LAST UPDATE | 29 Sep 2021
GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
1. Hundreds of thousands of people applied for Northern Ireland’s £100 ‘spend local’ voucher scheme when applications were opened this week and Sinn Féin has called for a similar scheme to be introduced in the Republic.
All Northern Ireland residents over the age of 18 can apply for the pre-paid card, which comes with £100 credit which has to be spent in shops – but not online – before the end of November.
The goal of the initiative is to boost activity in businesses hit hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s expected that the programme will cost up to £145 million (€168 million).
The Restaurants Association of Ireland has also called for a similar programme, asking the government to bring in High Street vouchers or something like the UK’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme, Céimin Burke reports.
2. The ‘living wage’ in Ireland should rise by 60 cents to €12.90, the group which calculates it has recommended.
A ‘living wage’ – currently deemed to be €12.30 per hour – is defined as the minimum income necessary for a single adult in full-time employment to meet their basic needs and afford an acceptable standard of living.
The Living Wage Technical Group (LWTG) has said the increase is being driven by higher rents, transport and energy costs.
The LWTG said rents account for 3.9 percentage points of the 4.9% increase. In Dublin, housing costs now account for 64.7% of a ”Living Wage’ net salary, based on the 2021/22 rate.
3. The National Museum of Ireland (NMI) has said it wants to be a “more inclusive museum” and has cited the influence of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Representatives from NMI will address TDs and Senators at the Oireachtas Tourism and Culture Committee today about plans for the post-Covid recovery of the museum sector.
A briefing note about these plans says the NMI needs to focus “on inclusivity and our local and domestic communities – not just international tourists”.
4. North Korea said it has successfully tested a new hypersonic missile it implied was being developed as nuclear capable.
The North’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the missile – during its first flight test on Tuesday – met key technical requirements set out by defence scientists, including launch stability and the manoeuvrability and gliding flight characteristics of the “detached hypersonic gliding warhead”.
The latest launch, which came after two rounds of missile tests this month, was shortly before North Korea’s UN envoy accused the United States of hostility and demanded the Biden administration permanently end joint military exercises with rival South Korea and the deployment of strategic assets in the region.
5. A claim shared on social media has suggested that a person who is suffering a heart attack can give themselves first aid by coughing to relieve their symptoms.
The claim, which was posted on Facebook, alleges that a heart attack patient can save their own life without medical intervention if they begin experiencing the symptoms of cardiac arrest.
However, this is untrue: a person cannot simply stop a heart attack by coughing. Anyone experiencing the symptoms of cardiac arrest should immediately seek medical attention.
6. In our Voices column this morning, Kyra Menai Hamilton gives an account of life with dyslexia and says the condition is nothing to be ashamed of.
“Growing up I loved reading; I was the child with a torch hidden under the pillow so that even after bedtime I could keep reading whatever book I was stuck into. I didn’t always understand everything, and I frequently had to re-read passages and chapters, not once but several times, in order to get the gist of what was happening.
The fact that I loved reading and books was one factor that kept me hidden under the radar and undiagnosed for so long. When it came to school tests, there was always a pattern to what would be asked and how the questions were structured. There were very few changes to this year on year, so learning how these were put together and the pattern was just one example of how I adapted without realising it.”
7. The latest edition in the James Bond film franchise No Time To Die premiered in London last night.
The film, the 25th in the long-running series, and starring Daniel Craig, takes place after the capture of villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld, played by Christoph Waltz, with Bond no longer in active service. It is Craig’s last outing as 007.
The 53-year-old looked secret agent suave at the Royal Albert Hall premiere, arriving in a dark pink suede dinner jacket over a white shirt and black bow tie.
8. The Government has approved a “comprehensive” review of Ireland’s planning legislation in a bid to boost the delivery of the national housing strategy.
Cabinet yesterday evening signed off on the review, to be overseen by the Attorney General, which is due for completion in September next year.
The Government has also approved a review of the country’s Freedom of Information legislation, which came under scrutiny in the recent controversy over Katherine Zappone’s appointment as a UN envoy.
9. Ireland could face electricity shortages over the next five winters if action is not taken because of rising demand and the closure of older power plants.
The warning is contained in a new report from EirGrid, the state-owned electric power transmission operator in Ireland.
The company’s annual Generation Capacity Statement has said the recent withdrawal of previously procured generation and a recent auction which did not clear the desired amount of electricity capacity could bring about energy shortages if no action is taken.
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