LAST UPDATE | 12 Dec 2022

GOOD MORNING.

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

Icy conditions

1. Our top story documents the drop in temperatures across the country, as motorists and pedestrians face icy conditions on their journeys this morning.

Temperatures are set to remain below freezing in some areas of the country with the National Emergency Coordination Group – which includes Met Éireann and all the relevant government departments and agencies – monitoring the situation, which is expected to remain until at least Friday. 

Public transport and schools will continue to operate as normal as the icy weather persists.

Disruption to flights

2. While some roads and paths are icy this morning, air passengers have also faced significant disruption here and in the UK as the cold snap continues.

Dublin Airport has asked passengers to check flight status this morning in advance of travel after Greater London airport closures last night. Stansted and Gatwick Airports had to close temporarily to clear snow from their runways.

It follows major delays and some cancellations in and out of Dublin Airport since Friday due to issues with the de-icing of planes.

Garda appeal after body found

3. Gardaí have appealed for witnesses after the body of a young man was found in unexplained circumstances in Co Meath yesterday.

An incident room has been set up at Ashbourne Garda Station as part of their investigation into the death of the man whose body was found on lands at Belgree Lane, Kilbride.

It is understood that the man’s body was found wrapped in material.

The scene is currently being examined by members of the Garda Technical Bureau.

Search of lake in UK

4. Four children are in critical condition in Birmingham after they fell into a freezing lake while reportedly playing on the ice at the weekend.

The children were pulled from the icy lake in cardiac arrest, while a search operation continues amid fears two more children were involved in the incident. 

Emergency services were called to Babbs Mill Park in Kingshurst, a nature park in Solihull yesterday afternoon, with reports from the scene and social media indicating that children had been playing on the ice and had fallen through into the lake. 

Iran executes second protestor

5. There has widespread condemnation after Iran executed a second prisoner detained amid protests challenging the country’s theocracy.

The country made the announcement by airing footage on state television that it claimed showed the prisoner stabbing two men to death and running away.

The public hanging of Majidreza Rahnavard, less than a month after he allegedly carried out the fatal stabbings of two security officials, shows the speed at which Iran now carries out death sentences handed down for those detained in the demonstrations the government hopes to put down.

Activists warn that at least a dozen people already have been sentenced to death in closed-door hearings. At least 488 people have been killed since the demonstrations began in mid-September, according to Human Rights Activists. Protests broke out after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been detained by Iran’s morality police.

Lights out at CRU

6. A Noteworthy investigation has found that the energy regulator has been struggling to fulfil its new security of supply role amid the most severe energy crisis for decades. 

The Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has an important role to play in supporting the State to achieve climate targets while also dealing with the renewables roll-out, and protecting customers.

Addressing the risks to security of electricity supply is now also a very high priority for the Government and it has requested significant input from CRU staff and senior management.

However, Noteworthy found that the regulator warned the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications (DECC) in March that it needed to recruit 74 extra staff or it would struggle to hit its targets under its expanded security of supply and climate action remit.

Air crash near Kilcullen

7. Air accident investigators completed an initial investigation of a site after a light helicopter crashed in a field in county Kildare yesterday.

The investigation will continue this morning after the helicopter crashed into a field near Kilcullen yesterday evening. 

It happened near Brannockstown and it’s as yet unclear how many people were on board the light aircraft, which was privately owned.

Gardaí and emergency services, including three air accident investigators, were dispatched to the scene, where it is understood there was heavy fog.

Man dies in Waterford crash

8.  A man in his 30s died after a crash with a truck in Waterford yesterday. He was the driver of a car which collided with a truck on the N25 in Newtown near Kilmacthomas around lunchtime.

The driver of the truck was taken to hospital with what are understood to be non-life threatening injuries, according to Gardaí.

Italian PM tributes after shooting

9. Three women, including a friend of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, were killed in Rome on Sunday in what may have been a dispute over housing. Meloni paid tribute to her friend on Instagram.

Four others were also wounded after a gunman allegedly opened fire at a board meeting of his apartment building’s residents in a northern district of Rome.

The suspect shooter, 57-year-old Claudio Campi, is said to have used a Glock pistol that was stolen from a shooting stand.