Following the unexpected resignation of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, the Fine Gael party, the coalition government and the wider Dáil commence the process of dealing with the implications for their future. Focus within the party largely centres on who will succeed the Taoiseach role.
Simon Harris, who holds the role of Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, has quickly been spotted as a likely favourite. Paschal Donohoe, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, and Heather Humphreys, Minister for Social Protection and Rural and Community Development, are considered potent potential candidates as well, if they decide to participate in the running. However, Helen McEntee, the Minister for Justice, faces a less favourable light following difficulties in her department.
Events are proceeding rapidly; following an executive meeting of Fine Gael on Wednesday evening, a strict schedule was laid out. Nominations for the Taoiseach role will be accepted from today through to Monday morning.
In other headlines, a group of mounted men created significant traffic issues during a demonstration on Wednesday evening in Coolock, Dublin. A family find incredible relief after arriving in Dublin and escaping the tensions of the Gaza Strip, and a Family Courts Bill constructs a potential ‘two-tier’ system for divorce or legal separation cases according to barristers. This development is due to proposals suggesting all divorce, judicial separation and co-habitation cases involving land or family homes worth less than €1 million should be settled at District Court level.
The Gardaí have officially made the shift from an investigation to a murder inquiry regarding the untimely death of a young man in Cobh, precipitated by an attack from a man wielding what is suspected to be a samurai sword. The decision follows the postmortem results, confirming the cause of death to be injuries from the attack.
In other news, it seems a lot of us can resonate with the unhappiness that follows upon realising the name on a holiday or flight booking doesn’t coincide with the one on our passport – a name error that comes with costly implications.
On a political note, the wave of political resignations across the UK and the Republic of Ireland have left the political scene in a stagnated state, as pointed out by Finn McRedmond. Newton Emerson argues, however, that the best thing for the DUP is to verify the efficacy of the Stormont brake and then progress promptly.
There’s no shortage of sports news either, as on Wednesday, Judge Dermot Sheehan faced a delicate task when sentencing Limerick hurling star Kyle Hayes for his participation in a violent nightclub incident four years ago.
Meanwhile, Radek Szagański is set to drive a busload of early risers to Kinsale from Cork, fresh from his triumph over Luke Littler, who will be descending on Dublin on Thursday. Despite the 4.45 am Bus Éireann service not running full, the darts at the 3Arena tonight are a sell-out event.
Upon discovering her son Alex’s diagnosis of leukaemia, Louisa McEleney transitioned into the multiple roles of nurse, carer, and counsellor, entering into a state of ‘fight mode.’ Now, seven years later, Alex continues his treatment while maintaining a normal life.
Nicola Coughlan, familiar from her roles in Derry Girls and Bridgerton, has a leading role in the new comedy, Big Mood. In a quite human moment, she accidentally spilled cola over her laptop. Whilst trying to clean during a Zoom call, she laughed it off, saying it’s no big deal. During the same video chat, Lydia West of It’s a Sin and Years and Years fame, is using her camera disabled to pump milk after just giving birth.
John McGahern’s work was jokingly referred by Patrick Freyne as the topic of his column for the week. Much to his editor’s dismay, he instead delved into ‘Irish Wish,’ a production featuring Lindsay Lohan, invoking a sense of defeat from his editor – implying that the English now lays claim not just to their fourth green field, but also Lindsay Lohan.