GOOD MORNING.

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

Anti-immigration

1. In our main story this morning, Eimer McAuley reports that Fermoy has been the latest town to be visited by anti-immigration campaigners and misinformation. 

HSE cyber attack

2. Patients and staff whose information was illegally accessed during the criminal cyber-attack on the HSE last year could take legal action against the health service but the executive remains tight-lipped on the scale of litigation it is expecting. 

Speaking to The Journal on Wednesday, HSE chief information officer Fran Thompson said that anyone who had their data breached is entitled to take legal action if they choose to do so. 

‘Sustainable’ investment funds

3. Investment funds in Ireland that declared themselves to be sustainable collectively hold more than $3 billion worth of investments in the fossil fuel and aviation industries, an investigation has found.

Sinn Féin – Fine Gael coalition

4. Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has refused to rule out forming a coalition government with Fine Gael after the next general election.

Appearing on RTÉ’s The Late Late Show, McDonald said that a deal between the two parties would be “a long shot”, but that she believes that all parties should talk to each other.

Junior Cert cheating

5. A total of 10 Junior Cycle students are suspected to have engaged in cheating in this year’s State exams.

This follows the State Examinations Commission (SEC) confirming today that it has withheld ten Junior Cycle 2022 results in the subjects of Irish, Maths, History, Business Studies and Religious Education.

Burglary trial

6. A man has gone on trial over the alleged burglary of the Wicklow home of well-known blues singer Mary Coughlan last year as well as threatening to kill her son-in-law who came across the intruder.

Darren Carton (41) of Carraigoona Close, Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow has pleaded not guilty to the burglary of the property at Barchuilla Commons, Kilmacanogue on 9 January 2021.

Live crib

7. The Lord Mayor of Dublin Caroline Conroy has said that she has no regrets about her decision not to have a live animal crib at the Mansion House this festive season.

Last month, Conroy proposed that the live animal element of the crib be scrapped, partly due to animal welfare concerns. The move was described as “grinch-like” by some.

Russian oil price cap

8. The G7 and EU have agreed a $60-per-barrel price cap on Russian oil in an attempt to deny the Kremlin of war resources, as President Vladimir Putin said more strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure were “inevitable”.

The price cap, previously negotiated on a political level between the G7 group of wealthy democracies and the European Union, will come into effect with an EU embargo on Russian crude oil from Monday.

Amazon vegetation

9. The Amazon region has lost 10% of its native vegetation, mostly tropical rainforest, in almost four decades, a new report says.

From 1985 to 2021, the deforested area surged from 490,000 square kilometres to 1,250,000 square kilometres, unprecedented destruction in the Amazon, according to the Amazon Network of Georeferenced Socio-Environmental Information, or Raisg.