GOOD MORNING. Here’s all the news that you need to know about as you start your day.
1. Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan secured Ireland’s first-ever rowing Olympic gold medal after they won the men’s lightweight double sculls final in Tokyo.
The Skibbereen pair produced a brilliant performance to finish first in a time of 6:06.43.
2. President Michael D Higgins led the messages of congratulations to McCarthy and O’Donovan on their “tremendous” achievement, while Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the win will “inspire generations to come”.
3. The government has been told that pubs and restaurants have been the subject of coordinated online abuse and fake reviews this week by those opposing the use of Covid-19 vaccine certs to attend indoor dining, Gráinne Ní Aodha writes in this morning’s lead story.
A Facebook page with hundreds of members which opposes the use of vaccine certificates has seen users post the names of businesses that have reopened indoor dining and resulted in hundreds of comments being left on businesses’ Facebook posts announcing their reopening. When asked about the page, Facebook said it does not violate its rules.
4. Ireland’s ‘endemic’ ageism was unleashed by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new report from seven older persons organisations.
The report found that if discrimination against the elderly had not been so prevalent in Ireland the effects of the coronavirus crisis on older people would have been less severe.
The research noted that older people died disproportionately during the pandemic and it found that frequently their end-of-life wishes were not sought or honoured.
5. A UK House of Lords committee has found that both the United Kingdom and the European Union have taken a “fundamentally flawed” approach to finding solutions to the problems created by the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The freshly released report notes that first Brexit and then the Protocol have once again brought borders and questions of identity in Northern Ireland to the fore.
6. ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill, one of the Texas blues-rock trio’s famous bearded figures, has died at the age of 72, the band said.
In a Facebook post, guitarist Billy Gibbons and drummer Frank Beard said Hill died in his sleep at his home in Houston.
7. A nationwide study carried out by Irish Business Against Litter has found that the majority of beaches and harbours across Ireland are falling short of receiving ‘clean’ status.
While 40% of 32 coastal areas surveyed were deemed ‘clean to European norms’, there was a rise in areas branded ‘littered’. Cigarettes, alcohol cans and disposable masks were some of the most common items dumped on our coastlines.
8. A US appeal court has rejected a request by Making A Murderer subject Steven Avery to hold a hearing on fresh evidence he wanted to present for a new trial.
Avery is serving a life sentence for the 2005 killing of photographer Teresa Halbach, a case that became the focus of a popular Netflix series whose creators raised questions about the convictions of Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey.
9. The Data Protection Commission confirmed it has “reached out” to the Health Research Board about the new Irish Covid-19 biobank that will store collected Covid-19 samples.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly updated Cabinet yesterday on a €2 million investment in the biobank, which will be set up in August.
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