Mortgages
Mortgage holders are switching providers in an attempt to save money as interest rates rise amid the current cost-of-living squeeze.
Figures from the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) show a total of 5,255 mortgages were approved last month with first-time buyers accounting for 45 per cent of this number.
The total was down nearly 12 per cent on the previous month but was up 4.4 per cent on the same period last year.
In value terms, the mortgages approved in July were worth €1.4 billion, down nearly 13 per cent on the previous month.
Lessons from Troy controversy
Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien has suggested that one of the possible reforms of ethics rules for politicians could be declaring accommodation “arrangements” that TDs and Senators have with local authorities.
It comes after it was revealed Minister of State Robert Troy had not correctly declared several properties on the Dáil’s official list of members’ interests in recent years.
The Fianna Fáil TD for Longford-Westmeath resigned this week following mounting pressure and a call from the Green Party leader Eamon Ryan for two probes into what he called “significant errors” in his declarations that he claimed undermined trust in the political system.
Liverpool shooting arrest
A man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel who was shot dead in her home in Liverpool, England.
Local police said the 36-year-old murder suspect was also arrested over two attempted murders.
The is from the Huyton area of Liverpool and is in custody being questioned by detectives after being arrested following an operation involving armed officers in Merseyside on Thursday night.
Waterford drug seizure
Gardaí have seized drugs worth more than €78,000 following an operation in Waterford city.
Officers searched a property in Ferrybank on Thursday evening and found 1.1kg of cocaine, with an estimated value of €76,650. A further €1,740 worth of cannabis was also discovered during the search.
Two males, one aged in his 20s and the other in his teens, were arrested and are currently detained at Waterford Garda station.
