LAST UPDATE | 30 Jun 2021
GOOD MORNING. Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
1. In our main story this morning, reporter Niall O’Connor reports Netflix has confirmed that it will not delete Ian Bailey interviews from its new documentary on the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.
Bailey told The Journal that he has written twice to Netflix and has requested that the interviews be removed from their broadcast.
The three-part documentary is set to stream from this morning on the platform.
2. Representatives from the hospitality industry are set to meet government ministers today amid an outpouring of anger at yesterday’s announcement that the reopening of indoor dining and drinking would be delayed.
Today’s meeting will be the first opportunity for hospitality representatives to directly engage with the government, since the Cabinet yesterday agreed to halt Ireland’s reopening for an unknown length of time.
The decisions have provoked a furious reaction from the industry, as well as from opposition (and some government) politicians.
3. A deal to hold off a post-Brexit ban on sausages and other chilled meats moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland is expected to be announced at the eleventh-hour.
The UK and the European Union are set to announce an extension to a grace period allowing their movement across the Irish Sea today – hours before a ban would come into force.
Downing Street anticipated that a deal to avoid a ban on sausage shipments, which would come into place tomorrow without action, would be reached “on terms which are acceptable to the UK”.
4. Sticking with Brexit news, a new poll has suggested people in Northern Ireland are evenly split on the Protocol.
When asked whether the Protocol is appropriate for Northern Ireland, 47% of respondents said that it is but the same number disagreed.
Similarly, 43% think that the Protocol is, on balance, good for Northern Ireland, whereas 48% think it isn’t.
5. A campaign to be launched later today will highlight the “staggering” number of people living in poor conditions in a Dublin South Inner City complex.
Residents of Oliver Bond House are now calling on Dublin City Council to fast-track regeneration plans for the area and put in place immediate interim improvements which will make the estate more liveable.
They say they have been told that it will be “at least 15 years” before they can expect completion of the long-promised regeneration programme.
6. Students in Deis and non-Deis schools report similar levels of positive feelings and wellbeing, according to a new report.
There were no significant differences in reports of bullying either, however concerns were raised by principals at the higher level of unauthorised absences in DEIS schools.
The findings make up a new report by the Educational Research Centre (ERC) examining the home and school learning environments of 15-year-olds in DEIS and non-DEIS schools.
7. Internationally, the unprecedented Northwest US heatwave has moved inland, prompting an electrical utility in Spokane, Washington, to resume rolling blackouts amid heavy power demand.
Officials said more than a half-dozen deaths in Washington and Oregon may be tied to the intense heat that began late last week.
The dangerous weather that gave Seattle and Portland consecutive days of record high temperatures exceeding 37.7 degrees was expected to ease in those cities. But inland Spokane saw temperatures spike.
8. The outback town of Alice Springs has become the latest Australian population centre to lockdown, as anger mounts over the country’s slow coronavirus vaccine rollout.
The 72-hour restrictions came after it was revealed a man linked to a cluster at a nearby gold mine spent several hours at the local airport.
Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the man was probably not infectious but “we cannot take any chances”.
9. It’s a big day for inflation watchers in Ireland and across Eurozone and there’s still a lot of very high pitched noise around the issue of rising prices, Ian Curran writes in our business newsletter the Morning Memo.
So far, ECB President Christine Lagarde has largely shrugged off concerns.
This morning, she’s expected to be vindicated somewhat. A flash estimate for euro area inflation is likely to show a slight dip in price levels over the course of June.
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