EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine things you need to know as you kick off your day…
1. #BAILOUT: The IMF has approved the transfer of €890 million in bailout funds to the Irish government following a quarterly inspection of Ireland’s performance in October. The Washington-based fund has warned that a ‘mini-Budget’ should be avoided this year in order to protect recovery.
2. #ARRESTS: Fifteen people, including an 11-year-old boy, have been arrested following another night of unrest in Northern Ireland. Around 80 loyalist protests were held across the region yesterday in response to a decision by Belfast City Council to reduce the number of days the union flag is flown at at Belfast City Hall.
3. #ABORTION: Cabinet ministers are expected to today agree on a plan of action to address the shortcomings in Irish abortion laws identified by the European Court on Human Rights last year. It is believed ministers will opt for a ‘legislation plus regulations’ model – a decision which would see the Oireachtas vote on a basic legal framework for the provision of terminations under defined and limited circumstances, with finer details filled by statutory instruments.
4. #FISHING: EU ministers are meeting in Brussels today to discuss fishing quotas for the coming year, with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney warning the talks could be ‘difficult’. The European Commission has recommended a series of reductions in quotas for 2013, RTÉ News reports.
5. #Ó SÉ: The funeral of former Kerry footballer and manager Páidí Ó Sé will take place in the west Kerry village of Ventry later today. Ó Sé, 57, passed away from a suspected heart attack at his home on Saturday.
6. #HOMELESS: A radical new initiative by a group of charities in Cork aiming to tackle the local homeless crisis will see them lease 21 private rented flats directly from landlords, and then make them available to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Cork Simon, St Vincent de Paul, Focus Ireland and Threshold are all working together on the project.
7. #FORBES: Four Irish men have been included in Forbes magazine’s ’30 under 30′ to watch for 2013. Limerick entrepreneurs Patrick and John Collison, account director Jonathan Cloonan, and computer programmer James Whelton have all been included on the prestigious business list, alongside the likes of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg.
8. #GREECE: Greece is to finally receive a long-awaited €34.3 billion loan tranche from the EU and the IMF, a Greek official has said, hours after an initial payment was carried out. The total amount will be delivered to the country by tomorrow.
9. #CHRISTIANS: Christianity is the world’s largest religion, numbering a 2.2 billion, according to new research by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. Islam, meanwhile, is the second-largest religion, followed respectively by Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism.
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