EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you kick off your day.
1. #DUNNE: Developer Sean Dunne has declared himself bankrupt in Conneticut, United States, where Nama has been pursuing him in the civil courts over a debt of more than €150 million. The bankruptcy process is speedier in the US than in Ireland, and debtors who have been entirely honest with the courts can expect a discharge of their debts within one year or so, RTÉ News reports.
2. #MURDER: Detectives in Northern Ireland have launched a murder investigation after a man in his 20s was fatally shot in west Belfast last night. The victim was making a delivery in the Kennedy Way area of the city when he was shot. He was pronounced dead in hospital shortly later.
3. #LOUTH: A man is in a critical condition in hospital after being stabbed in Dundalk, Co Louth. It is believed that the victim, ages in his 40s, was attacked by a gang of youths in the Patrick Street area before raising the alarm and being brought to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.
4. #INSOLVENCY: Discussion continues today over the nature of the new Personal Insolvency Law, with Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin telling the Sunday Independent that it represented the “fiscal equivalent of fiscal servitude”. Meanwhile, writing in TheJournal.ie this morning, Personal Insolvency Practitioner Ryan Stewart says each case will be evaluated individually and decisions will not be as black-and-white as some fear.
5. #SCHOOLS: The future of more than 600 small schools hang in the balance by a new report, in which Education Minister Ruairi Quinn recommends that primary schools should have at least 80 pupils and four teachers, the Sunday Business Post reports. Such a move is likely to be resisted in some rural areas.
6. #EASTER: Pope Francis is to lead his first Easter Sunday since his election with an open-air Mass in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican, where he will deliver the ‘Urbi et Orbi’ address from the balcony. Easter, the most important date in the Christian calendar, will be celebrated by denominations across the world today.
7. #MCGEEVER: The Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) has launched an investigation into the financial affairs of former property developer Kevin McGeever, who alleges he was abducted last May. McGeever, 68, was questioned by gardaí earlier this month in Gort in Co Galway over allegations of wasting police time. The Sunday Independent reports that the CAB is now making inquires regarding the location of a luxury car belonging to McGeever as well as the ownership of other assets.
8. #SOUTH AFRICA: Five members of the South African military have died following a helicopter crash at the Kruger National Park. It is understood they were undertaking a patrol for rhino poachers when the aircraft went down at about 19.00 GMT last night, killing all on board, the BBC reports.
9. #MEXICO: Twelve people have died and least 15 have been injured after a bus and a car collided in the western Mexican state of Veracruz, RTÉ reports. Preliminary evidence suggests that the driver of the car that hit the bus fled the scene.
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