LAST UPDATE | 28 Jul 2023

GOOD MORNING.

Here’s everything you need to know as you start your day.

Emergency garda fund

1. Justice Minister Helen McEntee will announce later today that an emergency extra €10m will be given to the garda organisation to pay for overtime on Dublin’s streets. 

The announcement comes as the issue of insufficient numbers of gardaí to respond to calls hit the headlines this week after an assault on US tourist Stephen Termini near Store Street garda station.

Sinéad O’Connor remembered 

2. Fans of singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor, who passed away Wednesday at the age of 56, gathered in Temple Bar in Dublin City this evening to remember the life of the artist.

Fans of Sinéad O’Connor gathered outside the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Temple Bar this evening and lay out flowers, signs, newspapers and candles to remember the singer and celebrate her life.

 ‘Women in the home’ referendum

3. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has reaffirmed a commitment to holding a referendum in November to amend the “women in the home” clause in the Irish constitution.

His comments come after rumours that the referendum was likely to be pushed out further following already significant delays.

Patrick Quirke

4. The Supreme Court is expected to give its judgement today on an appeal by Tipperary farmer Patrick Quirke against his conviction for the murder of Bobby ‘Mr Moonlight’ Ryan.

On 20 March of this year, the court declared that the seizure of a computer was unlawful in the Quirke investigation for the murder of Ryan.

The court, in its judgment, said that further argument is required regarding the consequences of the ruling.

Niger

5. Coup leaders in Niger said yesterday they had won broad army support and called for calm, but former colonial power France said it did not consider the apparent revolt “final”.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said there were “ways out” for coup plotters who chose to heed global condemnation of President Mohamed Bazoum’s ouster.

The latest target of a coup in Africa’s turbulent Sahel region, Bazoum has been confined to his residence since Wednesday by his own presidential guard.

Singapore

6. Singapore has hanged a 45-year-old citizen for drug trafficking, the city-state’s first execution of a woman in nearly 20 years, officials said.

The execution was carried out despite appeals from rights groups, who argue capital punishment has no proven deterrent effect on crime.

“The capital sentence of death imposed on Saridewi Binte Djamani was carried out on 28 July 2023,” the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.

Trump 

7. Former US President Donald Trump faces fresh charges alleging that he attempted to obstruct the investigation into the mishandling of top-secret documents by conspiring to delete surveillance footage at his Mar-a-Lago property in Florida.

Federal prosecutors unsealed the new indictment targeting the front-runner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, who is set to go on trial as the election heats up in May of next year.

Myanmar

8. Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was ousted in a 2021 military coup, has been moved from prison to a government building, an official from her party has said.

Suu Kyi has only been seen once since she was held after the 1 February 2021 putsch – in grainy state media photos from a bare courtroom in the military-built capital Naypyidaw.

The coup plunged the Southeast Asian nation into a conflict that has displaced more than one million people, according to the United Nations.

Eagles

9. Randy Meisner, a founding member of the Eagles who added high harmonies to such favourites as Take It Easy and The Best of My Love, has died aged 77, the band said.

Meisner died on Wednesday night in Los Angeles of complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the Eagles said in a statement.