LAST UPDATE | 15 May 2023

GOOD MORNING.

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

Rent

1. Market rents in the first quarter of 2023 were an average of 1% higher than in the final three months of 2022, the smallest increase since 2020, a report from property website Daft has found.

The average market rent nationwide between January and March was €1,750 per month, compared to €1,387 in the first quarter of 2020 and a low of just €765 per month seen in late 2011.

In Dublin, rents rose by 0.5% quarter-on-quarter, though they fell in Ireland’s four other cities.

Campaign trail

2. As local elections approach in Northern Ireland, The Journal reporter Diarmuid Pepper shadowed canvassing teams to hear about the issues that people are raising on the doorsteps.

Anger over the lack of an executive is a recurring theme, as well as issues like healthcare and education.

The Irish Times

3. The editor of Irish Times has apologised for a “hoax” article published by an unknown contributor on Thursday and said that the paper had breached the trust of its readers.

“Less than 24 hours after publication on our digital platforms, The Irish Times became aware that the column may not have been genuine,” the editor said in a statement.

“That prompted us to remove it from the site and to initiate a review, which is ongoing. It now appears that the article and the accompanying byline photo may have been produced, at least in part, using generative AI technology.” 

Homeless

4. The CEO of the Irish Refugee Council has said that the charity has “grave concerns” for the safety of asylum seekers sleeping rough in Dublin city. 

Nick Henderson said that “the system is broken down over recent months, since the middle of January, and people, particularly single men, but sometimes couples and two or three single women as well, have not been provided with accommodation”. 

Henderson added that the High Court found that it is unlawful for the State to not provide accommodation to asylum seekers three weeks ago in a case that was brought by a law centre. 

Baftas

5. Irish television came home victorious from the Bafta TV awards last night with two wins each for Derry Girls and Bad Sisters.

Derry Girls came away from the ceremony with accolades that saw creator Lisa McGee collected the award for Best Scripted comedy and actress Siobhan McSweeney winning Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme for her role as Sister Michael. 

Bad Sisters also took home two awards – one for Best Drama Series and another for actress Anne-Marie Duff for her performance in the show.  

Election

6. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is locked in a tight election race with a make-or-break run-off against his challenger possible as the final votes are counted.

Polls closed in the late afternoon yesterday after nine hours of voting.

If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the winner will be determined in a run-off on 28 May. 

Espionage

7. China has sentenced a 78-year-old US citizen to life in prison for espionage.

John Shing-wan Leung, an American passport holder and Hong Kong permanent resident, “was found guilty of espionage, sentenced to life imprisonment, deprived of political rights for life”, said the statement from the Intermediate People’s Court in the eastern city of Suzhou.

Suzhou authorities “took compulsory measures according to the law” against 78-year-old Leung in April 2021, it said, without specifying when he had been taken into custody. 

Belarus

8. Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko skipped festivities celebrating the ex-Soviet country’s state symbols yesterday amid reports focusing on his health.

Lukashenko, 68, has not been seen in public since Tuesday when he travelled to Moscow to take part in festivities to celebrate the anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. 

Many journalists noted that Lukashenko looked tired in Moscow on Tuesday and skipped a lunch hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin and attended by the leaders of Armenia and Central Asian countries. 

Drones

9. Incoming flights were suspended at Gatwick Airport for nearly an hour yesterday after reports of a drone near the airfield.

12 incoming flights had to be diverted to other airports due to the alert.

The airport previously cancelled or diverted around 1,000 flights between 19 and 21 December 2018 because of drone reports.