1. Major campaign to assure investors of State’s EU commitment
The Government is to begin a major campaign to assure global investors Ireland's place in the EU is secure if the UK decides to quit in next week's referendum. Meanwhile, Opposition leaders will be given a briefing today on the Government's contingency planning to cope with an exit decision in the June 23rd vote should it occur. Taoiseach Enda Kenny told the Fine Gael parliamentary party last night Ireland would not hold a vote on its future in the EU. Mr Kenny said regardless of the outcome of the referendum Ireland would remain a committed member of the EU.
- Mary McAleese warns about risk to status of Irish in Britain
- Labour pulls no punches in attack on Tory policies
- Leave campaign outlines steps to be taken if referendum passed
- Osborne faces Tory revolt over Brexit emergency budget
- Anti-EU feeling widespread in loyalist areas of Belfast
- When will the PSNI move on Loyalists leaders?
2. Colleges may have to fight for funds, says Bruton
Universities could be asked to compete against each other for funds to provide courses to meet skills shortages under changes being considered by Minister for Education Richard Bruton. He said a "competitive tendering model" and other incentives could be developed to encourage further responses to skills shortages. The Minister added that close co-operation with industry will be vital and the sector needed to invest much more in the education system. "We've had this real problem of how do you make sure the education system and enterprise system are engaged in a more purposeful way," he told The Irish Times.
- Leaving Cert history: Yeats features on fair paper
- Leaving Cert French: 'Motivation' letter baffles students
- Kerry Junior Cert student misses exam after being 'set upon'
- Leaving Cert Parents' diary: 'Finally my turn to ask: are we there yet?'
- Leaving Cert Exam diary: Roland Kamepko
3. A fifth of all plants could be facing extinction
California's oak trees are dropping dead in their hundreds of thousands in an epidemic described as "unstoppable". The emerald ash borer has wiped out ash trees across North America with losses amounting to billions of euro. Olive trees are being knocked out by a bacterium first found in Italy in 2013 but now spreading rapidly through plantations. Here in Ireland, ash dieback disease, also known as Chalara, has spread to nearly every county since it was first discovered in a tree plantation in Co Leitrim in 2012. And there are other insects, bacteria and fungi causing varying amounts of damage to food crops, ornamentals and trees around the world. What has happened to cause this destruction and what does it mean for our shared future, given that plants feed us, shelter us, clothe us and provide energy to warm us?
4. Hundreds of marriages may be invalid
The validity of hundreds of marriages could be in doubt amid concerns about the "training and accreditation" of some wedding solemnisers. The Department of Social Protection, which maintains the register of solemnisers, is so concerned it says it may require all marriages to be solemnised by a civil registrar in addition to solemnisation by another religious or secular body. It says it has no way of knowing how many marriages may be affected as a result of being performed by inadequately trained solemnisers because a civil registrar is not present at such weddings. There are almost 6,000 marriage solemnisers registered across the State – some based in Northern Ireland.
5. McClean likely to replace Walters against Belgium
The Italian players queued up, it seems, to tell a grateful English media the other night how Antonio Conte had engineered Italy's defeat of Belgium. But Martin O'Neill laughed off the idea yesterday that it was the new Chelsea manager's tactical tinkering that proved the different between the sides, insisting instead that footballers are the ones who decide matches. "The great, great Brian Clough said it. The game is still simple: when you haven't got the ball you have to work your guts out to get it back again, when you do have it, if you have talent around you, you have a chance.
- Much more on Robbie Brady's agenda than sight-seeing
- Irish fans in France brighten up everybody's day
- Ken Early: Gareth Bale a leader for Wales in words and deeds
Varadkar’s councillors move seen as leadership bid: Minister to consider allowing politicians to access range of social welfare benefits
Gerry Thornley: Joe Schmidt to ring changes for second Test
Bloomsday: Leopold Bloom's cat sets the record straight
