LAST UPDATE | 17 Dec 2021

GOOD MORNING.

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

Cashless

1. In our lead story this morning, Céimin Burke reports on concerns that some customers may be left behind as businesses move away from cash payments.

The pandemic has accelerated a shift away from physical cash towards digital payments, like contactless options on cards and phones.

However, there are fears that people who cannot use digital banking will be isolated as a result.

Restrictions

2. NPHET has recommended that pubs and restaurants should close at 5pm each evening ahead of Christmas as the spread of the Omicron variant poses significant threat.

Cultural and sporting events could also face restricted capacity numbers amid warnings that the health service is at “extremely high risk levels”.

Cabinet is due to meet today to discuss the advice.

Vaccines

3. As restrictions look set to tighten, the booster campaign is picking up pace to try to combat the spread of Omicron.

People aged 40 to 49 will be offered Covid-19 boosters from 27 December, three weeks ahead of schedule, the HSE confirmed yesterday.

Almost 1.5 million boosters have been administered so far, with a daily record of 50,000 vaccines administered on Wednesday. 

Mother and baby homes

4. In the High Court, two test cases taken by survivors of mother and baby homes against the government will come before a judge again today.

Test cases involving Philomena Lee and Mary Harney, two survivors, are seeking to have parts of the final report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes quashed. 

A test case is one brought to the court that would then set a precedent for future cases. 

By-election

5. Meanwhile, in the UK, the Liberal Democrats have overturned a huge Tory majority to win a by-election.

North Shropshire had previously returned a Tory MP in every vote since 1983, the constituency’s first election in its current form.

But amid a terrible few weeks for Boris Johnson’s party, the Liberal Democrats secured a comfortable win.

Search warrant

6. In the US, authorities have issued a search warrant for Alec Baldwin’s mobile phone in the ongoing investigation into the death of Halyna Hutchins. 

Santa Fe Magistrates court has issued a warrant for the phone to be seized and searched as police investigate the case of a prop gun going off on the set of the film Rust and fatally injuring the cinematographer.

Court documents said there “may be evidence on the phone, due to individuals using cellular phones during and/or after the commission of crime(s)”. 

Tragedy

7. Australia is mourning five children who died after falling from a bouncy castle that was lifted into the air by a gust of wind.

Three boys and two girls aged 11 or 12 died when the bouncy castle rose 33 feet into the air during an end-of-school-year celebration.

Three other children are still in a critical condition in hospital and one has been discharged.

Astroworld

8. The 10 people who died in the crowd surge at the Astroworld music festival in Houston died from compression asphyxia, officials have confirmed. 

The people who died were among 50,000 who attended the festival, where 300 people were injured and 25 were taken to hospitals. 

The youngest victim, Ezra Blount, was nine-years-old .  

Whistleblowers

9. Back in Dublin, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) has released a declaration calling for the adoption of new laws to help complainants.

Along with sister agencies in the Network of European Integrity and Whistleblowing Authorities (NEIWA), the garda watchdog is calling for the EU Whistleblowers Directive to be swiftly transposed into Irish law.

The ‘Dublin Declaration’ reminds member states that the directive required them to complete transposition into national law by 17 December 2021.