EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you kick off your day.
1. #SAVITA: The husband of Savita Halappanavar has expressed dissatisfaction with the draft HSE report into his wife’s death. Praveen Halappanavar’s solicitor Gerard O’Donnell told RTÉ that the report did not explain exactly why Savita had died, and failed to answer a series of questions about the circumstances that led to her death. It is unclear when the report will be published; opposition political parties have asked that the report not be published until Halappanavar’s concerns are addressed.
2. #SCHOOLS: Primary schools in 23 towns around Ireland are set to change patronage due to the demand of parents, according to the Department of Education and Skills. The department has given Catholic school administrators six months to consider how the patronage of some schools could be transferred, after a nationwide survey identified sufficient demand for multi- and non-denominational schools in 23 towns out of 38 surveyed.
3. #PROPERTY: New reports on the state of Ireland’s property market published this morning show more evidence of a two-tier property market – with prices in Dublin up in the last year, but prices nationwide still falling. The reports from Daft.ie and MyHome.ie are the latest to show some stability in the capital’s market, but continuing drops in prices outside of Dublin.
4. #TEACHERS: The education minister Ruairi Quinn will today address the annual conferences of two of the country’s three teachers’ unions, where he is likely to call for a Yes vote to the proposed Croke Park 2 pay deal. Quinn will speak to the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation in Cork and to the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland in Wexford. The Teachers’ Union of Ireland has already voted against the proposals, and will today discuss whether to be bound by the deal if it is approved by a majority of other unions.
5. #NORTH KOREA: North Korea has said it intends to restart a nuclear reactor it shut down six years ago, in a blow to hopes of defusing nuclear tensions between North and South Korea. The Yongbyon reactor was the sole source of plutonium for Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.
6. #MYANMAR: At least 13 children have died in a fire at a Muslim school in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar. Authorities have blamed the fire at the city’s main Muslim school on an electrical short-circuit. The government has urged people not to spread rumours of a malicious origin to the fire, amid suggestions that the fire is the latest round in a conflict between Muslims and Buddhists.
7. #MANUFACTURING: Ireland’s manufacturing sector shrank last month – its first decline in nearly a year – according to new data this morning. The NCB purchasing managers’ index shows a sharp decline in orders placed last month, standing at 48.6. Any figure below 50 is considered an indication of a declining sector.
8. #OILY: Eating oily fish can add years to your life, new studies have claimed. Research by the Harvard School of Public Health says people with the largest amount of fatty acids in their bloodstream – like omega-3, which is typically found in fish like tuna and mackerel - tend to live about 2.2 years longer than those who opt against them.
9. #INADEQUATE: Here’s a story to make you feel inadequate on a dreary Tuesday morning after a four-day weekend. Can you imagine climbing Mount Everest… at the age of 80? After undergoing heart surgery four times? Japanese climber Yuichiro Miura isn’t letting his coronary difficulties get in the way of his attempt to become the oldest man ever to reach the summit of the tallest mountain on Earth.
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