Every morning, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you really need to know with your morning coffee.
1. #GE11: Fianna Fáil will hold its last Cabinet meeting this morning, before Brian Cowen announces to the Dail that he’s going to the Áras to seeks its dissolution. The election date – widely expected to be 25 February – will be announced later today by Éamon Ó Cuív. Read a timeline of today’s events here.
2. #COWEN: Now that Brian Cowen has announced he won’t be standing, his brother Barry Cowen has said he will run if he’s selected in Laois/Offaly tonight. Speculation has turned to the position of junior minister John Moloney, who is also expected to step down.
3. #AER LINGUS: Talks aimed at resolving the Aer Lingus dispute are continuing at the Labour Relations Commission today. A further 20 flights have been cancelled today.
4. #OOPS: Head of the Road Safety Authority, Gay Byrne, has been forced to explain why he was caught wearing his seatbelt incorrectly during a documentary with Terry Wogan. He said “I think most people are smart enough to know this was not a real life situation”, the Irish Examiner reports.
5. #SUICIDE: The parents of an eleven-year-old girl who was discovered hanged in her home in Belfast on Friday night have spoken of their pain, and said they believe her death was a prank that went wrong. A local priest has denied reports that she was bullied at school, the Irish Sun and Irish Daily Mirror add.
6. #DOCTORS: Three in four doctors say they practice “defensive medicine”, and avoid performing complicated procedures to prevent complaints and claims, the Examiner reports.
7. #REPOSSESSIONS: Mortgage lenders are using private investigators to track down borrowers who have abandoned their homes, it emerged as seven homes and premises were repossessed in court yesterday. A judge also warned that he was seeing an “unhappy and common pattern” of assets being transferred by high net worth individuals to their wives, the Irish Independent reports.
8. #EGYPT: Anti-government protestors are calling for one million people to take to the streets today, after President Hosni Mubarak agreed to sweeping political reforms. The Egyptian army said last night it would not use force against protesters. Yesterday, 6 Al Jazeera journalists were arrested then later released, although authorities held on to their equipment.
9. #AMAZON: Brazil has released rare photos of Amazonian natives to bring attention to the plight of indigenous people who rights groups say are faced with possible extinction.
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