LAST UPDATE | 31 Mar 2022

GOOD MORNING.

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

Organised crime report

1. In our lead story this morning, Niall O’Connor reports that Irish ports and airports have been infiltrated by organised crime groups to facilitate widespread smuggling of illegal drugs and other commodities.

That’s according to a new report into Irish and British organised crime.

The report said: “Corrupted transport workers are found to be central to several forms of serious and organised crime in and between Ireland and the UK.”

Ukraine latest

2. Ukraine’s President has warned that Russian troops are regrouping in preparation for a renewed assault in the east of the country today, as he dismissed Kremlin promises to scale back attacks on the capital Kyiv.

With shelling of Kyiv and Chernigiv continuing despite a Russian vow to “reduce” military activity by “a large margin”, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told his war-torn nation to brace for a new Russian onslaught in the eastern Donbas region. 

Overwhelmed hospitals

3. Nurses and Emergency Department staff are calling on the government to provide assistance in curbing the spread of Covid-19 as hospitals continue to be overwhelmed. 

In a joint statement, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation and the Irish Association for Emergency Medicine said higher rates of Covid-19 infection are causing high rates of hospital admission. 

Electric vehicles 

4. Interest in electric vehicles on online marketplace DoneDeal peaked earlier this month as the cost of fuel soared.

Demand indicators for electric vehicles on DoneDeal increased by 218% year-on-year and by 30% for hybrid vehicles.

Covid-19 scenarios

5. The World Health Organization has laid out three possible paths that the Covid-19 pandemic might follow in 2022 – with a new, more virulent variant the worst-case scenario.

The WHO said the most likely way forward was that the severity of disease caused by the virus would wane over time, due to greater public immunity.

But the UN health agency also said a more dangerous variant of concern than Omicron could be lurking round the corner.

Neutral Ireland

6. The government parties voted against a private members bill calling for a referendum on Ireland’s neutrality to be held.

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said his party are seeking a referendum on the insertion of neutrality into the Constitution.

There were 67 votes for the proposal and 53 against, with no abstentions.

Netherlands 

7. Two people have been killed after a gunman opened fire in a McDonald’s restaurant in the northern Dutch city of Zwolle.

Witnesses told RTL Oost the men were having a meal when the gunman walked into the restaurant and fired shots at them in an apparent “targeted” attack. 

Hollywood

8. Will Smith refused to leave the Oscars ceremony after attacking comedian Chris Rock, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has said as it began disciplinary action against the actor.

Smith could face expulsion from the Academy for the open-handed slap, which came moments before he was handed the best actor award for his role in King Richard.

Column

9. Today is International Transgender Day of Visibility, a day that celebrates transgender people and raises awareness of the discrimination they face worldwide.

Our columnist Aoife Martin has written about the contentious debate around trans women in sport and outlined the damage it is doing to many trans people.