LAST UPDATE | 23 Feb 2023

GOOD MORNING.

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

Omagh shooting 

1. An off-duty police officer shot in Co Tyrone yesterday evening is in a “critical but stable” condition, according to the PSNI’s latest update overnight. 

The officer was attacked at a sports complex on the Killyclogher Road in Omagh. It is understood he had been coaching a youth football team. 

Sources told The Journal that two men dressed in black carried out the attack. 

The shooting has been met with condemnation from across the political divide in Northern Ireland and on both sides of the Irish Sea. 

Detectives on the PSNI’s Major Investigation Team have launched investigation, with a primary focus on the New IRA.

Fraud arrest 

2. An arrest has been made in the investigation of alleged fraud by a GAA star. 

In a statement yesterday gardaí said that officers in the eastern region apprehended a “male in relation to an ongoing investigation into an alleged fraud”.

The Journal previously reported that gardaí attached to the economic crime bureau were investigating whether the retired player claimed to have an illness and asked friends and family for money to travel abroad for experimental treatment.  

Gardaí said that the man was arrested on suspicion of having committed an offence under Section 6 Criminal Justice (Theft & Fraud) Offences Act, 2001.

Redress 

3. The Government’s Mother and Baby Home Redress Bill passed through the Dáil last night after a vote on the legislation.

The final vote was 73 in favour, 62 against. The Bill will now go to the Seanad for further debate.

There were heated exchanges in the Dáil chamber as members of the opposition warned that the Government will face future legal action from people who are excluded from the scheme.

Los Angeles 

4. Prosecutors have charged a man with killing an Irish Catholic bishop who was shot dead in Los Angeles. 

Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell, 69, was fatally shot on Saturday in the bedroom of his home in Hacienda Heights.

The suspect, Carlos Medina, is the husband of O’Connell’s housekeeper. He’s charged with one count of murder with a special allegation that he personally used a firearm.

Western Care 

5. A dossier detailing a series of allegations at a major charity for people with intellectual disabilities is to be handed over to the health watchdog, Eoghan Dalton reports for The Journal this morning. 

The file, sent to the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) by Sinn Féin TD Rose Conway-Walsh, contains claims that staff have witnessed “verbal and emotional abuse” of vulnerable service users.

The claims centre around Western Care, a registered charity based in Mayo, which has 750 service users and employs over 1,000 staff in the region.

Western Care Association said it “is not in a position to verify or investigate these complaints as we have not been provided with any detailed information on the allegations mentioned”.

It said it always thoroughly investigates cases brought to its attention by members of staff and that claims are always taken extremely seriously. 

Collisions 

6. A man in his 40s has died in a three-vehicle crash in Co Wexford.

Gardaí are currently at the scene of the collision on the N25 in Ballinaboula.

It happened at approximately 7.10pm yesterday and involved two cars and a tractor.

Separately, several people were injured in a two-vehicle collision in Co Carlow.

Airport parking 

7. An investigation has been launched by Clare County Council into the alleged use of a State vehicle by a Civil Defence member for their personal transport. 

Sources said that the vehicle had been parked up at Shannon Airport for several days as a Civil Defence member travelled abroad. 

The Next Generation? 

8. A new leader of the Social Democrats could be in place within a period of two weeks, it is understood.

The co-leaders of the Social Democrats, Roisin Shortall and Catherine Murphy, announced yesterday that they are to stand down.

The National Executive of the party will meet this evening to set out the rules as to how a new leader can be elected. Holly Cairns of Cork South West has been widely tipped by sources to take over.

Elevation 

9. A U-2 pilot flying high above a Chinese balloon took a close-up photo of the large white orb just a day before the Air Force shot it down off the South Carolina coast.

The photo, released by the Pentagon, shows the top of the pilot’s helmet inside the U-2 cockpit with the balloon flying below.