EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine stories you need to know as you kick off your day.
1. #FLAGS The first meeting of the Unionist Forum will take place in Northern Ireland today. The forum was founded by DUP leader Peter Robinson and Ulster Unionist leader Mike Nesbitt, BBC News reports, over the protests about the Union flag on Belfast City Hall. Recent days have seen rioting in Belfast over the flying of the flag.
2. #ABORTION The Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children is to meet today for its third and final hearing on proposed abortion legislation in Ireland. Today, it will hear from representatives of a number of religions, pro-life groups and pro-choice groups. Here are 10 interesting moments from yesterday’s hearing, when a number of legal experts spoke.
3. #MARIE STOPES Representatives of Marie Stopes International, the family planning and private sexual health clinic, will appear before the justice committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly in Stormont today. A spokesperson for Marie Stopes told TheJournal.ie that they will not be releasing any figures on the women visiting their Belfast centre.
4. #ASSISTED SUICIDE The High Court will rule today on the case of Marie Fleming, who is taking a case against the ban on assisted suicide in the Criminal Law Suicide Act. Wicklow woman Fleming was diagnosed with MS in 1986, and is a wheelchair user. She told the court that she needs to die peacefully and with dignity.
5. #PANIC ALARMS There has been a €1 million cut in the budget for funding for personal security alarms for the elderly, it is being reported today. The Irish Times says that the fund has dropped from €2.45 million in 2012 to €1.15 million this year, sparking criticism from groups representing older people.
6. #FRANCE Three Kurdish women are reported to have been shot dead in France inside the Kurdish Institute of Paris. The three women were last seen alive at midday yesterday in the centre. One of the woman was an employee there, said its director.
7. #PRESIDENCY The College of Commissioners will arrive in Ireland today to meet with ministers in Dublin Castle. There, the 27 members and their president Jose Manuel Barroso will discuss Ireland’s proposed programme for its presidency of the Council of the European Union.
8. #INDIA The lawyer for the Delhi gang-rape accused has denied smearing the victim, rejecting claims that he said the male companion of the murdered 23-year-old was “wholly responsible” for the incident as they should not have been on the streets late at night. The case is set to be moved to a fast-track court today.
9. #SHEEP After a number of horrific attacks on sheep in recent weeks, sheep farmers are calling for the compulsory microchipping of all dogs in Ireland. They say that the system should be backed up by a well-organised central database monitored by a State authority.
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