GOOD MORNING.

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

Newtownmountkennedy

1. It’s estimated that some 2,000 people took to the streets of Newtownmountkennedy in Co Wicklow last Sunday, in protest against the use of a vacant building on the village’s outskirts to house asylum seekers.

The protests reached fever pitch last Thursday night as members of the Garda Public Order Unit clashed with protesters. Four people have been charged following the incident.

Pro-Palestine protests

2. Columbia University issued a shelter-in-place order yesterday evening as the New York Police Department descended on the campus in riot gear to dispel protesters.

More than 1,000 protesters have been arrested over the last two weeks on university campuses in Texas, Utah, Virginia, North Carolina, New Mexico, Connecticut, Louisiana, California and New Jersey.

Emissions drop

3. There was a record 7.3% decrease in energy-related emissions in Ireland in 2023, reaching their lowest in 30 years.

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) also estimates that emissions from electricity generation were down by 21% last year.

Mount Street

4. An operation is underway to move people living in tents on Mount Street in Dublin out of the area. 

Around 200 people are currently sleeping in tents on Mount Street, Grattan Street and nearby alleyways.

Troubles Legacy Act

5. The new Troubles Legacy Act, which takes effect in Northern Ireland today, is a “complete affront to justice”, Amnesty International has said. 

The Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) was established by the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation Act) 2023, although it operates independently of the UK government.

Haitian President

6. Haiti’s newly installed transitional council has chosen former sports minister Fritz Belizaire as the country’s prime minister as it presses forward in its monumental task of trying to establish a stable new government amid stifling violence.

Belizaire replaces Michel Patrick Boisvert, the former minister of economy and finance who was the current interim prime minister.

Household size

7. Irish households are larger on average than households in other European countries, according to a new report by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). 

‘Household Size in Ireland: Stylised Facts in a Cross-Country Context’, published today, used data from an EU survey on income and living conditions to compare the trends in household size in Ireland to other European countries between 2005 and 2021.

Cocaine ‘inadvertently destroyed’

8. Gardaí seized about €140,000 of cocaine during a raid last year before half of it was “inadvertently destroyed”, a court has heard.

Gardaí were carrying out surveillance on a criminal gang in Tallaght, Dublin in April last year and got a search warrant to search the house and car of a suspect, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard yesterday.

Voices – Marie Sherlock

9. This May Day, we are reminded that working people all over the world come together this week. It’s a chance to reflect on the real power that people have when they are part of a collective.

Anyone who is part of a club or a choir knows the potential for something great to happen when a team works well together. It is no different in the workplace. Good employers know the value of teamwork, giving respect, getting respect and having proper dialogue to fix problems as they inevitably crop up.