What the papers say: Saturday's front pages

A global tech outage, further unrest in Coolock, and previews of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final are some of the stories covered on the front pages this Saturday.

The Irish Times leads with Friday's tech shutdown following an issue with a widely used security software.

The Irish Examiner reports the recovery from the chaos caused by the issue 'could take weeks', while The Echo instead focusses on Sunday's All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final between Cork and Clare.

The Irish Independent carries the headline: 'Protesters plan fake 999 calls to distract the gardaí', in connection with ongoing investigations into unrest in Coolock.

For all the big news, pick up Saturday's Irish Daily Mail pic.twitter.com/VnIHpPWaoE

— The Irish Daily Mail (@irishdailymail) July 19, 2024
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In Britain, one story dominates Saturday’s newspapers as the global IT outage appears across the front pages.

The Independent says the issue with Windows systems caused “worldwide havoc” at airports, banks, train networks, TV stations, shops and GP surgeries, while the Daily Mirror labels it the “day the world stood still”.

Saturday's front page: Day the world stood still#TomorrowsPapersToday https://t.co/pfLdV3r0Pk pic.twitter.com/y36rI8za09

— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) July 19, 2024

Both the iweekend and FT Weekend concentrate on the problems caused to travel, payments and health.

Saturday's front page: Computer says no: global IT crash hits GPs, hospitals, banks, planes and trains #TomorrowsPapersToday

Read the latest here: https://t.co/QEDWNlJbFm pic.twitter.com/JKTpUZyYBR

— The i paper (@theipaper) July 19, 2024

Just published: front page of the Financial Times, UK edition, Saturday 20 July https://t.co/roeU0ryhuf pic.twitter.com/jtJCXJ0Py4

— Financial Times (@FT) July 19, 2024

The impact on travellers is the focus of The Daily Telegraph and The Times, which said the IT failure “could be terminal for getaways”.

The front page of tomorrow's Daily Telegraph:

'Holidays in chaos after global IT meltdown'#TomorrowsPapersToday

Sign up for the Front Page newsletterhttps://t.co/x8AV4Oomry pic.twitter.com/jPTrq5Nh7W

— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) July 19, 2024

The Times: IT company’s error could be terminal for getaways #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/lHsFNZehjm

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— George Mann (@sgfmann) July 19, 2024

The Guardian calls the problem the “largest outage in history” and warns that it could take weeks for a full recovery.

The Guardian: ‘I had God on my side’ #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/dDQPWddZh3

— George Mann (@sgfmann) July 19, 2024

Both the Daily Mail and Daily Express label the outage a “digital pandemic” with the Mail saying it exposes the dangers of a cashless society, while the Express asks how it was able to “paralyse the world”.

Daily Mail: Global I.T. meltdown shows peril of going
cashless #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/NmteHBQ7bz

— George Mann (@sgfmann) July 19, 2024

Saturday’s front page: How on earth did ‘digital pandemic’ paralyse the world? https://t.co/HORIK8XlKV #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/BiZtRwlO1X

— Daily Express (@Daily_Express) July 19, 2024

The Daily Star recycles a headline from Little Britain, saying simply: “Computer says no.”