LAST UPDATE | 5 Mar

GOOD MORNING.

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

Super Tuesday

1. Super Tuesday is upon us and later results will pour in from 16 states in contests that amount to the single biggest delegate haul of any day in the US presidential primary.

In our main story this morning, Assistant News Editor Rónán Duffy takes a look at what we can expect. 

RTÉ chairperson

2. Terence O’Rourke, the current chair of the ESB, is set to be appointed as the new chairperson of the RTÉ board.

The Journal understands that the recommendation of O’Rourke was accepted by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tánaiste Micheál Martin and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan this evening.

Media Minister Catherine Martin will seek Cabinet approval to appoint O’Rourke as the board’s new chair in the morning. Two other board members are also set to be appointed.

RTÉ report

3. The Public Accounts Committee’s report into RTÉ will be released today, pushing forward with recommendations for how the Government can have greater oversight of the national broadcaster.

Following nine months of crisis around RTÉ’s finances and governance, the powerful Dáil committee is urging that the broadcaster be brought under the remit of the State’s auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG).

This would allow for increased scrutiny and oversight of RTÉ by the committee, the report says.

UN report on Hamas attack

4. The UN envoy focusing on sexual violence in conflict has said there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas committed rape, “sexualised torture” and other cruel and inhumane treatment of women during its attack on southern Israel on 7 October.

There are also “reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing”, said Pramila Patten, who visited Israel and the West Bank from 29 January to 14 February with a nine-member team.

The report comes nearly five months after the 7 October attacks which left about 1,200 people dead and 250 others taken hostage.

Defence Forces

5. In April, a team of army soldiers will begin moving €23 million worth of equipment from Syria to a port in Lebanon where it will meet a chartered ship to return it all to Ireland, News Correspondent Niall O’Connor reports. 

The operation will move in excess of 280,000 separate pieces of equipment in dozens of containers and also Armoured Personnel Carriers and heavy duty weaponry.

This week The Journal met two of the team managing the plan in Camp Faouar on The Golan inside Syria.

Dog control

6. A former Garda Assistant Commissioner is to head up a new stakeholder group on dog control, Cabinet will be told today.

Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys will inform Government of the appointment of John Twomey to the group this morning. 

The group will be tasked with bringing recommendations to the Minister in terms of strengthening the legislation around the control of dogs.

Fatal crash

7.  A man has died following a two-car collision in Co Louth yesterday. 

The incident happened on the R169 in Collon shortly after 12pm. 

The driver and sole occupant of one of the cars, a male in his 20s, was pronounced dead at the scene.

President Higgins

8. President Michael D Higgins will remain in hospital until Thursday in order to monitor his blood pressure, after medical tests determined that he experienced “a mild transient weakness”. 

The President, aged 82, was admitted to St James’s Hospital last Thursday for precautionary tests after feeling unwell.

Walking and cycling

9. Around half of people would like to walk or wheel more, while a third would like to cycle more, a survey of people in five Irish cities has found.

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has today published the findings of the largest-ever survery of walking, wheeling and cycling in Ireland. 

It found that in all the metropolitan areas in Ireland, more than half of adults walk five or more days a week, while at least 15% cycle once a week.