GOOD MORNING. Here’s all the news that you need to know as you start your day.
Ian Bailey documentary
1. In our main story this morning, reporter Niall O’Connor reports Netflix has confirmed that it will not delete Ian Bailey interviews from its new documentary on the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.
Bailey told The Journal that he has written twice to Netflix and has requested that the interviews be removed from their broadcast.
The three-part documentary is set to stream from this morning on the platform.
Indoor dining backlash
2. There has been widespread condemnation of the Government’s announcement that indoor dining and drinking will be postponed due to concerns over the Delta variant of Covid.
Yesterday, Micheál Martin said indoor hospitality is to be delayed until at least 19 July when the government will propose a plan for how the reopening will take place.
Retail Excellence has said that the government’s decision to postpone the reopening of indoor dining was a “hammer-blow” for the hospitality sector.
Brexit trade dispute
3. A deal to hold off a post-Brexit ban on sausages and other chilled meats moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland is expected to be announced at the eleventh-hour.
The UK and the European Union are set to announce an extension to a grace period allowing their movement across the Irish Sea today – hours before a ban would come into force.
Downing Street anticipated that a deal to avoid a ban on sausage shipments, which would come into place tomorrow without action, would be reached “on terms which are acceptable to the UK”.
Northern Ireland Protocol
4. Sticking with Brexit news, a new poll has suggested people in Northern Ireland are evenly split on the Protocol.
When asked whether the Protocol is appropriate for Northern Ireland, 47% of respondents said that it is but the same number disagreed.
Similarly, 43% think that the Protocol is, on balance, good for Northern Ireland, whereas 48% think it isn’t.
Oliver Bond
5. A campaign to be launched later today will highlight the “staggering” number of people living in poor conditions in a Dublin South Inner City complex.
Residents of Oliver Bond House are now calling on Dublin City Council to fast-track regeneration plans for the area and put in place immediate interim improvements which will make the estate more liveable.
They say they have been told that it will be “at least 15 years” before they can expect completion of the long-promised regeneration programme.
Schools
6. Students in Deis and non-Deis schools report similar levels of positive feelings and wellbeing, according to a new report.
There were no significant differences in reports of bullying either, however concerns were raised by principals at the higher level of unauthorised absences in DEIS schools.
The findings make up a new report by the Educational Research Centre (ERC) examining the home and school learning environments of 15-year-olds in DEIS and non-DEIS schools.
US heatwave
7. Internationally, the unprecedented Northwest US heatwave has moved inland, prompting an electrical utility in Spokane, Washington, to resume rolling blackouts amid heavy power demand.
Officials said more than a half-dozen deaths in Washington and Oregon may be tied to the intense heat that began late last week.
The dangerous weather that gave Seattle and Portland consecutive days of record high temperatures exceeding 37.7 degrees was expected to ease in those cities. But inland Spokane saw temperatures spike.
Australia lockdown
8. And finally, the outback town of Alice Springs has become the latest Australian population centre to lockdown, as anger mounts over the country’s slow coronavirus vaccine rollout.
The 72-hour restrictions came after it was revealed a man linked to a cluster at a nearby gold mine spent several hours at the local airport.
Northern Territory Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the man was probably not infectious but “we cannot take any chances”.