EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know with your morning coffee…
1. #EUROZONE: Michael Noonan will head to Brussels today for crucial talks with other finance ministers to flesh out details of the broad plan struck by EU leaders last month to tackle the debt crisis. The pressure is on after news that Italy’s ten-year bond yields have risen to a record 6.54 per cent.
2. #MASSEREENE: Two men accused of murdering two British soldiers at an army barracks in Massereene, Co Antrim will go on trial today in the North. The Real IRA claimed responsibility for the gun attack, in which four other people were injured.
3. #SOMERSET: Police investigating the cause of Friday’s horrific pile-up in Somerset in which seven people were killed are now probing a fireworks display next to the motorway, according to the Telegraph. There have been reports that smoke from the event could have seriously affected visibility on the road.
4. #COWEN: Two Fianna Fáil ministers who approved the controversial 2008 bank guarantee have criticised its handling – saying they were pressured into the decision and effectively given no choice. Mary Hanafin and Willie O’Dea made the comments in a new RTÉ documentary on Brian Cowen’s administration – and we’ve got the video here.
5. #PRISONS: Some 775 prison inmates are free because there is no space for them in jails, Conor Lally reports in the Irish Times. Justice Minister Alan Shatter has blamed the previous government for the figure, which amounts to 15 per cent of the total prison population.
6. #GREECE: Embattled prime minister George Papandreou has finally agreed to form a coalition government with opposition parties, Reuters reports. Papandreou will step down, but the country must now find a new leader in a bid to win approval for its next EU bailout payment.
7. #SERMONS: The sermons delivered by Catholic priests are too “grey and dull”, according to a senior Vatican official – who urged clerics to spice up boring homilies with “scandal” from the Bible. The Daily Mail reports that Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi also praised the use of Twitter to deliver messages about the faith.
8. #MARRIAGE: Money is the single biggest cause of marital strife in Ireland, with two-thirds of couples who seek help reporting financial problems, according to figures from Catholic marriage service Accord. The Irish Examiner reports that the service has seen an 11 per cent rise in demand this year.
9. #DERELICT CHIC: The half-built shell of the Anglo building on Dublin’s north quays is now a top attraction for visiting financiers, according to Nama chairman Brendan McDonagh. The Irish Daily Mail reports that McDonagh told a Dáil committee: “Everybody who comes to Dublin to see us wants to see the Anglo building. They ask the taxis to bring them around.”
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