LAST UPDATE | 1 Dec 2022

GOOD MORNING.

Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.

New roadside drug testing

1. A new roadside drug testing system has been launched as part of this year’s Christmas and New Year road safety appeal.

It’s operational from today and is said to work in a similar way to an antigen test.

The new system is described as being more portable, faster at delivering results, and can test for a greater range of drugs.

Von der Leyen visit

2. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is to visit Dublin today where she will meet with the Taoiseach.

Micheál Martin will welcome von der Leyen to Government Buildings for a working lunch.

While in Dublin, von der Leyen will also address a joint sitting of the Houses of the Oireachtas to mark 50 years of Ireland’s membership of the European Union.

Human Trafficking

3. Over the past six months, Noteworthy teamed up with journalists in both the Philippines and Ireland to investigate exploitation in the Irish fishing industry. 

Its report reveals “an across the board failure” by the justice system when it comes to trafficking of migrant fishers, according to the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).

Of 35 referrals of alleged trafficking in the Irish fishing industry since 2017, six files were sent to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), with no prosecutions to date.

Redacted Lives

4. The fourth episode of The Journal’s new six-part documentary series about mother and baby homes, is out now.

The latest episode in our podcast series examines how the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes gathered evidence.

New episodes will be released every Thursday. Subscribe to the series wherever you get your podcasts.

Record emergency funding appeal

5. The UN has appealed for record funds for aid next year, as the Ukraine war and other conflicts, climate emergencies and the still-simmering pandemic push more people into crisis, and some towards famine.

The United Nations’ annual Global Humanitarian Overview estimated that 339 million people worldwide will need some form of emergency assistance next year.

World Aids Day

6. A HSPC report published last week shows there has been a huge jump in the number of STI and HIV cases from the beginning of 2022 until now, when compared with the same 46-week period in 2021.

A total of 15,970 cases of STIs and HIV have been recorded by the HPSC until mid-November, a 55% increase from the 10,277 that were notified in the first 46 weeks of last year.

Fatal road traffic collision

7. A woman in her 60s died yesterday after a single-vehicle crash in Co Kerry.

The crash occurred on the Rock Road in Killarney, Co Kerry at around 5.40pm yesterday evening.

Gardaí in Killarney are appealing for any witnesses to this collision to come forward.

Rocket carrying DCU samples postponed

8. SpaceX has again postponed the launch of the world’s first private lander to the Moon, a mission undertaken by Japanese firm ispace.

A Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled to blast off at 3.37am (8.37am Irish time) this morning from Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida, but SpaceX said further checks on the vehicle had led to a delay.

The mission is to carry polymer and metal samples created in a DCU lab to the moon. 

They will be the first Irish samples to reach the moon since the 1970s.

Fleetwood Mac

9. Singer-songwriter Christine McVie, who played with Fleetwood Mac, has died aged 79.

McVie’s death was announced by her family in a tweet yesterday evening, saying that she had passed away peacefully this morning after a short illness.

“On behalf of Christine McVie’s family, it is with a heavy heart we are informing you of Christine’s death,” her family said.