LAST UPDATE | 31 May 2021
GOOD MORNING, HAPPY Monday. Here’s all the news that you need to know about as you start your day.
1. In our main story today, Stephen McDermott writes that social media companies were asked by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar to address how they would stop the use of their platforms to organise protests in breach of Covid restrictions.
Varadkar wrote letters to Facebook, Twitter, Google and TikTok about the organisation of such events and the spread of misinformation on their platforms.
The letters, released to The Journal under a Freedom of Information request, were sent on 5 March – days after 23 people were arrested at a protest against lockdown measures in Dublin City Centre that turned violent.
2. What’s been leading the news agenda for the past two days are the crowds that clustered in city centres at the weekend to enjoy the good weather. Chief Medical Officer said he was “absolutely shocked” at a huge gathering of people in Dublin City on Saturday, calling it like a “major open-air party”.
Yesterday, Gardaí cleared people off busy streets in Dublin City, and confiscated alcohol.
Today, Lord Mayor of Dublin Hazel Chu told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that designated spaces need to be provided where people can gather safely outdoors, and that more policing, more bins, and more toilet facilities are needed across the city.
3. Gardaí are investigating an alleged sexual assault on a teenager, which occurred in the area around public toilets near the beach in Allihies, located on the Beara Peninsula in West Cork.
The alleged incident took place in the early hours of Saturday morning, and Gardaí are anxious to speak with people who were in the area on Friday night or Saturday morning.
4. A Ryanair passenger plane flying from Dublin made an emergency landing in Berlin before resuming its journey to Poland, just a week after a Ryanair flight being diverted to Belarus led to the arrest of a journalist and sparked a diplomatic incident.
With 160 people on board, the flight arrived at the Berlin-Brandenburg airport shortly after 8pm, that’s 7pm Irish time, and remained on the tarmac into early today.
A Berlin police spokesperson said that officers had completed their security checks “without any danger being detected”. The passengers were to continue their journey on a different flight, the spokesperson added.
5. Around four in ten children and young people surveyed in Ireland over a ten-year period experienced poverty on at least a once-off basis.
A new report from the ESRI found that relationship breakdowns and parental job losses are “key triggers” for transitioning into child poverty – and that this leads to worse outcomes across nearly all key aspects of a child’s life including: educational attainment, engagement with school, and health behaviours.
6. British passengers will have to provide “compelling reasons” to enter France from today, as its authorities tighten restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus variant first identified in India.
Travel to France from the UK will only be permitted for EU nationals, French residents, or those travelling for essential reasons - meaning no holidays in France for the British.
7. The number of people recycling electrical appliances and goods rose sharply in Ireland last year, particularly in April and May – making it a record year for that type of recycling.
A report from the European Recycling Platform found that more than 5.5 million electrical items were collected in Ireland last year, which is an increase of 9%.
8. Japanese star Naomi Osaka has been threatened with disqualification from the French Open if she continues her media boycott.
Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam title winner and sport’s highest-earning female athlete, was fined €12,300 for refusing to hold a press conference, as they are detrimental to her mental health.
“Should she continue to ignore her media obligations during the tournament, she would be exposing herself to possible further Code of Conduct infringement consequences,” a statement from the four Grand Slam tournaments said.
9. Yesterday was the hottest day of the year in Ireland so far, prompting people around the country to enjoy the sunny Sunday weather.
Met Éireann recorded an air temperature of 23.1 degrees Celsius at Newport Furnace in Co Mayo, the highest of 2021 to date. More of that, please.
Would you like one of your photos to feature on the 9 at 9? We’d love to see your morning routines – breakfasts, sea swims, sunrises – and share them. Send them through to pictures@thejournal.ie with your name and you may spot it on The Journal the next day.
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