EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you kick off your day.
1. #TRAGEDY: Lorraine Gallagher, the mother of Erin and Shannon, has spoken of her grief at their deaths, saying that they had been the light of her life and that recent events had left her feeling numb. Shannon Gallagher was found dead in a suspected suicide on Wednesday night, six weeks after the death of her sister Erin.
2. #FLOODS: Flood warnings have been issued for the south and east coasts of the country. The alerts, issued by Met Éireann, are set to remain in place until 3pm today.
3. #ROADS: A man in his 80s has died in Meath after being hit by a truck as he crossed a road. Gardai are investigating the circumstances around the crash.
4. #CONSULTANCY: A consultancy firm that is owned by a senior advisor at the Special Delivery Unit has received around €51,000 in payments since 2011 for advising the HSE, the Medical Independent has reported.
5. #DISCRIMINATION: A new report from the ESRI has shown that in 2010, 12 per cent of Irish adults said that they had been discriminated against at some point over the previous two years. People of black ethnicity were found to be almost four times more likely to report experiences of discrimination than white Irish people.
6. #KEAVENEY: Doubt remains over whether Colm Keaveney, who yesterday voted against the Social Welfare Bill, will remain as the Labour party Chairperson. Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore last night said that he didn’t “think it’s tenable for someone who’s out of the parliamentary Labour party to hold a senior office in the party.”
7. #FINUCANE: Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams has written to Taoiseach Enda Kenny, urging him to examine government documents which “could assist the family in refuting the British government’s effort to frustrate the Finucane family’s demand for a public inquiry”.
8. #NORTHERN IRELAND: Six houses were evacuated overnight in Newry after a viable device was found in a house in Mayobridge. Residents were allowed to re-enter their homes at 5.20am this morning once the area had been made safe.
9. #RIGHT TO DIE: The High Court is set to rule on the case of Marie Fleming, a terminally ill woman, on 10 January. She had taken a case against the High Court in which she challenged the current ban on assisted suicide, arguing for her right to die.
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