GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news you need to know as you start your day.
1. In our lead story today, Jamie McCarron reports that the number of cocaine-induced strokes are on the rise as the prevalence of the drug continues to increase in Ireland.
Dr Joe Harbison, a stroke doctor at St James’ Hospital Dublin and associate professor at Trinity College, told The Journal that the public is largely unaware of how much drug usage can increase the risk of a stroke.
Cocaine can cause sudden surges in blood pressure leading to a stroke in hours or even minutes, he said.
2. There are a number of weather warnings in place across the island of Ireland this morning as the first named storm of the season makes landfall.
Met Éireann has said there will be spot flooding, poor visibility and difficult travelling conditions as a result a rain warning for nine counties in the east and midlands.
3. A Russian tanker has been damaged in a Ukrainian drone attack in the Kerch Strait, a day after one of Moscow’s warships was hit in the Black Sea.
The number of attacks in the Black Sea has increased from both sides since Moscow exited a deal last month that had allowed Ukrainian grain exports via the shipping hub during the conflict between the two countries.
4. Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin has said there are two things the public could expect from his party in government on housing – an “ambitious but credible plan” to transform housing and honesty.
In an interview with The Journal, Ó Broin said housing has become a benchmark for how well a party will perform in elections.
He said if he is eventually Minister for Housing, he wants to be judged by the same standards that he is judging Darragh O’Brien by currently.
5. Former US president Donald Trump, fresh off his third appearance in court as a criminal defendant, has said his political support is only bolstered by the charges against him.
“Any time they file an indictment, we go way up in the polls,” Trump said at a Republican Party dinner in Alabama.
He pleaded not guilty on Thursday to crimes related to his efforts to overturn the results of his 2020 election loss.
6. The oldest murder prosecution in Irish history has ended with a conviction, after a jury found 74-year-old sex offender Noel Long guilty of murdering a vulnerable Cork woman, Nora Sheehan, 42 years ago.
Following the verdict, you can read the full story of the case, from hot summer’s day in 1981 to a 2023 courtroom, here.
7. Iarnrod Éireann has published a reminder to passengers of revised train times for services operating over the August bank holiday weekend.
These include line works affecting Northern Commuter and Enterprise services, and extra services being provided for sporting events in the capital over the weekend.
8. A number of scouts have pulled out of the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea, citing scorching temperatures, as organisers weighed whether to cut short an event also reportedly plagued by dire campsite conditions.
RTÉ News reports that several Irish attendees were treated for heat-related issues.
9. In our Voices column today, Fellipe Lopes of the Immigrant Council of Ireland writes that the people fleeing conflict can enrich and enhance this country.
He says that migrants who are unauthorised to work can end up relying on the State for financial support. This, he writes, disempowers them from becoming part of society and integrating into the community.
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