LAST UPDATE | 29 Jun 2021
GOOD MORNING. Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
1. A full Cabinet meeting will take place this morning as the government looks set to delay the reopening of indoor hospitality until at least 19 July.
The Cabinet Covid Committee held discussions until around 1.20am last night to consider NPHET’s analysis and to create a recommendation for this morning’s meeting.
NPHET is understood to have recommended that indoor dining could only resume for those that are vaccinated and those who have recovered from Covid-19, a move that has been described as “very divisive” by some senior sources.
2. Sticking with Covid-19 news, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has confirmed that both the AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines will be made available for all age groups.
They had previously been made available for those over 50.
Speaking outside the Dáil yesterday evening, he confirmed that the shots will now made available for everyone, regardless of age.
3. Public health officials have confirmed 305 new cases of Covid-19 in Ireland.
The Department of Health reported that 49 patients with Covid-19 were in hospital yesterday, including 16 people in intensive care units.
4. Internationally, more than 10 million Australians have been ordered into lockdown as coronavirus cases spread across the country, as Brisbane became the fourth major city to issue stay-at-home orders.
The three-day snap lockdown for Brisbane, starting this evening, comes on top of similar measures imposed in Sydney, Perth and Darwin in recent days.
“These are tough decisions,” Queensland state Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said, after Australia recorded 23 virus cases in 24 hours.
5. Back in Ireland, a Free Legal Advice Centres (Flac) received almost 12,500 calls last year, with an increase of almost 40% in employment law queries.
Flac said in its 2020 annual report that issues related to Covid-19 “dominated” the employment queries, with concerns about lay offs, annual leave, refusal of leave for childcare and redundancies.
Flac is an Irish human rights group. It offers a number of free legal advice services, including an information and referral phone line.
6. Gardaí have uncovered international organised crime gangs using Ireland as a base for multi-million euro frauds.
From Kerry to Korea, from Midleton to Moscow, scammers have set up camp here in a criminal network that reaches to every corner of the globe.
Detective Chief Superintendent Pat Lordan and Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) sat down with The Journal to discuss the reach and scope of what has become a pandemic boom in scams.
7. The ex-chief executive of charity ChildFund Ireland spent an “excessive and inappropriate” amount of money on restaurants, travel and accommodation, an investigation by the Charities Regulator has found.
In a damning 52-page report, the watchdog found that ChildFund Ireland, which has received millions of euro from the State, did not have “adequate” control in managing its spending on travel, expenses, income, credit card expenditure, petty cash, payment of bonuses and overheads.
8. And finally, Ireland, the UK and the United States have called for an emergency UN Security Council public meeting concerning Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray, where rebel fighters were able to enter the regional capital of Mekele, diplomatic sources have said.
The meeting could be held on Friday, the same sources added, although it is up to France, which holds the security council presidency in July, to set an exact date and time.
Since the war began in November, the West has yet to succeed in organising a public session on Tigray, with many African countries, China, Russia and other nations deeming the crisis an internal Ethiopian affair.
9. Rescuers are continuing their search for survivors of a Florida condo building collapse as the confirmed death toll rose to 11.
Authorities said their efforts were still a search-and-rescue operation, but no one has been found alive since hours after the collapse on Thursday.
Two more bodies were recovered yesterday, bringing the confirmed death toll to 11.
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