LAST UPDATE | 28 Mar

GOOD MORNING.

Here’s all the news you need to know as you start your day.

Increases in prosecutions for asylum seekers without ID

1. There has been a sharp increase in prosecution and even prison terms for people seeking international protection but do not have a passport or travel ID as they enter the State.

Figures obtained by The Journal show that 34 prosecutions have been taken as part of operations by the Garda National Immigration Bureau in the first two months of this year.

At least 18 people have received jail sentences in the courts in the same time period. Several of these have been for two-month periods.

Female junior doctors suffering

2. In today’s morning lead, Noteworthy‘s Alice Chambers writes that while the HSE relies on junior doctors to fill in the gaps in the service, the group are vulnerable workers because they work on insecure contracts and for long hours.

This particularly affects women as more than half of non-consultant doctors, who are still training, are female. 

One junior doctor said in a recent Government-funded report that women “would like to continue working” as junior doctors, but the role is increasingly becoming infeasible for many.

Baltimore bridge collapse

3. Divers last night recovered the bodies of two workers from the wreckage of the Baltimore bridge disaster.

In a press conference in the last hour, Maryland State Police superintendent Col Roland L Butler Jr said the victims were in a red truck that was submerged in 25 feet of water located close to the centre of the river.

He said that sonar scans indicate that the debris of the bridge has “encased” some of the missing vehicles which were on the crossing as it collapsed. It has meant that divers are “no longer able to safely navigate” the port area to recover more bodies.

National, annual risk assessment plan

4. Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Micheál Martin is today to publish the national risk assessment plan which will warn of the risk to critical undersea cables, writes Niall O’Connor.

Last year’s report focused on identifying nuclear threats, higher interest rates and the absence of a sitting government in Northern Ireland among its new top strategic risks in 2023.

Martin will publish this year’s report with its associated research project, ‘FUTUREPROOF-IE’.  The study has identified 22 key risks including new threats from disruption to the critical supply chain and anti-microbial resistant infection.

Claremorris crash

5. The three victims who were killed in a crash in Claremorris, Co Mayo this week have been named as Una Bowden (47) and her daughters Saoirse (14) and Ciara (9).

It’s understood that Una’s husband David Bowden has been working abroad this week in Africa and was contacted by authorities about the deaths of his wife and daughters. The family are understood to hail from Moycullen in west Galway.

Dogs Trust warn owners ahead of Easter

6. Dogs Trust have warned canine owners of the dangers of chocolate ahead of Easter, after surge in number of dogs poisoned last year.

According to the animal welfare charity, 22% of dogs have ingested chocolate at some point over the last five years despite their owners knowing it poses a potentially fatal risk to the animals.

The Pet Emergency Hospital in Dublin has also said that there was a 213% increase in chocolate toxicity over the Easter period last year, with almost one in six dogs requiring intensive care.

Egg drive

7. Two young sisters  from Dublin have helped to bring the community together through their idea to collect and distribute Easter eggs to children in hospital.

Lauren Metcalfe, 16, and her younger sister Ellamay Metcalfe, 7, are to give roughly 820 Easter eggs to the charity Children’s Health Foundation at Temple Street, Dublin this afternoon, which will distribute them out to patients across its various hospital wards.

European polling by The Journal/Ireland Thinks

8. Kevin Cunningham, managing director of Ireland Thinks, writes in our Voices section this morning that the latest polling by the company and The Journal has found a strong division among younger voters on immigration issues and candidates.

Some of the statistics that Cunningham highlights might surprise some readers. You can see for yourself here.

Over 800 Easter eggs to children Temple St Hospital

9. Two sisters from Dublin have helped to bring the community together through their idea to collect and distribute Easter eggs to children in hospital.

Lauren Metcalfe, 16, and her younger sister Ellamay Metcalfe, 7, are to give roughly 820 Easter eggs to the charity Children’s Health Foundation at Temple Street, Dublin this afternoon, which will distribute them out to patients across its various hospital wards.