LAST UPDATE | 19 Sep 2023

GOOD MORNING.

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

Inflation

1. The Central Bank has published its third quarterly bulletin in which it expects that the current inflation rate will see a “gradual and uneven” decline over the next two years.

The bulletin, which estimates and evaluates domestic economic activity each quarter, says that along with a slow decrease, the bank also anticipates “an upward pressure” on wages if the employment rate remains strong.

Under the current observations, the bank expects interests rates to fall to 3.2% and 2.3% in 2024 and 2025, respectively.

Housing

2. The first home scheme that helps first-time buyers to purchase a property is set to be extended to self-builds.

The scheme to date has been open to people buying new-build houses and apartments and to renters whose landlords are selling the property in which they live.

It is now being extended to include people who are building their own home, with financial support available for up to 30% of the total cost of the build.

Russell Brand

3. The remaining shows on Russell Brand’s Bipolarisation tour have been postponed as the Metropolitan Police said it has received a report of an alleged sexual assault in the wake of media allegations about the comedian and actor.

The 48-year-old has been accused of rape, assault and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013, when he was at the height of his fame working for the BBC, Channel 4 and starring in Hollywood films.

Brand has strongly denied the allegations, which also include claims of controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour.

UN summit

4. Ireland is deeply concerned about the “rise of violence and hatred towards LGBTI people at home and abroad”, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.

Speaking at the United Nations High-Level Side Event – 15 Years LGBTI Core Group marking milestones and challenges, Varadkar said Ireland is also concerned about the “alarming pushback against LGBTI rights”.

The Taoiseach, along with Tánaiste Micheál Martin and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan, are currently in New York for the UN High Level Week.

Investigation

5. Gardaí are understood to be investigating whether a “large number” of sex attacks on women spanning more than 40 years could have been carried out by convicted murderer Noel Long.

Long, 74, was found guilty in August of murdering Cork woman Nora Sheehan 42 years ago. He was prosecuted as a result of a cold case review that retrieved DNA samples retained by the State.

A panel of seven men and four women unanimously accepted the prosecution case that Long, who has a 1972 conviction for sexual offending and multiple previous assault convictions, was guilty of the 1981 murder. Long is appealing the conviction.

Vera Pauw

6. Republic of Ireland international Diane Caldwell has hit out at the management of Vera Pauw following her recent departure.

“The results and performances that we got were in spite of Vera being our coach,” the experienced defender told a press conference at FAI HQ this afternoon as the squad assembled for their upcoming double-header against Northern Ireland and Hungary.

Caldwell, who currently plays her club football with FC Zurich in Switzerland, said issues were raised with Pauw. “We approached her many times about professionalising many aspects, but it was hard to get change.

Canada-India diplomatic relations

7. Canada has expelled a top Indian diplomat as it investigates what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called credible allegations that India’s government may have had links to the assassination in Canada of a Sikh activist.

Trudeau said in Parliament that Canadian intelligence agencies have been looking into the allegations after Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a strong supporter of an independent Sikh homeland known as Khalistan, was gunned down on 18 June outside a Sikh cultural centre in Surrey, British Columbia.

Trudeau said that he brought up the killing with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 last week, that he told Modi that any Indian government involvement would be unacceptable and that he asked for co-operation in the investigation.

Ukraine

8. Kyiv has said its forces have broken through Russia’s defensive lines near the war-battered town of Bakhmut, one of the key axes of a slow-moving but high-stakes Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The claim comes after Ukrainian forces announced last week they had wrested back control of two villages south of the industrial hub, cementing the battle for Bakhmut as the longest and likely bloodiest of the invasion.

“Fierce fighting continues in the area of Bakhmut. As a result of the successful actions of our troops, the enemy’s defence line was broken,” Ukraine’s ground forces commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said.

Liz Truss

9. Former UK prime minister Liz Truss has defended her mini-budget a year on from her brief stint in Downing Street.

Truss was pushed to resign in October 2022 after a plan for £45 billion in tax cuts sparked an economic crisis.

In a speech yesterday, she defended the move, saying: “The tax cuts we were introducing were not major tax cuts, they would have made a fairly marginal difference in fact to the level of the deficit.”