LAST UPDATE | 2 Jan 2019

EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you all the news you need to know as you start the day.

1.#DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: New laws to protect victims of domestic violence come into effect today.

2. #ON THE UP: House prices are expected to rise by around 5% in 2019, according to the latest house price report from MyHome.ie.

3. #APPEAL: A teenage girl has died in hospital after being struck by a car on New Year’s Eve. 

4. #PODCAST: Stephen Teap has told TheJournal.ie’s podcast Left Behind that he went public with his story so he can tell his boys when they grow up that he did everything he could.

5. #VACANT SITES: A total of 298 sites across 17 local authorities in Ireland will be subject to the vacant sites levy, effective from 1 January.

6. #THEFTS: Gardaí were called to Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin on 17 occasions regarding theft allegations, according to figures released to TheJournal.ie under the Freedom of Information Act.

7. #DETECTED: Gardaí arrested 8,753 drivers on suspicion of driving under the influence of drink or drugs in 2018. 

8.#IN THE WILD: A new dedicated website about pine martens in Ireland has been set up as a result of an increasing number of calls to wildlife services from the general public enquiring about the mammal. 

#9: TAIWAN: Reunification of Taiwan with China is ‘inevitable’ according to President Xi Jinping.