Every morning, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you really need to know with your bowl of porridge.
1. #BAILOUT: So now we know. Details of Ireland’s €85bn bailout package were revealed last night. Under the deal, €17.5bn of the total €85bn package will come from Ireland’s own reserves. The remaining €67.5bn will come equally from the International Monetary Fund, the European Financial Stability Facility fund contributed to by the other EU member states, and central European Commission and bilateral loan funding. Ireland will repay loans from the EU and the IMF at an average 5.83 per cent interest rate; a rate which caused some commentators – including Nobel-prize winning economist Paul Krugman – to wonder if it could really be described as a ‘bailout’ at all. The governor of the Central Bank, Patrick Honohan, was looking on the bright side this morning – he said the bailout deal will put Irish banks back on a secure footing and allow them to start downsizing immediately. So, too, were the markets, with early indications that the euro was staging a modest recovery. There wasn’t much optimism on the ground in Ireland, however, as taxpayers absorbed the news that, according to the Examiner, Ireland will pay €10 billion a year in interest repayments on the loan and its existing outstanding debts. Speaking on RTE’s Morning Ireland this morning, IMF negotiator Ajai Chopra said it was “a very good deal for Ireland”.
2. #SNOVEMBER: After temperatures last night dropped to as low as minus 8 in some parts, the AA is warning road conditions remain treacherous. Road temperatures are low as minus 9 in some areas, and fresh snowfalls in Cork, Kerry, Meath and Monaghan are ongoing or likely. Drivers are being warned to take care in rural areas and housing estates in particular. Some school bus services will be cancelled – consumers are advised to check transport.ie for updates on public transport, and to take public transport where possible. And there’s no let up in sight, with this likely to be the coldest November in living memory. Met Eireann has just issued a fresh weather alert this morning, warning that the Arctic weather will continue all week. Meanwhile, schools are to make their own decision on whether or not to close.
3. #OPPOSITION: The Opposition has been reacting angrily to news of Ireland’s bailout. The Irish Times reports this morning that Eamon Gilmore has called it a “national sell-out”, while his colleague Joan Burton lamented on RTE’s Six One progamme last night that it was all about “the banks, the banks, the banks”. “The trap has closed on Ireland,” she said. “We are banjaxed.” Fine Gael’s Michael Noonan said the Irish negotiators were too “soft”, but he said that at least the deal gave us “certainty”.
4. #PRISONS: The country’s prison chaplains have strongly criticised the criminal justice system, which they say has become politicised to the detriment of prisoners and society, RTE reports. They claim prisoners are being ‘warehoused’. The report by the Prison Chaplains Association also criticises media over coverage of the release of convicted rapist Larry Murphy.
5. #DUMP: Highly dangerous toxic substances are being released from a dump in Naas, the Irish Times reports.
6. #MENINGITIS: Scientists in Dublin and Galway are developing a one-hour test for meningitis, the Irish Times’s Dick Ahlstrom reveals.
7. #CONMEN: The Examiner reveals that the HSE has issued a warning over conmen who impersonate HSE staff.
8. #WIKILEAKS: The US is facing a diplomatic crisis over the latest leaks from Wikileaks. The leaks include the revelations that Arab leaders privately urged the US to launch an air strike on Iran; that Hilary Clinton ordered diplomats to spy on the UN; that Chinese operatives are waging a cyberwar on the US…and, most devastating of all, that Prince Andrew, who is a UK trade envoy, has shocked Americans with his ‘rude behaviour abroad’. And you thought Ireland had problems.
9. #RIP: The Naked Gun film star Leslie Nielsen has died in a US hospital, where he was being treated for pneumonia. And since a laugh is what we all need this morning, here’s a round-up of his best bits.
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