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LAST UPDATE | 16 Dec 2021
MAIDIN MHAITH.
It’s the usual stuff making the headlines this morning: housing, Covid, and the economy – there’s also a NPHET meeting later today. Here’s a quick run through it all.
1. The Housing Minister talks to you
“Radical measures” to develop vacant above-shop units are under consideration by government to help deal with the housing crisis, according to Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien.
In an interview with The Journal, O’Brien said he would tell readers ”genuinely not to despair”.
I know people have been despairing, people who’ve been in this space and caught for the last few years with high rents, who are living with their folks, saving every cent they have and still not going to be able to buy a home or rent a home at an affordable rate – that changes next year, it genuinely does.
The Housing Minister also said he is not expecting any “drastic” recommendations from NPHET after it meets today, but perhaps a tweaking of the restrictions already in place.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said yesterday that he was expecting new curbs on social gatherings and international travel, as well as changes to the close contact management system in the run-up to Christmas.
We’ll find out soon – and sooner than we think if anyone leaks the advice…
3. Boosters boost
A lot was announced about the booster programme being extended yesterday – it’s yesterday’s news that it extending into today, so we’ll just leave this piece here for you.
4. Bouncy castle tragedy
Four children were killed and several others were seriously injured when a gust of wind blew their bouncy castle into the air at an end-of-term party in Australia.
Police said the pupils at a primary school in Devonport, northern Tasmania were celebrating the last week of class before the Christmas break when they were thrown from a height of about 10 metres.
“I can now sadly confirm that four children have died and four are in a critical condition and one in a serious condition,” Tasmanian police commissioner Darren Hine said.
5. Sleaze-triggered English by-election
Boris Johnson will suffer another major blow to his authority if the Tories lose an ultra-safe seat in a by-election triggered by Owen Paterson’s resignation as a Tory MP.
Voters head to the polls in North Shropshire today, with the Liberal Democrats eying a real chance to overturn a near 23,000-vote majority.
Stranger things have happened. In fact, it’s all strange these days.
6. Modelling the Omicron variant
The Irish Independent is reporting that the Government has been warned there could be over 20,000 Covid cases per day in Ireland in early January as a result of the far more transmissible Omicron variant.
7. A 14% growth
Despite continued uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, the ESRI is expecting overall strong growth this year, with Irish GDP set to increase by 13.6%. The double-digit growth rate is largely due to multinational related activities, in particular strong export figures.
But if you measure the domestic economy by modified domestic demand (MDD), it’s expected to grow by 6.2% in the present year. Into 2022, the ESRI is predicting a continued strong performance of the economy, with both MDD and GDP set to increase by 7%.
8. Posthumous pardon
President Michael D Higgins is expected to sign a posthumous Presidential pardon today for a man who was executed in January 1895.
John Twiss was executed in 1895 after being found guilty of murdering John Donovan near the Cork-Kerry border in 1894.
9. Christmas post dates
An Post has reminded people what the key dates are to ensure any post arrives before Christmas.
Saturday 18 December is the last day for letters to Europe, other than Great Britain; Monday 20 December is the last day for sending cards and parcels to the UK; while Thursday 23 December is the final date for cards and packages in Ireland.
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