LAST UPDATE | 25 Apr 2022

GOOD MORNING.

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

Ukrainian refugees

1. The Irish Red Cross is to this week begin matching Ukrainian people in Ireland with hosts who have offered to share their homes after an accommodation pledge drive that received “overwhelming” support from the public.

Some 24,708 pledges of accommodation were offered through the Irish Red Cross portal and after an initial focus on the more than 5,000 vacant properties on offer, from this week Ukrainian refugees will begin moving in to share the homes of Irish residents.

French election 

2. Emmanuel Macron has won re-election to a second term as French president.

Populist run-off challenger Marine Le Pen quickly conceded defeat but achieved her best-ever electoral showing.

Acknowledging that “numerous” voters cast ballots for him simply to keep out the nationalist far-right Le Pen, Macron pledged to reunite the country that is “filled with so many doubts, so many divisions”. 

Finland ambassador in Dublin

3. The debate on Irish neutrality has been full of “wrong notions” and false assumptions that Ireland would be forced to enter an EU army, the Finnish ambassador in Dublin has said.

Raili Lahnalampi said: “I think it’s a totally wrong notion that has also been discussed here during some of the referendums. And in Finland, people [refer to] the EU army – I mean, there is no EU army, there’s not even a NATO army, every country has their own armies.

“So there’s lots of false assumptions, what it means to be a member of a club, so to speak.

Ukraine

4. The United States’ top diplomat and defence chief were in Ukraine’s capital yesterday making the first high-level visit by US officials since Russia invaded two months ago as hundreds remain trapped in the besieged city of Mariupol.

The trip by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin comes as the war enters its third month, with thousands dead and millions displaced.

Wexford crash

5. A male cyclist has died after being injured in a crash in Co Wexford.

The cyclist aged in his 60s was injured following an incident on the R731 at Ballywilliam, New Ross that took place shortly before 1pm yesterday.

It’s understood the man was cycling in a group when the incident occurred.

Economy

6. The Irish economy is set to grow by 4.3% this year, according to predictions by the Irish Business and Employers Confederation.

This is a revision of the 6.1% predicted growth made at the end of last year. The revised forecasts come largely as a result of the economic impact from rising costs and supply chain challenges across the global economy, accelerated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Stephen Donnelly

7. Sinn Féin’s health spokesperson criticised Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly and his top civil servant Robert Watt for declining an invitation to appear before the Finance Committee, which is investigating the now-axed secondment of Dr Tony Holohan to Trinity College.

It was reported this weekend that Donnelly and Watt are refusing to appear before an Oireachtas committee investigating the secondment of the chief medical officer.

Motorway cameras

8. New speed cameras, known as Motorway Average Speed Safety Cameras, have gone live on a stretch of road this morning.

The system is in place on the M7 in Tipperary between Junction 26 and Junction 27, both directions, eastbound and westbound.

Vehicles detected driving in excess of the 120km/h posted motorway speed limit will be subject to prosecution from 7am, according to gardaí.

Boris Johnson and Angela Rayner 

9. Boris Johnson has written to Angela Rayner to insist “misogynistic” claims reportedly made about her by an unidentified Tory MP were not in his name.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the Prime Minister sent the deputy Labour leader a letter yesterday in response to a report in the Mail on Sunday which has been condemned by Tory and Labour MPs alike.

Johnson reportedly moved to assure Rayner in the private letter that the comments were “not in his name”, expressing his sympathy over the anonymous attack.