LAST UPDATE | 2 Nov 2022

GOOD MORNING.

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

Schools

1. In our lead story this morning, Diarmuid Pepper reports that some secondary schools are resorting to fundraising in an attempt to cope with rising energy costs, according to the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI).

The union said that “prolonged underfunding” has put schools in this situation and that the “funding gap experienced by second-level schools in Ireland is not new and arose long before current inflationary increases”.

In a recent report, Ireland is ranked in last place out of 36 OECD countries for investment in second-level education as a percentage of GDP.

Housing

2. Cabinet is due to hear an update today on the Housing for All plan, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien to say that the government expects to hit its housing targets for 2022.

The plan includes the construction of 24,600 new homes across the country by the end of the year.

Additionally, Cabinet is set to sign off on Ireland’s agenda at COP27 this month, an international climate conference taking place in Egypt.

Marc MacSharry

3. TD Marc MacSharry has resigned from Fianna Fáil, claiming in his resignation that support within the party for the Taoiseach is “wafer thin”.

MacSharry resigned over what he described as a “failure” by Micheál Martin to “allow a proper investigation of a recent complaint on a political issue made against me by a Fianna Fáil councillor in my constituency”.

The complaint came from a councillor on Sligo County Council, who reported MacSharry for bullying over WhatsApp messages.

Stormont

4. Both the DUP and Sinn Féin have accused Northern Ireland’s Secretary of State of failing to provide clarity on if and when he intends to call an election.

Following the election in May, the 24-week deadline for forming a power-sharing executive ran out on Friday.

The Taoiseach said yesterday that he believes there is a “legitimate basis for a discussion between the political parties and the two Governments for an Assembly election in five years time as to whether the mechanisms and the framework that was designed 25 years ago should be recalibrated”.

Greta Thunberg

5. Activist Greta Thunberg does not plan to attend COP27, pointing to limited space for civil society representatives and greenwashing efforts by political leaders.

She said that the COPs are “mainly used as an opportunity for leaders and people in power to get attention, using many different kinds of greenwashing” and that they are “not really meant to change the whole system” but encourage gradual progress.

“So as it is, the COPs are not really working, unless of course we use them as an opportunity to mobilise.”

Banking

6. 60% of Ulster Bank and KBC customers say they have experienced challenges in switching to new providers.

The two banks are withdrawing from the Irish market, meaning their customers must move their accounts over to a new provider.

New CCPC research has found that just over half (52%) of consumers who have their main account with Ulster Bank or KBC have opened a new account, while transferring direct debits and payments continues to be the most significant issue.

North Korea

7. North Korea has fired more than ten missiles off its eastern and western coasts, according to South Korea. hours after it issued a veiled threat to use nuclear weapons against the US and South Korea.

Residents of a South Korean eastern island came under an air raid alert and were evacuated to underground shelters.

South Korea responded by performing its own missile tests.

Julie Powell

8. Food writer Julie Powell has passed away at age 49.

Citing her husband, The New York Times said Powell died of cardiac arrest on 26 October at her home in upstate New York.

Her death was confirmed by Judy Clain, Powell’s editor, who said: “She was a brilliant writer and a daring, original person and she will not be forgotten.”

I’m an MP, Get Me Out of Here

9. Former UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock has lost the Tory whip over signing up to join the cast of the next season of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here.

Earlier this year, the MP had to resign from the Cabinet after The Sun newspaper in the UK published footage of him kissing an aide in his departmental office, in breach of coronavirus rules, and he has now been suspended from the Tory whip over his decision to enter the jungle.

Chief whip Simon Hart said: “Following a conversation with Matt Hancock, I have considered the situation and believe this is a matter serious enough to warrant suspension of the whip with immediate effect.”