By Sarah Gill
13th Nov 2023
13th Nov 2023
Your speedy summary of today's must-read stories.
Storm Debi
Public transport is severely impacted this morning as Storm Debi sweeps across Ireland. Around 110,000 homes, businesses and farms are currently without electricity. Power will likely not be restored in some areas until tonight or possibly tomorrow. Met Éireann has confirmed that all the weather warnings in place are now Status Yellow. Keith Leonard, the national director for fire and emergency management, has advised people to stay away from coastal areas as conditions will be “extremely hazardous”.
Rent prices
According to the latest daft.ie Rental Report, rents being sought for properties on the open market nationally are continuing to increase, but there has been a continued slowdown in the rate of increase in Dublin. Rents on the open market are now 8% higher that they were a year ago, with the average market rent nationally in the third quarter standing at just under €1,825 per month. That is almost two-and-a-half times the average rent of €765 per month at the low point of the market in late 2011.
Sex offender law
Gardaí will now be able to disclose information about sex offenders to others if there is a threat to public safety, as part of a range of laws which came into effect today. The Department of Justice said that “in extenuating circumstances”, the laws allow for An Garda Síochána to disclose information relating to people on the sex offender register. It also places the current Sex Offender Risk Assessment and Management (SORAM) monitoring process for sex offenders on a statutory footing.
Teenager arrested in connection with hit-and-run released without charge
A man in his late teens who was arrested in connection with a hit-and-run incident which claimed the life of 21-year-old Joe Drennan, a journalism student University of Limerick, last month has been released without charge. A native of Mountrath in Co Laois, Joe was struck by a car as he waited at a bus stop on the Dublin Road in Castletroy, Limerick at approximately 9.50pm on the night of Friday, October 13. The driver who hit him also crashed into another car, injuring its male driver and and his female. The driver also failed to remain at the scene.
Gaza’s largest hospital ‘no longer functioning’
Two major hospitals in northern Gaza have closed to new patients amid Israeli airstrikes and heavy fighting around both facilities, as medical staff were left without oxygen, medical supplies or fuel to power incubators. The World Health Organisation said the al-Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest, “is not functioning as a hospital any more”, while those trapped inside it rejected Israel’s claims that it was helping babies and others evacuate on Sunday. WHO chief Tedros Ghebreyesus said: “The world cannot stand silent while hospitals, which should be safe havens, are transformed into scenes of death, devastation, and despair.”
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