LAST UPDATE | 19 Jan
GOOD MORNING.
Here is all the news you need to know to start your day on this very cold Friday morning.
1. In our lead story today, Jane Moore reports that educators say a yearly allowance for teachers who teach through Irish should be reintroduced.
Gaeloideachas, a representative national body for education through the Irish language, said that official recognition is needed for the additional workload for teachers who are teaching in Irish-medium settings in order to address the recruitment crisis in the sector.
According to a survey carried out by the INTO last October, there were 18 permanent and 18 fixed-term posts vacant in 53 Gaelscoileanna across the country, along with 34 vacant long-term substitute posts.
2. Gardaí and Defence Forces are continuing to investigate an explosion at a homeless hostel in Dublin, in which a man was killed.
Defence Forces explosive experts were called to the site on Little Britain Street in Dublin yesterday evening but it is understood at this stage to be a self-contained and isolated incident.
3. North Korea has said that it tested an “underwater nuclear weapon system” in response to joint naval exercises by Washington, Seoul and Tokyo that involved a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
The drills were “seriously threatening the security” of the North, so in response, Pyongyang “conducted an important test of its underwater nuclear weapon system ‘Haeil-5-23′ under development in the East Sea of Korea,” according to a statement from the defence ministry.
4. Met Éirean has warned that frosty conditions will continue, with temperatures not surpassing 7 degrees.
It will be generally dry and sunny though, as showers are expected to stop until tonight at least.
5. Israel bombarded southern Gaza again today after it publicly sparred with its main ally the United States over the possibility of a Palestinian state, the creation of which Washington sees as the only pathway to a lasting peace.
AFP says witnesses reported gunfire and air strikes in Khan Yunis, the main city in the south of the Gaza Strip, where Israel says many members and leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas are hiding.
6. Former Ireland coach Joe Schmidt has been announced by Rugby Australia as the new Wallabies head coach.
Schmidt coached Ireland from 2013 to 2019 where he won the Six Nations and was recognised as the World Rugby coach of the year in 2018. Prior to that he was a multiple trophy winner with Leinster.
7. A Thai court has ordered the government to come up with an urgent plan to curb air pollution within 90 days, as the kingdom braces for its annual peak of noxious haze, AFP reports.
Air quality plummets in Thailand in the early months of the year as smoke from farmers burning stubble adds to industrial emissions and vehicle exhaust fumes.
8. The UK government’s Northern Ireland Secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, has said that he will introduce legislation that will aim to see the political deadlock in the region while Stormont remains collapsed.
Chris Heaton-Harris expressed his disappointment that all political parties could not reach an agreement to reinstate the NI Executive, after the latest deadline for calling a fresh election passed yesterday.
9. The Irish Times reports that Northern Ireland public sector workers vow ‘this is not the end’ for mass industrial action.
The strike began yesterday, as some 16 trade unions and more than 170,000 people brought the six counties to a standstill.
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