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EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you the nine stories you need to know as you kick off your day.
1. #BELFAST Last night saw the fifth consecutive night of rioting in Belfast over a controversial decision to restrict the flying of the Union flag at the City Hall. Police say that around 400 people gathered for a largely peaceful demonstration but a crowd of about 250 returned to east Belfast and threw missiles. A water cannon was deployed and four people were arrested for riot and public order offences.
2. #GARDAÍ The Garda payroll will be cut by €35million by the Department of Justice. RTÉ reports that the force is to be reduced by over 1,400 members as a result of the cut. The news has been criticised by the Garda Representative Association, says RTÉ.
3. #ABORTION Three days of Oireachtas committee hearings on proposed abortion legislation and regulation in Ireland will begin today. Our explainer talks you through why the hearings are taking place, as well as who you can expect to hear speak at them.
4. #ANIMAL WELFARE Two animal welfare charities are to benefit from a windfall after a mix-up. The Examiner reports that the late Elizabeth Burke of Dublin 4 left a donation in her will to the Limerick branch of the Royal Society of Cruelty to Animals – but as that does not exist, it was decided that the €500k should be split between Limerick Animal Welfare and Limerick Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
5. #OMAGH A man is to appear before a court in Omagh this morning in connection with the murder of Aloysius Hackett, who was found dead on Friday night, the Irish News reports. The 18-year-old is charged with Hackett’s murder. Hackett, a former GAA club chairman, is to be buried tomorrow.
6. #INDIA A popular Indian spiritual guru has sparked a backlash after saying that a student could have averted a gang-rape by begging for mercy from her attackers. Asharam said that the “error was not committed by just one side”, leading one Hindu newspaper to say it is “a disgrace when a man of religion stoops so low”.
7. #TRIBUNALS The cost of the legal fees for witnesses to the Mahon and Moriarty tribunals will reach €400 million in total, documents obtained by the Irish Times show. That cost will be borne by the taxpayer and may exceed original estimates made before the tribunals took place.
8. #INVESTIGATION The Daily Mail reports this morning that gardaí are investigating whether a young teenage girl suffered a miscarriage after being given an ‘abortion potion’ by ‘a witch doctor’ last year. It is believed the foetus is to undergo a post-mortem examination.
9. #BOWIE After a 10-year gap, and on his birthday no less, David Bowie has surprised us all by releasing a brand new song, Where Are We Now, from his forthcoming album The Next Day. Let us know what do you think of it.
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#8 Seriously, have the Gardai nothing better to do with their time? A teenager obviously found herself dealing with an unplanned pregnancy and without the means or services here to deal with it so used another method to deal with it. I think the young girl has been through enough without all of this. Will this country ever wake up and start taking care of its women and young girls?
So you feel that the fact that some idiot prescribed a miscarriage inducing potion to a 14 year old isn’t worthy of investigation?
Miscarriage is the word used here, the girl clearly wanted an abortion and didn’t have the means to get one. You can go online and google how to do it. She was given something to induce a miscarriage rather than continue through an unwanted pregnancy. It’s not her fault that this country doesn’t provide adequate alternatives for girls in her situation. Using words like “abortion potion” and “witch doctor” is just sensationalist nonsense. She should have been able to end her pregnancy in a tried and tested manner, she wasn’t and resorted to other measures. She has been through enough.
Look it… Read between the lines ffs! It’s the person that supplied whatever “potion” that’s in bother here, not the wee girl… Sensationalism can be caused both by the reader and the journalist
What does the Dept of Justice think it’s going to acheive by cutting 1400 garda.. Service will just get worse. What’s next – charging €500 for a garda callout??
Garda payroll too high but what about payroll for Minister for Justice and his advisors and how much is spent on Garda protection for him and others? Cutting amounts paid at the very top would allow more rank and file Gardai on our streets. The arrogance of Alan Shatter is beyond belief.
So “inspector clueless” is heading another massive cut in the Garda budget.
35 million, station closures, 1000 members asked to take career breaks, equip budget slashed but never mind folks, bondholders and corrupt banks are going to be paid.
Ex polititions will get their massive pensions and present ones will get their bloated wages.
this kind of poop will carry on until the people demand an end to it!! the government will never do the right thing until we force them too!! we’re more at fault here for staying silent on the issue
Just a joke. Big fan of the Journal.
Thanks Eoin!
Garda budget down, when the criminals get out of bed after a hard night robbing the country and see that headline, it will be cans of Dutch gold all round, I thought it couldn’t be worse than Fianna Fáil I was wrong
It’s only half 8
Hi Eoin, the idea with the 9 at 9 is to have news to keep readers informed for 9am – we like to get the piece up slightly earlier than that so people can catch up during their commute, or at home at breakfast time, and don’t have to miss out on any news.
Aoife
Thanks Journal. This is where I get my news every morning.
Anyone know where I can get a good viewing spot of the impending unionist riot in Dublin on the 12th? If they want the North to be ‘their country’, they should confine their silly flag protests to it. I doubt we’ll see such unionist protests in Paris, Berlin, or Rome. So why Dublin? It’s not our government that decided their city hall flag should conform to the rest of the UK, it was theirs!
Ok. Rant over.
Typo in article #9– “Let us Know what you think”—NOT now or No. Sorry to bring it up—it just drives me crazy!
Hi Billy – I realise it should be know, that was a typo that has now been corrected.
Thanks
Aoife
Many thanks, Aoife!! My OCD can rest easy now! x
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