Roscommon crash
A man in his 20s and a woman in her 30s have died following a single-vehicle crash in Co Roscommon overnight.
A third person, a man in his 20s, was taken to hospital with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.
Gardaí and emergency services attended the scene of the fatal collision, involving a car on the R293 between Ballaghadereen and Gorteen at Edmonstown road, at approximately 3.30am on Friday morning.
Ukraine refugees
Ukrainian refugees arriving in Ireland will have been traumatised, the secretary general of the Irish Red Cross has warned as people pledge offers of accommodation.
Liam O’Dwyer urged the public who have pledged to host refugees to be patient as offers of accommodation are processed.
On Friday morning the number of pledges was at 13,400, but that could be much higher, he told RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne show. There were more pledges in the system that had not yet been accessed.
Rising petrol prices
The Government aims to “go further” to reduce the cost of fuel by cutting VAT, according to a Minister of State, while an industry representative has denied allegations of “profiteering” amid a cut in excise duty.
Excise duty was cut by 20 cent per litre of petrol yesterday, and 15 cent per litre of diesel, but many drivers have continued to see prices above €2 a litre at the pump.
Junior Minister Niall Collins said further measures to reduce the cost of petrol and diesel are under consideration, including a potential cut to the current VAT rate of 23 per cent on both fuels.
Electric Picnic tickets
Tickets for the 2022 edition of Electric Picnic sold out in 30 minutes this morning.
Ireland’s biggest music festival will return to Stradbally, Co Laois from September 2nd to 4th for the first time in two years, after a break due to the pandemic.
Tickets went on sale at 9am on Friday morning, with weekend camping tickets, Sunday day tickets and campervan/car passes all sold out by 9.30am.
Organisers yesterday revealed the festival’s line-up, with headliners Dermot Kennedy, Tame Impala, Arctic Monkeys, Megan Thee Stallion, Picture This and Snow Patrol.7
Ukraine latest
More than 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine, UN agencies said on Friday, and a further 2 million have been driven from their homes within the country since the start of the Russian invasion.
The United Nations has been planning its humanitarian needs on the assumption that some 4 million Ukrainian refugees would seek safety abroad. However, with around 200,000 people having fled to neighbouring countries over the past 24 hours, a UN refugee official said they may have to revise that figure higher.
Irish student arrives home
There was joy at Dublin Airport on Thursday night as Irish student Racheal Diyaolu arrived home after fleeing the war in Ukraine.
The 19-year-old had been studying medicine in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sumy when war broke out, and has been attempting to get home to Carlow since.
After she was reunited with her family at the airport late last night after flying from Frankfurt, her sister Christiana tweeted: “After 15 sleepless nights and buckets of tears,
