NEED TO CATCH up? The Journal brings you a round-up of today’s news.

IRELAND

With 111 days until Christmas, seven-year-old TikTok star Jacob Robinson was handed the keys to officially open the Arnotts Christmas Shop. Photocall Ireland Photocall Ireland

• The Garda Commissioner said gardaí are investigating the possibility that organised paedophile rings were involved in the sexual abuse of children at schools run by religious orders.
• Meanwhile, Ireland’s human rights watchdog said a fair and inclusive redress scheme for survivors of sexual abuse in schools should be established without delay.
• A woman was hospitalised with serious injuries after she was attacked by a number of dogs in Dún Laoghaire.
• There has been an increase in the number of children unable to access essential items, with 230,000 children currently estimated to experience material deprivation.
• A number of families in Borrisokane, Co Tipperary will be allowed to remain in international protection accommodation until alternative homes in the local area can be found for them.
• Irish fugitive Simon Fahy died as a result of an overdose in October last year, the Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard today.  
• Electric Ireland announced that it will cut residential electricity and gas prices for over 1.1 million customers from November.
• An activity in an SPHE textbook that showed an ‘exaggerated’ view on diversity is set to be removed following backlash.
• Gardaí at a Waterford station are the latest to get body-worn cameras.
• A kitchen porter who was left jobless after a fatal shooting at a Dublin restaurant on Christmas Eve has been awarded a redundancy package of close to €22,000.
• A “significant” garda policing and traffic management plan will be in place for this weekend’s Nations League match between Ireland and England.

INTERNATIONAL

Michel Barnier, who has bene appointed French prime minister Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#UGANDA: Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei died after being set on fire by her boyfriend in Kenya, Uganda’s Olympic Committee chief said today.
#UKRAINE: The death toll from a Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s city of Poltava has risen to 55 people, with over 300 wounded, according to Ukrainian officials.
#FRANCE: Emmanuel Macron named the EU’s former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as new prime minister, following almost two months of political deadlock after snap polls.
#MUNICH: German authorities are treating a shooting near Munich’s Israeli consulate today as a failed attack on the diplomatic mission.
#INQUEST: Jeremy Kyle defended his presenting style at an inquest into the death of a man who had been a guest on his chat show, saying “it was direct, but it was empathetic, it was honest”.

PARTING SHOT

Healthcare activist Missie Collins, with her daughter Tessa, who received a UCD Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science for her contributions to the UCD led All-island Traveller Health Study and decades-long track record of advocacy for the Traveller community. Fennell Photography 2024 Fennell Photography 2024

Healthcare activist Missie Collins today received a UCD Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science for her contributions to the UCD led All-island Traveller Health Study and decades-long track record of advocacy for the Traveller community 

Missie Collins is an Irish Traveller and has been a Pavee Point Primary Healthcare for Travellers worker for more than 30 years. 

She has helped establish more than 40 Traveller Health projects throughout Ireland, and was instrumental in the creation of the UCD led All-island Traveller Health Study – which provided a framework for policy development and practise in relation to Traveller health and included a census survey of 40,000 Travellers on the Island of Ireland.

A mother of 12, the achievements of Ms Collins and her colleagues in Pavee Point include the official recognition of the ethnicity of Travellers by the Irish Government in March 2017.