LAST UPDATE | 7 Dec 2022

GOOD MORNING.

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

Monaghan hotel protest

1. In one of our main stories this morning, Diarmuid Pepper reports staff at a hotel in Co Monaghan staged a sit-in protest last Friday due to wages allegedly not being paid on time – and plan to hold a second one if the issue persists. 

One staff member at the four-star hotel and country club, who spoke to The Journal on the condition of anonymity, said staff felt it was “the only thing that we could do”.

Cold weather

2. Ireland is preparing for cold weather this week as temperatures as low as -4 degrees and possible snow are forecast from this evening.

Met Éireann has issued a Status Yellow warning for low temperatures and ice for tomorrow night and Friday morning, while today’s cold spell is predicted to continue until at least Sunday.

Short-term letting

3. A new short-term let register is set to be approved by government today with expectations that it could bring some 12,000 properties back into long-term use.

Properties advertised for short-term letting via online platforms, such as Airbnb, will be obliged to have a valid registration number with Fáilte Ireland.

At risk of homelessness

4. Over 10,000 people who contacted housing non-profit Threshold in a single year were at risk of becoming homeless. 

In its annual report covering last year, the charity has said that tenancy terminations “remain the largest issue” facing private tenants for the fifth consecutive year, with 29% of queries focusing on it.

Rising levels of waste

5. Ireland’s rising levels of waste make it difficult to maintain or increase recycling rates, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned. 

The EPA’s national waste statistics report for 2020 published today reports on the most recent official data on waste generation and management in Ireland. 

Missing teenager

6. Gardaí have renewed their for help from the public in tracing the whereabouts of a teenager who was first reported missing more than four months ago.

Bobby Power was first reported missing from Waterford city on 26 July, but has still not been found.

The 16-year-old’s family and Gardaí are concerned for his welfare. 

US Senate

7. In the US, Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock has defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a Georgia runoff election, ensuring Democrats an outright majority in the Senate.

With Warnock’s second runoff victory in as many years, Democrats will have a 51-49 Senate majority, gaining a seat from the current 50-50 split with John Fetterman’s victory in Pennsylvania.

Drone strikes in Russia

8. The US has said it hasn’t “enabled” Ukraine to carry out strikes inside Russia, after a spate of drone attacks on military-linked facilities deep within Russian territory.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin convened his security council in the wake of the apparent drone strikes, Kyiv did not directly claim responsibility but neither did it criticise the action, which killed three people and damaged long range bombers and a fuel depot, according to reports from Russia.

China loosening Covid restrictions

9. China has announced a nationwide loosening of Covid restrictions following protests against the hardline strategy that grew into calls for greater political freedoms.

Anger over China’s zero-Covid policy – which involved mass lockdowns, constant testing and quarantines even for people who are not infected – stoked unrest not seen since the 1989 pro-democracy protests.