EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you begin your day.
1. #CENTRAL BANK The Central Bank has named AIB, Permanent TSB, EBS, Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank and sub-prime lender GE Money as being investigated for having wrongly sold payment protection insurance (PPI)to customers. It is believed that tens of thousands of customers could be entitled to refunds after they were sold policies that they would have been ineligible to claim from.
2. #PRIORY HALL Priory Hall residents have announced that they have planned a March for Justice, which will take place on Saturday. Speaking to TheJournal.ie today, residents’ spokesperson Graham Usher said that he believes that ‘the state and the local authorities are trying their best to avoid our situation’.
3. #APRIL JONES Mark Bridger, the suspect accused of the abduction and murder of five-year-old April Jones, is due to appear before court today. Sky News reports that Bridger is also accused of perverting the course of justice, and will face all charges before magistrates in Aberystwyth. Searching continues for April, who went missing a week ago in Wales.
4. #SCHOOLS The State subsidies – which total almost €100 million a year – to private schools should be addressed, Labour party junior minister Alan Kelly has said. He said the subsidy is “a luxury rather than a necessity”. On RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Christopher Woods, the principal of Wesley College described Kelly’s comments as “utterly flawed”.
5. #CREDIT REVIEW The Credit Review Office, which reviews lending by AIB and Bank of Ireland to small and medium businesses, has released its ninth quarterly review. It says it has overturned 96 cases where the banks refused SMEs credit, reports RTÉ. In a statement, AIB said that it is “demonstrably supporting SMEs and is providing new credit to viable businesses to underpin their growth and sustain jobs”.
6. #PUBLIC TOILETS Businesses in Dublin may have to allow people – even non-customers – to use their toilet facilities due to the lack of public conveniences in Dublin city, the Irish Times reports. As Dublin City Council has no money to install public toilets, it may ask businesses to help fill the gap, says the paper.
7. #TOSCAN DU PLANTIER The family of murdered Sophie Toscan du Plantier are hopeful that a trial will take place in France, the Irish Independent reports today. It says the family hope such a trial will take place in 2014. A team of French detectives are to visit Ireland next month as part of their probe into the French woman’s death.
8. #MENTAL HEALTH Mental Health Week begins today, with World Mental Health Day being marked on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the My World national study has found that one-fifth of young adults have self-harmed. As part of the week, Limerick City Lord Mayor, former All-Black nemesis Gerry “Ginger” McLoughlin and former Munster flanker Alan Quinlan will open a new €300,000 facility for GROW, the mental health care recovery organisation, in Limerick today.
9. #CHAVEZ President Hugo Chavez has won re-election in Venezuela, surviving his closest race yet. Yesterday’s election proved a stern test, but he received just over 54 per cent after all the votes had been counted. “The battle was perfect and the victory was perfect,” declared Chavez, while greeting his supporters from the presidential balcony in Caracas.
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