GOOD MORNING.

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

Matthew Healy

1. Tributes have been paid to the young boy who died in tragic circumstances in Waterford, who has been named locally as Matthew Healy.

Six-year-old Matthew’s body was discovered near a seaside cove in the area of Rathmoylan near Dunmore East shortly after midnight on Friday.

A woman in her 30s was arrested following the discovery. It is understood that gardaí were called to the Ballymacaw seaside area where they found the boy and the woman. 

Birth information

2. More than 2,800 applications to Tusla’s tracing service are still waiting to be allocated to a social worker.

Thousands of people have signed up to the service in a bid to trace their relatives. Many of these people were adopted or spent time in a mother and baby home or similar institution.

In other cases relatives are seeking to find a person who was adopted, boarded out or sent to an industrial school. 

Referendums

3. The Journal is inviting readers to submit questions they have about the referendums taking place on 8 March.

Gary Gannon

4. Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon has shared that he has recently been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and opened up about his struggles with his mental health.

In an interview with The Journal, Gannon revealed that he was diagnosed with ADHD before Christmas this year at the age of 36 and explained what led him to seek a diagnosis as an adult.

“I’ve always been hyper-focused on a goal, but then I would fall into fits of a depression or poor mental health once that’s achieved, and I used to think is that just a reflection of me?” 

Converting land

5. The Central Bank has said it will take another seven years for it to vacate the old Mint site in Sandyford which has been earmarked for up to 750 homes.

Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien received government approval this week to transfer nine additional sites, including the Currency Centre Mint site, to the Land Development Agency (LDA).

The Currency Centre, which is under permanent security and surveillance, is a storage and distribution facility for cash services, though it’s understood that banknotes are no longer printed on site. 

Trump

6. Former US President Donald Trump has said at a campaign rally that he would “encourage” Russia to attack members of Nato who had not met their financial obligations.

As US lawmakers debate new aid for Ukraine nearly two years after Russia’s invasion began, Trump has repeatedly said it was unfair to commit the United States to defending Nato’s 30 other member nations.

Speaking at a campaign rally in South Carolina Saturday, Trump described a conversation with a fellow head of state at an unspecified Nato meeting. 

John Bruton

7. The funeral of former Taoiseach John Bruton took place yesterday in Co Meath.

The 76-year-old Fine Gael politician died peacefully in the Mater Private Hospital in Dublin in the early hours of Tuesday morning following a long illness. 

Many politicians were in attendance, including Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and President Michael D. Higgins as well as Northern Ireland’s First Minister Michelle O’Neill. 

Zero emissions buildings

8. Plant-based insulation technology to recover the heat from shower waste waster, and 3D-printed homes are some of the innovations being explored as the EU moves to tackle emissions in its buildings.

A conference being held in Dublin later this month – the Zero Emissions Buildings (ZEB) Summit – aims to discuss and explore the ways to make old and new buildings in Ireland more environmentally sustainable.

According to estimates, over a third of all of the EU’s planet-warming greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions come from buildings, many of which are old, poorly insulated and heated and powered by fossil fuels. 

Oppenheimer

9. Christopher Nolan has won a top directing accolade at the Directors Guild of America awards for his film Oppenheimer.

Hollywood directors named Nolan the winner of the ‘Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film’ category for Oppenheimer, which stars Irish actor Cillian Murphy.

Nolan had been previously nominated four times for Memento, The Dark Knight, Inception and Dunkirk but last night was his first win.