Teenage boy dies while swimming at Dublin beach
A teenage boy has died after getting into difficulty while swimming at a beach in Dublin.
The incident occurred at approximately 7.30pm on Monday, with gardaí and emergency services attending the scene at Burrow Beach, Co Dublin.
Gardaí said the boy was removed from the water and taken to Beaumont Hospital.
He was then transferred to CHI at Temple Street where he later died from his injuries.
Government positive of winning confidence motion ahead of vote
The Government will face a confidence vote later as Sinn Féin presses to secure an early general election.
The Coalition is confident it has the numbers to win this evening’s vote in the Dáil despite losing its voting majority last week.
In response to the Sinn Féin motion, the Government is set to table a motion of confidence in itself in the Dáil later.
That move would supersede the Sinn Féin motion, with the debate and vote held on the Government’s confidence motion instead.
Fine Gael TD Joe McHugh’s decision to relinquish his party whip last week left the Government with 79 seats in the Dáil – one short of a majority.
However, the Coalition is confident that Mr McHugh and several other TDs outside of the Government will still back the coalition in the vote.
Passengers in Dublin airport 10 times higher than June 2021 - CSO
The volume of traffic on Irish roads is still below pre-pandemic levels, according to recent figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
However, the number of passengers in Dublin airport in June 2022 was almost 10 times higher than in June 2021, but only 88 per cent of the level seen in the same month in 2019.
There were 2,822,682 passengers in June 2022 compared with 3,202,409 for the same month in 2019.
Car traffic volumes in Dublin were 6 per cent lower at the end of June, compared with the same week in 2019.
For regional traffic, traffic volume was 5 per cent lower than the same week in 2019.
At the end of May 2022 public transport passenger journeys climbed to their highest levels since March 2020, however, the numbers on public transport have not yet returned to pre-covid-19 levels.
Machine gun, ammunition and silencer seized in Ballyfermot raid
Gardaí have seized a firearm and ammunition in the Ballyfermot area in Dublin on Monday morning.
The search was conducted following an intelligence led operation and resulted in the discovery of an Uzi machine gun, two magazines and a silencer.
The search was carried out by the Detective Unit attached to Ballyfermot Garda station.
All of the seized items will be sent to the Garda Technical Bureau for further examination.
Government opt to retain TV licence fees despite report recommendation
The TV licence fee is here to stay, despite recommendations from the Future of Media Commission that the system should be phased out by 2024.
The commission's report, published on Tuesday morning, makes 50 recommendations, including that funding for Public Service Media (PSM) should shift from the current system of TV licence fees and Exchequer funds to one "based entirely on general Exchequer funds".
The Government has welcomed the report's publication, committing to adopt 49 of the recommendations "in principle", while proposing "an alternative approach to the commission’s recommendation on a new funding model".
