Infant in critical condition
An investigation has been launched by gardaí in Co Louth into an incident which left an infant in a critical condition.
In a statement, gardaí said they were investigating “all the circumstances” which led to an infant being admitted to Children’s Health Ireland at Temple Street, Dublin.
The infant was admitted to hospital on Tuesday, and is “currently in a critical condition”, gardaí said.
No further information is available, they added.
Ryanair forced to cancel 420 flights
Ryanair has cancelled 420 flights on Friday, impacting 80,000 passengers, due to an air traffic control strike in France that will limit overflights.
France's DGAC aviation authority earlier this week asked airlines to halve their flight schedules on Friday due to the planned strike.
Ryanair, Europe's largest airline by passengers carried, said it will mainly be impacted by the limitation on overflying France, with a number of the affected flights departing from Dublin.
"It is time that the EU step in and protect overflights so that European passengers are not repeatedly held to ransom by a tiny French ATC union," Ryanair operations director Neal McMahon said in a statement.
Other air traffic control centres should be allowed to manage overflights of France during strikes, the statement said.
Meanwhile, Aer Lingus has cancelled four flights between Dublin and Paris on Friday due to the industrial action.
French embassy warns of 'severe housing crisis' in Ireland
The French embassy in Dublin has advised newcomers to Ireland to be extra vigilant for scams when looking for somewhere to live.
The embassy said Ireland is currently experiencing a “severe housing crisis” and that new arrivals face “significant difficulties in finding accommodation”.
In advice posted on its website, the embassy said the “strong demand” and “saturation” of the rental market have led to a sharp increase in rents, “which are currently much more expensive than in Paris, including shared accommodation”.
“It is therefore advisable for people planning to settle in Ireland to allow sufficient time for this search for accommodation (which can take several weeks),” it said.
The French foreign ministry also called for great vigilance “in the face of the risk of scams on the various ad sites”.
Irish airports see 8.5 million extra passengers
Approximately 9.1 million passengers passed through the State's five main airports in the second quarter of the year, 15 times more than was noted during the same period of 2021.
Figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show an additional 8.5 million passengers used Dublin, Shannon, Cork, Knock and Kerry airports in April-June compared to the same three months last year.
Despite the sizeable increase, this year's Q2 passenger figures remained 13 per cent below the same quarter of 2019.
In the first half of the year (January-June), 13.8 million passengers passed through the five airports, up 12.8 million on the same period of 2021.
The number of flights to and from the main airports increased by more than 54,500 in the second quarter of the year compared to Q2 of 2021, but remained 11 per cent below the same period of 2019.
ESB Group announces €357m profit
ESB Group has reported an operating profit of €357m for the first six months of the year.
This is a decline of €6 million on the same period in 2021.
However, ESB said this was due to regulated network tariff changes and losses incurred in ESB’s customer solutions business and foreign exchange movements, the Irish Examiner reports.
The loss was offset by higher energy margins in ESB’s Generation business.
Profit after taxed, and exceptional items hit €390 million, three times higher than the figure of €128 million for the same period last year.
ESB Group said: "ESB’s generation and supply businesses are required to operate separately, so increased profits from ESB’s generation business cannot be used to offset costs incurred by Electric Ireland."
In the past decade, ESB stated it had invested more than €10 billion in energy infrastructure and paid over €1.2 billion in dividends.
