EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you really need to know with your morning cuppa.
1. #GROWTH Not good news for the economy with forecasts for growth slashed by 1 per cent by the department of finance, reports the Irish Times. With growth of less than 1 per cent expected this year, it could mean fewer jobs and a rise in the national debt. All of which means tougher budgets lie ahead, according to the Irish Independent.
2. #JOBS INITIATIVE Worse still it appears there may be no extra money for the government’s planned jobs initiative which will need to be budget neutral. The Irish Independent reports that funds to back the new jobs plan will have to come from new taxes, new cuts, or the sale of State assets.
3. #ROYAL WEDDING It’s the morning after the day and night before as the newly named Duke and Duchess of Cambridge or Prince or Princess William or just Will and Kate get set for what Sky News is calling a ‘Mystery Honeymoon’. Most of the British newspaper front pages carry the picture of the couple’s balcony kiss except for the London Independent which has an unusual slant on yesterday’s events.
4. #LIBYA Colonel Gaddafi has taken to state television to say that he is prepared to enter a ceasefire only if all sides are involved but the Libyan leader has vowed to stay on as leader , reports Al Jazeera, which is unlikely to satisfy either NATO or rebel forces battling his 41-year rule.
5.#ENDEAVOUR The launch of the space shuttle Endeavour from Florida last night had to be postponed after a technical fault was discovered by NASA. All of which meant the efforts near-fatally wounded congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords made to see her husband command the shuttle were in vain, but as her staff acknowledged, it’s safety that comes first.
6. #DNA Prisoners will be forced to give DNA samples as part of plans to establish a national database in the fight against crime, reports the Irish Daily Mail. Any inmate convicted of a serious offence or any inmate with a jail term of five years or more will be required to co-operate.
7. #ARRESTS Gardaí have arrested two men in connection with the murder of a man and the wounding of another in Kilkeel, Co Down last weekend. Both men are being held at Pearse Street garda station after being arrested in Dublin last night.
8. #GERRY RYAN It is one year since the RTÉ broadcaster’s death and the Irish Independent reports that gardaí have failed to find the drug dealer who supplied Ryan with cocaine meaning it’s unlikely anyone will face prosecution. Ryan’s partner Melanie Verwoerd has spoken of her heartbreak over his death. She will not be attending the private memorial being held in Clontarf today, reports the Irish Times.
9. #RACE ROW French football has been plunged into fresh crisis after it emerged that senior heads of the country’s football governing body allegedly approved a system to limit the number of black players and those with north African origins making it into the team, reports The Guardian. Zinedine Zidane, arguably France’s greatest footballer, was of Algerian origin.
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