LAST UPDATE | 6 Nov 2023

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

Abuse victim sues gardaí

1. In our main story this morning, Eoghan Dalton reports that a man who was allegedly turned away from a garda station as a boy after trying to report he was the victim of sports coach Bill Kenneally is suing the Garda Commissioner and his abuser.

The report was described as a “missed opportunity” to apprehend the sex offender in 1985 – decades before his eventual arrest – in an inquiry examining responses by State agencies to claims of abuse by Kenneally in the 1980s and 1990s.

Co Donegal crash

2. Two teenagers have died following a single vehicle collision in Co Donegal overnight. 

The incident happened on the R238 at Terrawee, Gleneely at approximately 12.30am. 

Israel pounds Gaza

3. Intense Israeli strikes have killed more than 200 people overnight in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-run health ministry in the besieged Palestinian territory has said.

Israeli troops and Hamas fighters yesterday engaged in house-to-house combat in densely populated Gaza, where the war has sent 1.5 million people fleeing to other parts of the territory in a desperate search for cover.

Emily Hand

4. The Irish-Israeli child Emily Hand, who was feared dead in the 7 October Hamas attacks, is now thought to be alive and being held hostage in Gaza, reports from Israel have claimed.

Emily, who is eight years old, had been on a sleepover in the Kibbutz Be’eri when it was raided by Hamas just over a month ago. She has dual Irish and Israeli citizenship as her father Thomas is originally from Dublin.

Yesterday, Israeli newspaper the Times of Israel reported that Emily’s older sister Natalie, had appeared in a television report and said that Israeli Government officials had told them in recent days that the young girl was likely alive and being held inside Gaza.

Israeli minister suspended

5. An Israeli minister has been suspended from government meetings “until further notice”, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has said, after suggesting in an interview dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza.

The comments by Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu advocating a fierce military response to Hamas’s 7 October attacks even at the cost of the lives of hostages believed to be held in Gaza also drew rebuke from families of the captives.

Man in court over Limerick assault

6. A 44-year-old Limerick man has appeared in court in connection with the alleged fatal assault of father of two, Gerard Curtin in the early hours of Saturday morning.

At a special sitting of Ennis District Court yesterday evening, Joe Cahill appeared after being charged with intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to Gerard Curtin at the same address on 4 November.

Curtin was discovered unresponsive outside a house in the Garryowen area of the city in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Pharmacy prescriptions

7. Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has announced plans to enable pharmacists to extend the validity of prescriptions from the current maximum period of six months to 12 months.

The new measure, which will take effect from 1 March 2024, will also allow prescribers to write prescriptions with a maximum validity of 12 months, if they so wish.

Emergency at Dublin Airport 

8. A “full emergency” was declared at Dublin Airport yesterday when a plane taxiing on a runway had to abort its take-off when smoke appeared in the cockpit, the airport operator daa has said.  

Macroom Bypass

9. The final section of the N22 Macroom Road Development in Cork is being opened today. 

The first section of the development, the Macroom Bypass, opened to traffic in December 2022. The second section opened in August 2023.

The Journal is now on TikTok – press the button below to follow us.