LAST UPDATE | 26 Feb

GOOD MORNING.

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

Gaza

1. Israel’s military has proposed a plan for moving civilians out of “areas of fighting” in Gaza, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

Netanyahu is pushing forward with plans to stage a ground operation in Rafah, claiming such a move is necessary, while international governments and humanitarian organisations have demanded the plan does not go ahead, expressing fears that an invasion of Rafah would inflict mass civilian casualties.

More than 1.4 million Palestinians, most of them displaced from other parts of Gaza, are sheltering in Rafah, the southern border city.

RTÉ exit payments

2. The government and the Department of Media were made aware in October last year that the new terms of reference for the RTÉ remuneration committee would include reviews of exit package arrangements.

During a Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing on 12 October, TDs and committee members were told that the review remit of RTÉ’s financial oversight team was extended to include exit payments in September.

School psychology service

3. The state’s psychology service for schools has been accused of being on the verge of “collapse”.

The service’s refusal to have waiting lists means that schools are being told they are only to put forward their “most critical” children – often meaning large swathes of a student body are missed by the service.

It means the true need for the service is unknown and also “unaccountable” according one school principal said.

Arson in Cork

4. Gardaí and the fire service responded to a series of arson incidents at retail stores in Cork city centre yesterday evening.

It is understood that four major retailers were each targeted in the incidents, with a lit firelog being hurled into one shop and a rack of clothes being set alight in another.

Man’s body discovered

5. Gardaí in Tralee are investigating “all of the circumstances” around the discovery of the body of a man in his 80s, which was found at a residence in Castlemaine, Co Kerry yesterday.

The man’s body has been moved to the mortuary at University Hospital Kerry.

Gardaí said that the results of a post-mortem examination will help to determine the course the investigation will take.

Airlifted

6. A 10-year-old boy was airlifted to hospital yesterday following a road traffic collision in Co Clare.

The incident occurred at Purcell Park in Shannon at around 2.10pm. It’s understood the boy was struck by a vehicle.

A passer-by drove the short distance to Shannon Fire Station to alert firefighters who had been hosting an open day at the time. Fire crews promptly mobilised to the scene around 300 metres from their base. 

Republican primaries

7. US presidential hopeful Nikki Haley has lost another state in the Republican primaries to frontrunner Donald Trump – but is refusing to drop out of the race yet.

Haley, a former United Nations ambassador, lost the Republican primary in South Carolina at the weekend, a disappointing but unsurprising defeat in her home state.

Other Republicans who put themselves forward dropped out weeks ago as Trump surged ahead but Haley has stayed in the race, writing on social media last night that “huge numbers of Republican primary voters are saying that they want an alternative” to Trump.

Heritage sites vandalised

8. Protected sites have been attacked by vandalism at least 140 times in the last three years, according to figures obtained by Noteworthy.

The attacks, recorded between 2021 and 2023, include graffiti sprayed on buildings, damage etched into stone work and locks regularly broken off secured buildings like churches, are are “as much a concern” as the impact of climate change on monuments.

Energy bills

9. Pinergy and Prepay Power have both announced further electricity price reductions.

Pinergy said its latest decrease will result in an 8.4% saving for the typical household, which is equivalent to €183.12 annually based on typical consumption.

Separately, Prepay Power customers can expect to see the average annual gas and electricity bills reduced by 6.7% from 1 April.