LAST UPDATE | 12 Jul 2021
GOOD MORNING. Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your week.
1. The Cabinet will hold a virtual meeting today to sign off on plans to reopen indoor hospitality.
The meeting comes following discussions with representatives from the hospitality sector over the weekend.
It is understood that the plans will see indoor hospitality reopened to fully vaccinated people, with the EU Digital Green Certificate used as an indoor dining pass
This is in line with guidance issued by the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET)
2. Almost three quarters of adults surveyed in Ireland said they received a scam call from an Irish number at some point over the past month, according to a new survey.
The Department of Social Protection and gardaí have been continuously warning the public about scam calls – with many coming from Irish phone numbers.
Orla Dwyer reports that most common scam call in recent weeks have consisted of one of a selection of pre-recorded message purporting to be from the Department of Social Protection.
Recent polling by Red C on behalf of The Journal shows that half of the people surveyed received a scam call in the last week from 083/085/086/087/089 numbers.
3. Italy inflicted more penalty heartache on England to win Sunday’s Euro 2020 final 3-2 in a shoot-out, Bukayo Saka missing the decisive kick to deny the hosts after the game at Wembley had ended in a draining 1-1 draw through extra time.
Saka’s kick was repelled by Gianluigi Donnarumma to give Italy the Henri Delaunay trophy for the second time at the end of a shoot-out in which England scored their first two penalties but then saw Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho also fail.
Jorginho could have won it for Italy only for his penalty to be saved by Jordan Pickford, giving renewed hope to the England support who had earlier created a febrile atmosphere with their team looking set to run away with this final.
The nerve-shredding climax seemed unlikely given the way the match began, with Luke Shaw scoring for Gareth Southgate’s England after just one minute and 57 seconds, the fastest goal ever in a European Championship final stunning a team who arrived here on a record 33-match unbeaten run.
4. Meanwhile, the England Football Association has said it is “appalled” after a number of its players were subjected to racist abuse on social media following the defeat.
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Saka all missed from the spot last night as England went down on penalties.
The trio’s social media pages were quickly flooded with racist comments, leading the FA to release a statement condemning the “disgusting behaviour”.
A spokesperson said: “The FA strongly condemns all forms of discrimination and is appalled by the online racism that has been aimed at some of our England players on social media.”
5. Ireland is officially signing up to the EU’s Digital Covid Cert (DCC) from this day next week.
Ahead of that date (19 July), the certs are to be sent out to those in Ireland who are fully vaccinated beginning today.
The certs have been designed as way to facilitate Covid-safe travel throughout the EU this summer and will allow holders to bypass pandemic entry restrictions.
They may ultimately play a role in facilitating entrance to hospitality in Ireland too, but that is still to be finalised, Rónán Duffy reports.
6. In the United States, authorities searching for victims of a collapsed building in Florida have said they hope to conclude their painstaking work in the coming weeks as a team of first responders from Israel departed the site.
Miami-Dade county mayor Daniella Levine Cava said 90 deaths have now been confirmed in last month’s collapse of the 12-story Champlain Towers South in Surfside, up from 86 a day before.
Among them are 71 bodies that have been identified, and their families have been notified, she said. Some 31 people remain listed as missing.
7. In Cuba, thousands of people have marched on Havana’s Malecon promenade to protest food shortages and high prices amid the coronavirus crisis in one of the biggest anti-government demonstrations in memory.
Many young people took part in the afternoon protest in the capital yesterday, which disrupted traffic until police moved in after several hours and broke up the march when a few protesters threw rocks.
8. Northern Ireland’s Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) has said it dealt with a “significant increase” in emergency calls to bonfire-related incidents this year.
More than 230 Eleventh Night bonfires were lit across Northern Ireland between Friday night and last night.
The bonfires precede the Twelfth of July parades, the main date in the Protestant loyal order parading season.
While the NIFRS said it was “exceptionally busy” over the weekend, it also confirmed there were no attacks on fire service personnel.
The NIFRS said firefighters had been required to take direct action to protect properties from heat caused by bonfires.
A spokesman said: “Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service has dealt with a significant increase in emergency calls and mobilisations to bonfire related incidents over 9, 10 and 11 July.”
9. Ireland is set for a cloudy start this week, but suncream may come in handy by Friday as temperatures are set to soar to 25 degrees.
Met Éireann says an ‘Azores High’ – an area of high pressure extending from the South Atlantic – will see Mediterranean-like conditions across the country from 16 July.
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