LAST UPDATE | 12 May 2022
GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
1. The cost of rent nationwide has continued to rise in the first quarter of 2022, with average rents increasing by over 11% compared to early 2021, the latest Daft.ie Rental Report has shown.
It comes as the number of rental properties on the market has dropped to the lowest number ever recorded by Daft, with just 851 properties listed nationwide. The number of available homes has decreased steadily since early 2021 when there were 3,600 rental properties available.
This fall in availability is most stark in Dublin, where there has been an 81% drop in rental properties compared to early 2021, with only 462 homes listed on 1 May, Tadgh McNally writes in today’s morning lead.
2. Ukraine has announced it will hold its first war crimes trial over the Russian invasion, as Moscow accused Kyiv of shelling a Russian city in the war’s latest flashpoint.
Kyiv has repeatedly accused Russian troops of committing atrocities since the invasion began on 24 February, and Ukrainian authorities said on Wednesday they would launch the first war crimes trial of the conflict.
The prosecutor general’s office said Vadim Shishimarin, a 21-year-old Russian service member, is accused of killing an unarmed 62-year-old civilian as he fled with four other soldiers in a stolen car.
3. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will hold crunch talks with the vice president of the European Commission in the coming hours as ministers consider whether to override parts of the post-Brexit deal on Northern Ireland.
UK Attorney General Suella Braverman is said to have approved the scrapping of swathes of the agreement, giving Boris Johnson legal cover to make the move, despite warnings from Joe Biden’s White House and European leaders not to single-handedly meddle with the terms.
The UK Prime Minister yesterday said the Good Friday Agreement was more important than the Northern Ireland Protocol as he dismissed suggestions of any possible escalatory response from the European Union as “crazy”.
4. Finland’s president and prime minister have said they are in favour of applying for Nato membership, paving the way for the alliance to expand amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The announcement by President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin this morning means Finland is virtually certain to seek Nato membership, though a few steps remain before the application process can begin.
“Nato membership would strengthen Finland’s security. As a member of Nato, Finland would strengthen the entire defence alliance. Finland must apply for Nato membership without delay,” they said in a joint statement, adding that an official announcement on the issue would be made on Sunday.
5. The Oireachtas Health Committee has formally asked Minister Stephen Donnelly for a further pause to a Cabinet decision on the plans for the National Maternity Hospital.
Cabinet was due to sign off on plans for the hospital last week but this was paused for two weeks due to ongoing criticism on the project and to allow Donnelly appear before the committee.
Speaking at the committee yesterday, Donnelly said it is the intention of the Government to proceed with the project but he also left the door open to changes to the proposals.
6. The US Senate has fallen far short in a rushed effort to enshrine abortion access as federal law, blocked by a Republican filibuster in a blunt display of the nation’s partisan divide over the landmark court decision and the limits of legislative action.
The almost party-line tally promises to be the first of several efforts in Congress to preserve the nearly 50-year-old Roe vs Wade court ruling, which declares a constitutional right to abortion services but is at serious risk of being overturned this summer by a conservative Supreme Court.
7. North Korea has confirmed its first-ever Covid cases and declared a “serious emergency”, with leader Kim Jong Un ordering lockdowns across the country.
The nuclear-armed country had never admitted to a case of Covid-19 and the government had imposed a rigid coronavirus blockade of its borders since the start of the pandemic in 2020.
But samples taken from patients sick with fever in Pyongyang “coincided with Omicron BA.2 variant”, the official Korean Central News Agency reported.
8. Where to even start with this week’s rout in crypto-assets, which is sending investors — big and small — running for cover, Ian Curran writes in today’s Morning Memo.
Probably the most pertinent question for all of us is whether the drop in blockchain-backed asset prices presents any sort of ‘systemic’ risk — in other words, could it light the touch paper for some sort of broader financial meltdown?
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9. And finally, the weather.
Met Éireann says there will be a good deal of cloud across the country today with scattered showers. Some sunny intervals will develop, especially in the east and south of the country.
However, a spell of persistent rain is expected to spread across western and northern areas towards evening. Highest temperatures will range from 12 to 16 degrees Celsius.
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