LAST UPDATE | 16 Dec 2023
GOOD MORNING.
Here’s all the news you need to know as you start your day.
1. In our lead story this morning, investigative platform Noteworthy looks at how dog bite reports continue to rise across Ireland, with sheepdogs one of the most commonly reported for aggressive behaviour.
By speaking to a number of people who have been victim to such horrific attacks, Patricia Devlin reports that in even in the most serious of cases, enforcement of Ireland’s dog regulations leaves a lot to be desired.
It follows on from figures from the Department of of Rural and Community Development revealing that more than 300 people were injured due to a dog attack last year.
2. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said that a vaccine may be made available in Ireland next year to protect young children against RSV.
In an interview with The Journal, the minister noted that the vaccine is already in use in Spain and appears to be “really -effective” — but it’s expensive and Ireland will need to negotiate a price with the manufacturer.
There has been a sharp spike in Respiratory Syntactical Virus (RSV) this winter, with 829 cases recorded in the last week, prompting the HSE to warn that the virus is circulating at “extraordinarily high levels” and advising that parents “cocoon” very young babies, who are particularly vulnerable.
3. Stephen Donnelly has also said that a ban on the sale of vapes will come into effect in Ireland “very soon”.
New rules banning the sale of vapes are expected to take force in the coming weeks — potentially before Christmas.
They will be later followed other rules around how vapes are marketed, such as the use of colours and flavours.
4. Gardaí are investigating the ramming of a garda car on Brunswick Street in Dublin 7 shortly after midday yesterday.
Two Gardaí were later taken to the Mater University Hospital to receive medical treatment, while a man in his 40s has been arrested and is currently detained at a Garda station in North Dublin.
5. The Israeli military is coming under pressure from its own citizens after it mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages during its ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
The army’s chief spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said Israeli troops found the hostages and erroneously identified them as a threat. He said it was not clear if they had escaped their captors or been abandoned.
The deaths occurred in the Gaza City area of Shijaiyah, where troops have engaged in fierce battles against Hamas militants in recent days. Protests have followed in Israel over the deaths.
6. Friends actor Matthew Perry died as a result of “the acute effects of ketamine,” the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office has confirmed.
Perry, who played Chandler Bing on the hit TV sitcom from 1994-2004, died in October at the age of 54 after he was found unconscious in a hot tub at his house, having struggled for decades with addiction and related serious health issues.
“Contributing factors in Mr. Perry’s death include drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine (used to treat opioid use disorder),” the medical examiner said in a statement.
“The manner of death is accident,” they added.
Perry was found unconscious in a hot tub at his house in Los Angeles on October 28. First responders were unable to revive him, and an initial post-mortem proved inconclusive, pending a toxicology report.
7. Gardaí investigating a shooting and an assault during an incident that saw two people hospitalised in Co Wicklow have asked for the public’s help in tracing a vehicle.
The incident happened at 4.30pm Thursday afternoon at a construction site at Bellevue Hill in Delgany, Co Wicklow.
Issuing a renewed witness appeal last night, a garda spokesperson said that investigators are looking to trace the movements of a 2007 black Ford Focus hatchback.
Gardaí are attempting to trace the movements of the vehicle on Thursday 14 December between 3 and 5pm, specifically between Bellevue Hill and Kindlestown Woods car park in County Wicklow.
8. Gardaí have appealed to the public for information related to the murder of Marie Kilmartin who disappeared 30 years ago, on 16 December 1993 from her home in Portlaoise.
Marie, who was 35 at the time, went missing from her home in Beladd at approximately 4pm that day.
She had been attending a Christmas party at the local nursing home she worked in, and had been dropped home by two friends, who watched her walk into her own front door on the day she was last seen.
Her body was later discovered on the 10 June 1994 in the Portarlington area of Laois., in a bog drain.
9. Music group Aslan have announced they will continue to perform as a band next year with a new singer who will soon be announced, following the sad passing of frontman Christy Dignam.
The band members have released a statement saying that their new singer will in no way be a “replacement for Christy”, as that would be “absolutely impossible”.
“There will never be another Christy Dignam,” the joint statement said.
Announcing that Aslan will continue on as a band, it said: “The lads want to get back to doing what they love most, playing their music.”
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