EVERY DAY, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know with your morning cup of coffee.
1. #RACE FOR THE ÁRAS The seven presidential candidates are no doubt waking up this morning reflecting on last night’s Late Late Show debate, which saw six of them interviewed (David Norris had already appeared with Ryan Tubridy two weeks ago) followed by a half-hour debate. You can get up to speed with TheJournal.ie‘s Liveblog. If you want to ask a candidate a question yourself, check out where they’ll be today.
2. #CANDIDATES Meanwhile there’s a variety of stories about, and interviews with some of the candidates in today’s papers. The Irish Daily Mail carries a lengthy interview with Martin McGuinness in which he says he feels no guilt for his part in the IRA campaign, and that he does accept his responsibilities for when he was a member of the group. Mary Davis is on the front page of the Irish Independent, which reports that she was paid almost €190,000 sitting on three state boards.
3. #BURGLARIES Five of the nine Romanians who were arrested yesterday in an operation targeting large scale burglaries are still being held by Gardaí. The seven men and two women were arrested yesterday morning after a spate of robberies in homes and business.
4. #DEPOSITS Overseas deposits are on the increase in Irish banks, according to a report in the Irish Times. The increase in foreign deposits marks an end to a 12-month period of withdrawals from the Irish banking system. The Finance Minister Michael Noonan says it’s a sign of increasing confidence in our banks.
5. #BAHRAIN The UN human rights office has criticised the sentencing of 20 doctors, some of whom trained in Ireland, after they treated anti-government protesters. The sentences range from five to 15 years. A protester has also been sentenced to death.
6. #AFGHANISTAN The Afghan president Hamid Karzai has said that he’s moving his focus from peace talks with the Taliban to talks with Pakistan. The BBC reports that the killing of former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was negotiating with the Taliban, led Karzai’s decision.
7. #DRUG TOURISTS The Dutch city of Maastricht has implemented a ban on some foreign tourists coming to the city to buy cannabis. From today, anyone who doesn’t hold a Dutch, Belgian or German passport will be asked to leave Maastricht’s coffee shops, with police carrying out random checks. The Dutch government is planning on implementing the ban throughout Holland.
8. #FACEBOOK A Kerry man who appeared in court yesterday after he created an anti-Traveller Facebook page has had his case dismissed. The Irish Independent reports that the judge felt that there was reasonable doubt that Patrick Kissane had intended to incite hatred. He said he had set up the page after an incident in the bar where he worked.
9. #RADIOHEAD Finally UK band Radiohead have denied reports that they were planning to join the Occupy Wall Street protests in New York. More than 2,000 people joined the protest last night, the biggest crowd to date, but Radiohead have said that rumours that they were going to provide some musical accompaniment were not true. Here’s TheJournal.ie‘s guide to what the protests are all about.
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