Potential payment to house refugees
A €400 monthly payment is being considered for families who take in Ukrainian refugees.
The plan, currently being discussed by Government, is based on the fact most Ukrainian refugees will need to be housed for at least a year.
Ireland will not cap the number of refugees it accepts even as the Government admits it is facing a struggle to house arriving Ukrainians, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said yesterday.
It comes as more than half of the accommodation pledges made for refugees in Ireland have failed to come to fruition with around 25,000 Ukrainians having already arrived in the country.
Madeleine McCann suspect identified
Almost 15 years after the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, Portuguese police have formally identified German national Christian Brueckner as a murder suspect.
The 44-year-old was identified as a suspect by German prosecutors in June 2020, but he has not been charged since then.
Investigators believe the convicted sex offender killed Madeleine, then three years old, after abducting her from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz where she had been staying with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, and younger siblings, Amelie and Sean, in May 2007.
Here we chart the main events after the three-year-old vanished.
Second Covid booster rollout
The rollout of a second booster dose of a Covid-19 vaccine begins today in Ireland.
Over-65s are being advised to get a second booster dose, while the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (Niac) is also recommending over-12s with a weak immune system get a second booster.
People in these groups can book an appointment from today, as long as it has been four months since their first booster dose, or four months since they have tested positive for Covid-19.
Rosslare Europort jobs
Up to 2,000 jobs could be created under a new renewable energy project and masterplan for Rosslare Europort.
Plans are to be announced later today to make Rosslare Ireland's offshore energy hub with an overall investment of €350 million in the coming years.
The project would include enhancements such as new passenger and freight facilities, storage, export and import facilities, and a new N25 access road to take trucks out of the village.
Possible mass graves in Ukraine
New satellite images show apparent mass graves near Mariupol, where local officials accused Russia of burying up to 9,000 Ukrainian civilians to conceal the slaughter taking place in the ruined port city that is almost entirely under Russian control.
The images emerged just hours after Russian president Vladimir Putin claimed victory in the battle for Mariupol, despite the presence of an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian fighters who are still holed up at a giant steel mill.
Mr Putin ordered his troops to seal off the stronghold “so that not even a fly comes through”, instead of storming it.
