition. [Update: One of the men has died from his injuries.]
3. #JOBS BUDGET: There is confusion over just how many jobs the new government’s fabled Jobs Budget can introduce – with the Sunday Independent reporting that enterprise minister Richard Bruton is seeking suggestions on how many jobs each measure could hypothetically create. The Sunday Times says the measures will include the lowering of VAT on some services, as part of a €500m economic stimulus package.
4. #FOUR YEAR PLAN: The new cabinet is apparently picking holes in the Four Year Plan, the multi-year budget introduced by the previous government and to which the new coalition will abide by the next two years. It’s transpired, the Sunday Business Post says, that there are nine-digit funding shortfalls in many departments’ allocations.
5. #PUBLIC PAY: There are 60 people in the public sector earning more than the Taoiseach’s salary of €200,000 a year, the Sunday Independent reports this morning. The Taoiseach’s secretary-general Dermot McCarthy is about to retire with a €340,000 pension payoff, the Mail on Sunday reports – adding that McCarthy could yet be set for another job with handsome rewards, as Ireland’s ambassador to the Holy See.
6. #MOUNT CARMEL: One of the country’s best-known maternity hospitals could be about to fall into the hands of a state-owned bank due to its owners’ financial problems. Mount Carmel Hospital owner Jerry Conlan has admitted he is on the brink of insolvency, and the hospital could fall into the hands of AIB, according to the Irish Mail on Sunday.
7. #OLD FIRM: Ahead of today’s tense (and potentially title-deciding) Old Firm derby between Rangers and Celtic, Scottish police have arrested a number of men who are suspected of being involved in online hate campaigns against figures from both clubs. It’s not known whether the arrests are connected to the parcel bombs sent to Celtic boss Neil Lennon and others.
8. #YEMEN: Yemen’s embattled president Ali Abdullah Saleh has agreed to step down in an attempt to end the wave of uprisings in his country. The terms of the deal, brokered with neighbouring states, will give Saleh and his cabinet complete immunity if he makes way within 30 days.
9. #BIRTHDAY BOYS: There are two special birthday boys in the Cabinet today – Taoiseach Enda Kenny turns 60 today, while his second-in-command Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore also enjoys his birthday, turning 56. We’ll be doing a slideshow later with some birthday gift ideas – so if you have some suggestions, please do leave your thoughts below.
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