NEED TO CATCH up? The Journal brings you a round-up of today’s news.

IRELAND

The hearses of Úna, Ciara and Saoirse Bowden who died in a crash in Co Mayo last week Sasko Lazarov Sasko Lazarov

• The young girl who was critically injured during an attack on Parnell Square last November is “doing well” and has begun the rehabilitation phase of her recovery.
• Education Minister Norma Foley was in the firing line again, as teachers are questioning why they earn less after working abroad.
• The government has secured funding to provide space for up to 670 additional prisoners.
• A proposal stop direct train services between Dublin and Wexford and instead make passengers change along the line has been labelled “short-sighted” by a Government party senator.
• Repair work to the roof of the rundown Iveagh Markets in Dublin’s Liberties will begin later this month.
• Two more measles cases have been confirmed in Ireland, bringing the total number of confirmed cases so far this year to 11.
• Camera crews have become “easy targets” for abuse since the pandemic, a cameraman has said in a moving impact statement following a run in with Matthew Coward outside a Dublin court.
• A survey of primary school teachers will be carried out by the sector’s main union to gauge whether its members want to move away from Church-run schools.
• Jurors at the Stardust inquests began their deliberations today after a hearing lasting almost a year with testimony from more than 370 witnesses.

INTERNATIONAL

Candles, flowers and other memorabilia are placed at the Viertola school, Finland, after a shooting that killed one child and wounded two others Alamy Alamy

#WEAPONS NATO foreign ministers debated a proposal today to create a €100 billion five-year fund for Ukraine, as the alliance’s chief urged them to guarantee long-term arms supplies for Kyiv’s outgunned forces.

#GENOCIDE A Fianna Fáil MEP has accused the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen of being “silent” on the genocide accusations facing Israel in a top UN court.

#AID WORKERS The bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in an Israeli strike have been taken out of Gaza to Egypt for repatriation, a security source said, as Israel faced a chorus of outrage over their deaths.

PARTING SHOT

Martha Cashman and Darina Allen Darragh Kane Darragh Kane

Fine Art Sculptor and ceramic artist Martha Cashman with Darina Allen were pictured at Ballymaloe Cookery School today to launch a new initiative to help Palestinians in Gaza.

Cork Empty Bowls Food Gathering for Palestine will take place at St. Peter’s Church on North Main Street on Sunday 13 April 2024 from 2pm to 5pm.

Anyone can buy a ticket and go along to the event, where attendees will make ceramic “empty bowls”, which will be fired in a kiln.

All Proceeds go to Medicins Sans Frontieres in Gaza.