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

IRELAND

The entrance to the Wicklow site where a suspected arson attack is thought to have taken place. Google Maps. Google Maps.

• Gardaí are investigating  a suspected incident of criminal damage by fire at a site that was earmarked for asylum seeker accommodation in Co Wicklow. 
• Taoiseach Simon Harris has condemned Iran’s “reckless” attack on Israel and urged “all sides” to show restraint to avoid the conflict spiralling further.
• Ireland’s biggest private landlord brands its €1,800 average rents ‘undervalued’, following a long relatively and relatively costly battle with a major shareholder, Ires REIT is now looking to go back to focusing on its day-to-day business.
• More than 30 private companies were paid over €10 million by the Government for accommodating Ukrainians and asylum seekers last year, a significant increase on 2022.
• The recent spell of wet weather has wreaked havoc for farmers this spring.

INTERNATIONAL

roperties of Palestinian villagers are set on fire by Israeli settlers in the West Bank village of al-Mughayyir. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#GREECE TODAY: Young Greeks speak out about lack of prospects 15 years after crisis.

#IRAN ATTACKS ISRAEL: World leaders have urged restraint after Israel came under an unprecedented attack from Iranian drones and missiles that drew widespread condemnation and sparked fears of a broader conflict.

#WEST BANK: A funeral was expected today for a man Palestinian officials say was killed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, where the murder of an Israeli teenager sparked a wave of violence.

PARTING SHOT

John O’Brien: We had a road safety policing model that worked, what went wrong?

The former Detective Chief Superintendent says there was a plan that worked in the past on road safety, we need something similar again: 

“In 1997 I led a small team to Victoria Police in Australia to study their Road Safety Model. Their demographics were broadly similar to Ireland but their road safety record was infinitely better. So, the task was basically simple, find out what they did, replicate it in Ireland and modify it where necessary.” Read more here.