R116 crash investigation
An investigation into the Irish Coast Guard helicopter R116 crash that claimed four lives has identified “systemic safety issues”.
Rescue 116 crashed off Co Mayo at 12.46am on March 14th, 2017 with four crew on board after it struck Blackrock Island, 19km off the coast.
Captain Dara Fitzpatrick, the commander of the flight, was pulled from the sea in the hours after the crash and never regained consciousness, while the body of Captain Mark Duffy, the co-pilot, was taken from the cockpit 12 days later by Navy divers.
‘Fragile’ Covid situation
The Covid situation in Ireland is "fragile but stable", Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said, while he warned that daily infection numbers could top 4,000 today or Saturday.
Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Varadkar said high case numbers were a cause of concern and that he could not rule out the reintroduction of restrictions.
Meanwhile, the chief executive of the HSE, Paul Reid, said the health service is not calling for fresh Covid restrictions, but noted that rising infections are leading to the cancellation of elective care.
Property tax deadline
Revenue has confirmed the deadline for property owners filing Local Property Tax (LPT) returns has been extended due to a surge of engagement which is expected to continue over the coming days.
The deadline has been pushed back to Wednesday, November 10th at 5pm after 250,000 properties were filed in the last three days and over 80,000 calls were made to Revenue's LPT helpline.
The original cut-off point was due to fall on November 7th.
Dublin fugitive
A senior associate of the Kinahan organised crime gang wanted for his involvement in the supply of class A drugs worth millions of pounds has been extradited to the UK from the Canary Islands.
Gary Vickery (38), originally from Dublin, was escorted on a flight from Lanzarote by officers from the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) on Thursday, having been arrested by Spanish police on October 20th.
CAO website
Students are able to view courses ranging from apprenticeships to university degrees for the first time under a revamped CAO website, which went live at midday today.
Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris said the move aims to ensure the full range of third-level options will be visible to school-leavers on a single platform.
“This will change the conversation at kitchen tables across the country – one that reflects education is for everyone and there is no right or wrong choice, just different ones,” he said.
