GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news you need to know as you start the day.
1. In our main story this morning, Jane Matthews reports that just under half of voters found the European election ballot paper difficult to fill in.
The results from the latest The Journal and Ireland Thinks poll show that 48% of all voters said they found the ballot too long, with younger voters finding it the most cumbersome.
2. The parents of a two-year-old, who died of an invasive Group A Strep infection in hospital just over 48 hours after she had originally been discharged from an emergency department, are suing Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street.
A personal injury summons was filed in the High Court on behalf of Phoenix Graham-Hayden’s mother and father – Lauren Graham and Wayne Hayden.
3. Taoiseach Simon Harris will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Shannon Airport today.
It will be the first bilateral meeting with Zelenskyy on Irish soil and will focus on Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
4. Fine Gael politicians are “lining up” to replace Simon Coveney in the Cork South Central constituency, Taoiseach Simon Harris has told reporters.
The former Tánaiste announced on Wednesday that he will not be contesting the next general election and is “stepping out of politics”.
5. In the US, a judge has dismissed an involuntary manslaughter case against Alec Baldwin in the middle of the actor’s trial and said it cannot be filed again.
Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case with prejudice based on the misconduct of police and prosecutors over the withholding of evidence from the defence after the shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust.
6. Staying in the US, a defiant Joe Biden has once again insisted that he is staying in the race for the White House amid growing calls from Democrats for him to drop out.
The 81-year-old US President gave a boisterous performance at a campaign rally in Michigan, just 24 hours after a string of verbal gaffes at a Nato summit threw a harsh new spotlight on his fitness to serve.
7. Back home, President Michael D Higgins is to convene the Council of State over the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2024, which will preclude the Irish Defence Forces from publicly questioning or commenting on government defence policy.
The Council of State is a body provided for in the Constitution for the purpose of aiding and counselling the President.
8. A Bus Éireann driver was shot with an air gun while sitting behind the wheel of the vehicle in Limerick City, according to workers’ union Siptu.
According to the union, a group of young passengers boarded the vehicle at the last stop and began firing an air gun at the driver while she was still inside the cab. Siptu says the incident left the driver with a bruising at the side of her eye.
9. A man has been arrested after human remains were found in two suitcases in Bristol and a flat in west London.
The Metropolitan Police said they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident at this stage.
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