EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know before 9am…

1. #ATTACK: A garda was hospitalised after being slashed by a prisoner on a deportation flight to Nigeria, TheJournal.ie has learned. The Garda Representative Association has accused management of “reckless endangerment”, saying there weren’t enough officers on the plane.

2. #BANKERS: Bank of Ireland chief Ritchie Boucher got a salary of €623,000 last year -part of a total pay package of €898,000. Opposition politicians have said the package breaks the Government’s €500,000 pay cap.

3. #ESCAPE: A cross-border search is still under way this morning for an inmate who escaped from a prison in Cavan last night. Martin McDermott, 25, was serving a seven-year sentence for the manslaughter of Garda Gary McLoughlin in 2009.

4. #BUS CRASH: Belgium is holding a national day of mourning today for the 22 children and six adults killed in a bus crash in Switzerland earlier this week. Meanwhile investigators are examining the theory that the driver was handling a DVD at the time of the crash.

5. #PROPERTY: More bad news for the property market – it hasn’t stopped falling, according to a new report from Davy Stockbrokers which says prices have dropped by 55 per cent since the peak and forecasts a total drop of 65-70 per cent.

6. #DRINKING: As Ireland gears up for St Patrick’s Day, junior minister Roisín Shortall has urged people to stop linking the celebration with alcohol. Her comments on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland came after it emerged yesterday that the average Irish adult drinks the equivalent of a bottle of vodka every week.

7. #CRYPTOSPORIDIUM: Traces of the gastrointestinal bacteria cryptosporidium have been found in the Dublin water supply, the Irish Times reports. However, authorities said the finding in the Stillorgan reservoir was not unusual and there was no risk to health.

8. #AFGHANISTAN: The soldier suspected of killing 16 Afghan civilians in a shooting spree had seen his friend’s leg blown off the day before the rampage, his lawyer told the Associated Press. The suspect has been described as “very mild-mannered”.

9. #LOVELY GIRLS: Finally, confirmation: Thinking about women makes men stupider. Researchers in the Netherlands have found that even anticipating contact with a woman causes a decline in male cognitive function, Everyday Health reports.