LAST UPDATE | 2 Nov 2023

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

Schoolteacher sentenced

1. A schoolteacher who accused gardaí of ‘turning a blind eye’ to various issues in Co Waterford has been dealt a five-year prison sentence for a campaign of ‘targeted harassment’ against the three men.

Waterford Circuit Criminal Court heard that Lee Hutchinson had wrongly accused three gardaí serving a number of the county’s fishing villages of a range of deeds through a series of “abusive and vexatious” anonymous letters and phone calls.

Gaza

2. Hundreds more wounded and foreign passports holders hope to escape war-torn Gaza today as Israeli forces continue intense ground battles with Hamas militants in the besieged Palestinian territory.

Ambulances are set to rush several dozen patients to Egyptian hospitals, and about 400 foreigners or dual nationals are expected to escape as the southern Rafah crossing is to open for a second day, said border officials on both sides.

Unequality in society 

3. The gap between the country’s most disadvantaged areas and the national average has increased across communities in the country, hinting that Ireland is becoming more unequal.

The 2022 Pobal HP Deprivation Index found employment and population growth is reaching similar levels seen in 2006 but “persistent disadvantage” remains.

Weather warning

4. Flood warnings are in place along the south coast of England as Storm Ciarán brings high winds and heavy rain while France is on red storm alert, the highest level.

Here at home, Status Yellow warnings for rainfall across Cork, Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, Wexford, and Wicklow were lifted at 7am. 

Storm Ciarán crossed over Ireland’s south coast last night and is now on course to cause damage across southern England and northern France. 

Varadkar in Korea

5. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has visited the demilitarised zone dividing North and South Korea. 

RTÉ reports that he has become the first Taoiseach to visit the demilitarised zone, or DMZ, in Panmunjom.

George Gibney

6. A file has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) following a Garda investigation into new allegations of sexual abuse against former Irish Olympic swimming coach George Gibney.

A specialist team within the Garda National Protective Services Bureau (GNPSB) has been investigating the allegations against Gibney. 

Gibney was the founder of the Trojan Swimming Club in Blackrock in Dublin, where he also worked as a coach. He was also the Irish national swimming coach until 1991. 

Stormont

7. DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson has said that he cannot be certain that Stormont power-sharing will return by the end of the year.

Donaldson had said in recent weeks that the UK government was “moving closer” to addressing his party’s concerns over post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland, and that the coming weeks would be “vital”.

The party leader said yesterday there were still “significant” gaps that require a resolution before a proposal could be presented to his party.

Dinner guest deaths

8. Police in Australia have arrested a 49-year-old woman following a meal which left three people dead.

Erin Patterson was arrested today by Victoria Police, three months after the family gathering at her home in Leongatha.

She has publicly denied serving up the highly toxic death cap mushroom, a fungus responsible for about 90% of mushroom-related deaths globally.

M&S apology

9. Marks & Spencer has apologised for any “unintentional hurt caused” by an advertisement out-take in which paper Christmas hats in the colour of the Palestine flag were burned in a fireplace.

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