LAST UPDATE | 12 Jul 2022

GOOD MORNING.

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

Rugby tickets fraud investigation

1. In our lead story this morning, Niall O’Connor reports that gardaí have launched an investigation into an alleged fraud involving tickets for Irish international rugby matches.

Gardaí have taken statements from several people involved in the Munster Branch of the IRFU, The Journal has learned.

The detectives will send a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions who will decide if a crime has been committed. So far, no arrests have been made.

Confidence

2. The government is expected to survive a motion of no-confidence against it in the Dáil this evening.

Despite losing its majority last week, the three government parties should receive enough votes in its favour from members and Independents to defeat a Sinn Fein motion of no-confidence when it is debated later today.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the government has “run out of road” and that the opposition should “hold them to account and bring their tenure to an end”.

Ukraine

3. Kyiv summoned the Canadian ambassador to Ukraine to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over a move seen as ‘undermining’ sanctions against Russia. 

Ottawa agreed to deliver a turbine to Germany that had been undergoing maintenance in Canada and whose absence Russia had blamed for a decrease in supplies.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to summon Canada’s envoy to our country due to an absolutely unacceptable exception to the sanctions regime against Russia,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Outer space

4. Nasa has released the clearest-ever image of galaxies in deep space.

The stunning shot from the James Webb Space Telescope shows thousands of galaxies from billions of years ago.

Another set of images is due to be relased today, revealing more details about faraway space.

Twelfth of July

5. Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service responded to 98 operational incidents last night, 35 of which were related to bonfires ahead of the Twelfth of July.

A spokesperson said there was a 12.5% decrease in bonfire incidents compared to 2021.

In total, more than 250 bonfires have been constructed in loyalist neighbourhoods of Northern Ireland.

Energy prices

6. Europe’s reliance on Russia for energy has been a “glaring policy mistake” but volatility in energy prices predates the war in Ukraine, according to a new report.

A second interconnector between Ireland and France would help keep prices down, as well as improve supply security and exports, the report recommends.

The Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA), an Irish think tank, has studied the ‘extreme’ volatility – that is, the dramatic changeability – of energy prices in recent years.

Defence spending

7. Cabinet will hear a recommendation today from Minister Simon Coveney on pay increases in the Defence Forces following a major report.

Coveney will recommend that the government increase defence spending from  €1.1 billion a year to €1.5 billion a year by 2028.

Mo Farah

8. Long-distance runner Mo Farah has revealed he was trafficked into the UK under the name of another child.

The four-time Olympic champion said a new BBC documentary called The Real Mo Farah allowed him to “address and learn more” about his past and journey to Britain.

The father-of-four, 39, said: “Most people know me as Mo Farah but it’s not my name or it’s not the reality.”

Addiction

9. An expert in addiction studies will tell the Oireachtas Justice Committee today that personal use of drugs such as cannabis should be decriminalised.

Dr Garrett McGovern, a GP specialising in addiction medicine, believes prohibition of illegal drugs does not work and will argue that Ireland’s current drug policy criminalises people unnecessarily.

He will tell the committee that it makes it difficult for those with addiction issues to seek help.