GOOD MORNING. 

Here’s all the news you need to know as you start your day.

Solidarity march

1. Activists speaking ahead of today’s Ireland For All march in Dublin have spoken about the need to “build a better Ireland for all of us”.

The demonstration, which kicks off at 1.30pm at Parnell Square on Saturday, comes amid a wave of anti-immigration protests across the country, as well as incidents under investigation by the Gardaí, such as an attack on a tenting site in Ashtown, and the burning of a building in Dublin.

Ahead of the march, Chair of United Against Racism Memet Uludag said that “we are calling on the government to deal with these societal issues [homelessness and the health service] which have been a reason why many people in communities are angry”.

“But we reject hate, racism and anger, and that anger needs to be directed at those responsible for running this country, not the most vulnerable sections of our communities, not to people of colour, not to migrants, not to immigrants, not to women, not to LGBTQ people.”

Northern Ireland Protocol

2. EU and UK leaders are expected to hold talks today in a bid to resolve the Northern Ireland Protocol, despite reservations among Eurosceptic Tory backbenchers.

There is mounting speculation that the EU and UK could unveil a deal aimed at breaking the impasse over the contentious post-Brexit trading arrangements early next week.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the fringes of the Munich Security Conference today to try to get an agreement over the line. 

Migration

3. Senior ministers are understood to be consulting with their European counterparts about what approach they’ve taken in their countries on migration.

Discussions and debate about migration have taken root in Ireland in a way that previously arrived to other countries, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar telling the Dáil this week that it is a conversation not to be shied away from.

“I agree we all need to be careful in the words we use. Those of us who are politicians in the centre ground need to be willing to talk about migration,” he said. 

Debris recovery

4. The US has ended its search for debris from an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon it shot down earlier this month as well as two other objects downed near Alaska and on Lake Huron, according to the military’s Northern Command.

China insists the device was for weather surveillance, while the US describes it as a sophisticated spying vehicle.

Late yesterday, NORTHCOM also announced that it was ending searches for two other objects shot down — one off Alaska’s northern coast on 10 February and the other over Lake Huron on 12 February.

Temperature records

5. Argentina broke records for heat and cold within a short window of just five days this week, with temperatures plummeting 30 degrees Celsius as a heatwave gave way to historic snowfalls.

A cold front from Patagonia caused temperatures in Buenos Aires to drop from a high of 38.1 Celsius last Sunday to only 7.9 Celsius on Thursday – a record low for the month of February since 1951, the National Meteorological Service reported.

Bulgaria

6. Four people have been detained after police in Bulgaria discovered the bodies of 18 people, including one child, who suffocated in a truck smuggling them through the country.

The truck was transporting 52 migrants “hidden under some wood”, officials said.

Locals alerted the police, who found the truck near the village of Lokorsko, 20 kilometres northeast of the capital Sofia.

Nicola Bulley

7. Lancashire Police are set to conduct an internal review into the Nicola Bulley investigation.

The announcement comes as police came under fire for what was labelled a “sexist” error when they disclosed information about Bulley’s struggles with alcohol and the menopause in a press conference.

Bus drivers

8. Transport Minister Eamon Ryan says finding new bus drivers to hire is “the biggest constraint” on rolling out new services. 

The Green Party leader was speaking at the National Transport Authority (NTA) launch of a plan for 67 new or “enhanced” rural bus routes in the year ahead.

Among the areas that will see attention paid to its bus routes are the Dingle-to-Dunquin, Longford-to-Roscommon, Dungarvan-to-Clonmel and Ring of Kerry routes.

Assault

9. A woman who carried out an attack on another woman who had just returned home from the hospital after visiting her premature baby is to be sentenced later this year.

Miranda McCabe (37) of Tubberclare Meadows, Navan, Co Meath, pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Stephanie Dunne at Priorswood Avenue, Blanchardstown, Dublin, on 27 November 2021.