LAST UPDATE | 7 May 2023

GOOD MORNING. HERE are the top stories as the weekend gets started.

How many people are buying a home every week?

1. A Government statement last week included a suggestion from the Taoiseach that 400 people in Ireland are buying their first home every week.

With the Government seemingly keen to emphasise its progress in helping first-time buyers as part of its efforts to fix the housing crisis, The Journal decided to examine that claim in further detail.

Recent figures fall considerably short of the claim made by Leo Varadkar, with the Department of the Taoiseach also not providing a source for the claim. 

Dallas mall shooting

2. A gunman killed eight people and injured seven at a shopping centre in Dallas, Texas before he was fatally shot by a nearby police officer.

Dashcam video that circulated online showed a gunman step out of a vehicle outside the shopping centre and immediately start shooting at people on the pavement.

Authorities did not immediately provide details about the victims, but witnesses reported seeing children among them, in what is the latest incident of gun violence in the US. 

Ireland’s switch to E10 petrol

3. Motorists have likely seen the signs displayed at forecourts that from 1 July 2023, E10 petrol will be used to fuel vehicles in Ireland.

The Government says E10 petrol contains more bio-ethanol than the current E5 petrol supply in Ireland, so less fossil carbon is used. 

But concerns have been raised this week that the switch will result in car owners of older vehicles having to undergo more regular maintenance and that the fuel is deemed not suitable for some vehicles.  

Coronation

4. With the coronation of King Charles and his wife Camilla now in the rearview mirror, let’s go back further again and see how Ireland marked the 1953 coronation of his mother Elizabeth.

Documents from the National Archives detail concerns ranging from a controversial garden party to how the London Embassy would be decorated, and an IRA bomb threat towards one British organisation planning a cocktail party to mark the day. 

And how was it among the crowds on the ground at Hyde Park? Here’s a sample from Carl Kinsella who visited yesterday for this publication. 

“On the way in, it seemed to me an unholy throng of people. It felt like a capacity Croke Park crowd. Lined with food trucks, people picnicking despite the rain, and a palpable sense of dehydration, the set-up was little different to a music festival. 

“Only there was no music. No singing. No buzz of any kind. Nobody was paying any attention to the big screen – on which the entire ceremony would be broadcast – while it showed the eight living Prime Ministers filing into the Westminster Abbey.” 

Ukraine downs hypersonic missile for first time

5. Ukraine has claimed to have downed a Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missile for the first time during a wave of attacks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who unveiled the Kinzhal missile in 2018, has termed it “an ideal weapon” that is extremely difficult for missile defences to intercept – but the Ukraine Air Force said the missile was shot down with a Patriot air-defence system in skies over Kyiv at around 2:30am local time on Thursday.

Vaping 

6. Ireland should avoid completely banning the sale of electronic cigarettes or vapes, but there could be more regulation when it comes to who can purchase them, experts have told The Journal.

It comes after Australia announced it will ban recreational vaping, with e-cigarettes no longer being sold in general and convenience stores. 

Licences for sensitive chemicals

7. The environment watchdog is hoping to make the viewing of radiological licences available to the public for the first time later this year.

A radiological licence is needed for plants working with various sensitive chemicals, including titanium, and covers the measures needed for the plant to operate safely.

At present the licences lie with the companies and can only be released by them at their own discretion, unlike many other licences for industry. 

Gun ownership

8. Junior Justice Minister James Browne has said he will meet with gun owner groups ahead of any policy or legislation change to firearm licensing in the State.

An expert group tasked with making recommendations on a range of issues – including who should have access to firearms in the state – has suggested that the current firearm licence system be replaced with different types of firearms certificates.  

Munster hurling

9. A breath-taking 70 minutes of hurling ended in an explosion of goals and a draw that leaves Cork and Tipperary both unbeaten at the top of the Munster Championship table.

There were three goals packed into the final dozen minutes of play as Cork came back from five points behind to level with a late 2-4 burst to Tipp’s 1-2.

The result leaves the Munster Championship delicately poised with all of Limerick, Clare and Waterford still in the hunt.