EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know as you kick off your day.
1. #GARDAÍ: Rank-and-file gardaí have officially “turned off the goodwill tap” this morning, refusing to use their personal mobile phones, laptops, cars and other equipment for work. As the row over pay and reforms continues, the GRA members will also refuse to volunteer to police public events.
2. #SOUTH AFRICA: Oscar Pistorius should find out today if he will be granted bail ahead of a murder trial for the shooting dead of model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp. After a dramatic day yesterday, it looks more likely that bail will be granted and the athlete’s coach said he would return to training “immediately”.
3. #JOBSWATCH: Less than 24 hours after Abbott announced substantial job losses at its Tipperary plant, the government will have to look upbeat on its employment plans. Minister Richard Bruton will publish his department’s latest version of the coalition’s action plan on jobs later today.
4. #PROPERTY TAX: Homeowners refusing to pay the property tax could see the charge deducted from their salaries, social welfare payments or even directly from their bank account, the taxman warned yesterday.
5. #NORTHERN IRELAND: The Orange Order in Northern Ireland may stop giving notice to police about upcoming parades, a senior member told BBC News. He said the group had taken note of how loyalist flag protesters could march into Belfast every week without a Parades Commission ruling.
6. #CHILD SEX ABUSE: A 58-year-old former Christian brother was found guilty of seven counts of child sexual abuse at Cork’s Circuit Criminal Court yesterday, reports the Irish Independent. Edward Bryan was convicted of offences carried out against four boys in the 1980s when he worked as a teacher at North Monastery CBS.
7. #SOCIAL MEDIA: TDs and senators are asking members of the public, as well as interested organisations and groups, to tell them what concerns they have around social media use. The submissions will be collected by an Oireachtas committee – through Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
8. #SHOCK: In an unexpected twist in the Battle of the Irish, Shane Lowry beat world number one Rory McIlroy in the first round of the World Golf Championships Match Play at Dove Mountain.
9. #THAT’S MAD, TED: About 12 festival goers will get an “authentic Father Ted experience” on Inis Mór this weekend, says Jason Kennedy on the front page of the Irish Times this morning. Local priest Dara Molloy has offered up the island’s spiritual accommodation after the surprise closure of the Aran Islands Hotel ahead of the annual Tedfest.
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