Unions oppose suggestions two-metre rule could be dropped for schools
Teachers unions have reacted angrily to Government suggestions the two-metre rule could be dropped for schools.
A Department of Education report this afternoon warned that the rule would mean most primary school children could only return for one day per week while most secondary students would have a maximum of two per week.
Responding to the report, the Education Minister Joe McHugh said a part-time return was “not a runner” and said officials would work towards a full return to school for all in late-August.
On The Hard Shoulder this evening, he said the “stark reality” was that a part time return was “just not practical.”
Varadkar calls for boxing match boycott
The Taoiseach has called on media and sporting organisations to boycott the planned boxing matches between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
It comes after Fury thanked Daniel Kinahan for getting the fight ‘literally over the line.’
The 46-year-old Dubliner has been named in the High Court as a senior figure in the Kinahan organised crime gang, which is involved in international drugs and weapons trafficking.
Speaking this afternoon, Leo Varadkar urged sports and media companies to “have nothing to do with” the fight.
Man to be extradited over Essex truck deaths
The High Court has approved the extradition of an Irish haulier wanted in the UK to face 39 manslaughter charges arising from the Essex lorry deaths.
Ronan Hughes was arrested at his home in Leitrim Silverstream, Tyholland, Co Monaghan two months ago on foot of a European Arrest Warrant.
He is accused of being the "chief organiser and ringleader" of an illegal operation that led to the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants.
Their bodies were found in a refrigerated lorry container in England last October.
A €50m support package for beef farmers impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak has been announced.
The Agriculture Minister Michael Creed said the details of the scheme have yet to be decided and noted that the plan will need to get EU state aid approval.
He said he was “acutely aware” of the impact the outbreak has had on beef farmers and the wider rural economy.
“Farmers with finished animals have suffered a dual impact over recent months: reduced prices and a reduced kill,” he said.
Johnson urges people not to support Black Lives Matter protests
The UK Prime Minister has said it is “absurd and wrong” that authorities have had to protect statues of Winston Churchill “for fear of violent attack.”
A protective covering has been erected around a statue of the former British leader in Parliament Square in London ahead of planned Black Lives Matter protests this weekend.
Speaking this morning, Boris Johnson urged people not to support the protests, which he said have been “hijacked by extremists intent on violence.”
“We should not support a demonstration that is, in all probability, looking at what has happened before, going to end in deliberate and calculated violence,” he said.
