LAST UPDATE | 23 Jun 2021
GOOD MORNING. Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
1. The Delta variant of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 now accounts for 20% of all of last week’s case numbers – but things aren’t as scary as they first appear.
The B1.617.2 variant, first identified in India in December 2020, has now spread to 60 countries and has caused Covid-19 outbreaks in England, Lisbon in Portugal, Moscow in Russia and in Sydney, Australia.
Our reporter Gráinne Ní Aodha takes a look at what we know about the Delta strain and how it’s spreading in Ireland here.
2. Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has announced the government’s intention to sell part of the State’s 13.9% shareholding in Bank of Ireland over the next six months.
The sale is to happen through a pre-arranged trading plan that will be managed by Citigroup Global Markets.
3. Following last month’s cyber attack, at least three quarters of the HSE’s IT servers have been decrypted and 70% of computer devices are now back in use, RTÉ has reported.
HSE chief Paul Reid is to tell the Oireachtas Committee on Health today that it will likely take months before the system is fully restored.
4. Irish fishing boats are to form a flotilla protest at the entrance of Dublin Port today to raise awareness of the challenges their industry faces, and poor working conditions.
From early morning, the vessels are scheduled to travel up the River Liffey in convoy through the East Link Toll Bridge and will berth at John Rodgerson’s Quay.
At noon, fishermen and their supporters will protest at Guild St Park at Spencer Dock.
5. Internationally, Chinese President Xi Jinping has spoken with three astronauts who are making the country’s space station their home for the next three months.
He called their mission an important milestone in China’s space industry.
Throughout their stay, the three astronauts will carry out science experiments and maintenance, space walks and prepare the station for receiving two additional modules next year.
6. Over in the US, Kobe Bryant’s widow has agreed to settle a lawsuit against the pilot and owners of the helicopter that crashed last year, killing the NBA star, his daughter and seven other people.
Vanessa Bryant, her children and relatives of other victims filed a settlement agreement notice yesterday with a federal judge in Los Angeles but terms of the confidential deal were not disclosed.
If approved by the court, the settlement would end a negligence and wrongful death lawsuit filed against the estate of the pilot and the owner and operator of the helicopter.
7. Back in Ireland, firefighters have attended the scene of a gorse fire in Howth, Dublin.
Dublin Fire Brigade said last night that four pumps attended the scene on Howth Head.
It said the smoke appeared to be blowing out to sea, however, advised residents who were downwind of the blaze to close their windows and doors.
8. Ireland has signed up to the Digital Green Certificate system and the country aims to adhere to European regulations around travel in the coming weeks.
Officials are said to be “working around the clock” to get the EU system up and running in time for 19 July, the date on which the government has said it hopes non-essential international travel can return.
The certificate will facilitate free movement of EU citizens during the pandemic in the European Union and European Economic Area countries such as Norway and Iceland.
9. And lastly, Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko has accused modern Germany of Nazism on the 80th anniversary of Hitler’s invasion of the USSR and a day after coordinated Western sanctions on his country.
The EU, US, British and Canadian sanctions were a response to last month’s forcible diversion of an international flight to Minsk to detain opposition activist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend who were on board.
Speaking at a World War II commemoration event, the 66-year-old Belarusian president said the sanctions were part of an ongoing Western “hybrid war” against his country.
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