Foster father who raped girl over 1,000 times jailed for 11 years
A foster father who raped his foster daughter over 1,000 times has been sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Kelly Kemmy (24), who decided to waive her right anonymity in order to name Stephen Murray (56), her foster father and abuser, said she was raped 1,000 times from the age of 11 until she was 18.
She told the Central Criminal Court she stands before Murray now a survivor and is determined not to let the abuse define her.
Murray, of Humphreystown, Valleymount, Co Wicklow, pleaded guilty to 14 charges of rape, two charges of oral rape and one charge of sexual assault on dates between February 2009 and December 2015. He has no previous convictions.
DUP blocks election of Assembly speaker
The DUP has blocked the election of a Speaker at the Northern Ireland Assembly in protest over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The party’s leader, Jeffrey Donaldson, said he is sending a “clear message” to the EU and the UK government about resolving issues with the post-Brexit trading arrangement.
But Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill accused the DUP of “denying democracy”.
The failure to elect a Speaker leaves the Assembly unable to function.
New maternity hospital will carry out all legal procedures
Taoiseach Micheal Martin has suggested that the phrase “legally permissible” is “very clear” that any procedure that is legal in Ireland has to be provided at the new National Maternity Hospital (NMH).
Clinicians on Friday offered a vocal defence of the planned move of the hospital to a new site, in a bid to assuage concerns that no religious interference would be possible in the future.
Controversy about the ownership and governance structure of the hospital has continued for almost two weeks now, since Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly’s memo to Cabinet was stalled to allow for further scrutiny of the arrangement.
Just two of Ireland’s swimming spots of ‘poor’ water quality
Just two swimming spots in Ireland have been classified as having “poor” water quality in the latest annual report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The Bathing Water in Ireland report found the water quality of the country’s beaches and lakes continued to improve in 2021, with 97 per cent (144 of 148) of bathing sites meeting or exceeding the minimum standard.
Water quality at 115 of these sites (78 per cent) was deemed “excellent”, up from 111 in 2020.
Musk Twitter deal ‘temporarily on hold’
Elon Musk has said his deal to buy Twitter is “temporarily on hold” over details around the number of spam and fake accounts present on the site.
The billionaire Tesla owner agreed a €41 billion deal to take over the social media giant last month, pledging to improve free speech on the site and remove fake accounts.
But in a tweet on Friday, Mr Musk said the deal is now on hold “pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5 per cent of users”.
