LAST UPDATE | 26 Jun 2023

GOOD MORNING.

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

RTÉ

1. RTÉ’s Dee Forbes has resigned as Director General with immediate effect following revelations of undisclosed payments made to the broadcaster’s top earner Ryan Tubridy.

“I regret very much the upset and adverse publicity suffered by RTÉ, its staff and the unease created among the public in recent days,” Forbes wrote in a statement.

“As Director General, I am the person ultimately accountable for what happens within the organisation and I take that responsibility seriously.

Security policy

2. Several anti-war groups are to protest at Dublin Castle this morning to coincide with the consultative forum on Ireland’s international security policy.

The forum convened in University College Cork last week, where protesters heckled speakers including Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin.

Protesters also disrupted proceedings at the University of Galway, where the forum was also held.

Housing

3. Housing prices in the second quarter of 2023 were 0.5% lower than a year ago, according to the latest Daft.ie House Price Report released today.

This marks the first time since mid-2020 that prices have fallen in year-on-year terms.

The average listed price nationwide in the second quarter of 2023 was €309,648, up 2.4% on the average for the first quarter but slightly lower than this time last year and one-sixth below the Celtic Tiger peak.

Russia

4. Wagner group mercenaries headed back to their base yesterday after Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to allow their leader to avoid treason charges and accept exile in neighbouring Belarus.

The agreement halted an extraordinary crisis – a private army led by Putin’s former close ally Yevgeny Prigozhin trying to storm Moscow – but analysts said Wagner’s revolt had exposed Putin’s rule as more fragile than previously thought.

Security measures were still in place in Moscow yesterday, though fewer police were visible, and passersby said they were unconcerned, despite Prigozhin’s exact whereabouts remaining unclear.

Third level

5. Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris announced €40 million in funding yesterday for specific upgrades to third level institutions.

Seven universities, five Technological Universities, two Institutes of Technology and six other colleges are benefitting from the grant.

The funding can be used for improving disabled access, energy efficiency and decarbonisation upgrades, investment to support universal access, general ICT and equipment upgrades, health and safety works and minor works and equipment.

Prisons

6. Concerns over the mental health of inmates at many of the country’s prisons have been flagged by prison committees, with many citing a shortage of treatment options.

Prison Visiting Committees visit prisons to hear any complaints made by prisoners.

Many reports by the Visiting Committees relating to activity in 2021 describe severe and enduring mental health issues for many inmates, sometimes exacerbated by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and aligned with other issues such as the prevalence of drugs and the risk of homelessness on release.

Greece

7. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is embarking on a second term after voters handed him an election victory for the second time in five weeks.

Voters in Greece gave the conservatives their widest winning margin in almost 50 years yesterday.

Among his pledges is pouring money into Greece’s public health system — which was stretched to its limits by the Covid-19 pandemic — and improving railway safety after the deaths of 57 people in a February train collision that was Greece’s worst rail disaster.

Titan sub

8. The 19-year-old died on the Titan submersible took a Rubik’s cube with him because he wanted to break a world record, according to his mother.

Christine Dawood told the BBC her son Suleman was “so excited” to try and solve the puzzle 3,700 metres below the ocean surface.

Meanwhile, his father Shahzada, a businessman, was “so excited he was like a child” at the prospect of seeing the Titanic wreckage. 

Diverted flight

9. A holiday flight to Mexico was diverted to Shannon Airport yesterday afternoon after the crew declared a medical emergency over the North Atlantic.

Thomson flight BY-182, operated by TUI Airways, was travelling from Manchester, England to Cancun, Mexico at the time.

The flight was over two hours into its journey and around 1,200 kilometres west of the Ireland when the crew turned around and opted to divert to Shannon.