LAST UPDATE | 22 May 2023
GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
1. A 13-year-old boy has died after the tractor he was driving overturned on a local road in County Mayo.
Gardaí confirmed the boy was the driver and sole occupant of the tractor, and are now appealing for witnesses which happened on the L1610 at Scarduane near Claremorris shortly after 8.15pm Saturday.
The young teenager was treated at the scene on Saturday night before being removed to Galway University Hospital. He was later transferred to Temple Street Hospital in Dublin, where he passed away yesterday.
2. With the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use having heard from people who had been impacted by drugs recounting their personal experiences, Shayne Raymond looks at the relationship between inequality, drug use and its consequences.
It follows a debate among those campaigning for and against drug decriminalisation, with TCD professor claiming that “drug use is not a result of inequality” – something which former drugs minister and Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin strongly rejected.
Sinn Féin’s victory in NI local election
3. Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O’Neill has called on the British and Irish governments to deliver a plan to restore the Stormont power-sharing institutions.
It came as her party delivered a stunning success in the council elections, becoming the largest party in local government in Northern Ireland for the first time.
O’Neill said there now needed to be an urgent meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference to plot a route to restore the Assembly.
4. New legislation on health labelling for alcohol products has been signed into law by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly.
The law means that the labels of alcohol products will state the calorie content and grams of alcohol in the product.
They will also warn about the risk of consuming alcohol when pregnant and of the risk of liver disease and fatal cancers from alcohol consumption.
5. Greece’s prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said he will seek a second election to consolidate his victory without the need for a coalition partner.
Mitsotakis’s New Democracy party was 20 percentage points ahead of its main rival, the left-wing Syriza party, with nearly 90% of the votes counted on Sunday.
But due to the current electoral system of proportional representation, his 40% vote share was still not enough to secure a majority of the 300 seats in parliament.
6. Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney has backed the development of capacity for green hydrogen production, following a report that estimates the sector could add €2.1 billion to the Irish economy.
A new report by Hydrogen Mobility Ireland (HMI) has detailed the potential benefits of creating hydrogen-based e-fuels for the aviation sector, including creating over 10,000 jobs by 2050.
7. Joe Biden will meet with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy today for another round of talks on raising the US debt ceiling less than two weeks before a key deadline to avoid default.
Anxiety was mounting in Washington today ahead of the 1 June deadline, set by the US Treasury, for Congress to authorize more borrowing as the two sides appeared nowhere near a compromise.
8. ITV presenter Philip Schofield announced yesterday afternoon that he will step down as a host of the popular daytime show This Morning, after more than two decades in the role.
The 61-year-old presented his final show on Thursday and announced that he would be stepping down on Instagram today.
8. The US PGA Championship saw Brooks Koepka hold off the challenge of Viktor Hovland and a late rally from Scottie Scheffler to take victory at Oak Hill, winning the Wanamaker Trophy for the third time and bringing his total major haul to five.
The victory completes Koepka’s comeback from a serious knee injury and a subsequent loss of confidence and marks a significant win for the LIV Tour, which Koepka joined last year.
Rory McIlroy finished a maddeningly inconsistent day with a one-under 69, finishing in a tie for seventh place, but one of the stories of the week proved to be 47-year-old club pro Michael Block, who played alongside McIlroy on Sunday and shot a one-over 71 for his round.
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