Legal age for sale of tobacco to be raised to 21
The minimum legal age for the sale of tobacco will be increased from 18 to 21 under plans due to be approved by Cabinet this week.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly will bring a memo to Cabinet to increase the legal age, amid concerns about a recent plateau in the decline of smoking rates in Ireland.
News
- Gardaí investigate alleged attack on homeless asylum seekers at Dublin’s Grand Canal: Gardaí are investigating an alleged attack on tents where homeless asylum seekers are sheltering by the Grand Canal in Dublin.
- ‘The sacrifice is worth it’: Students continue pro-Palestine encampment on grounds of UCD: About 60 students were continuing an encampment at University College Dublin’s (UCD) Belfield campus on Sunday.
- Slow rollout of renewable energy projects needs to be fixed, climate change body warns: Delays and appeals in the planning process are hindering progress in scaling up electricity generation using renewable energy and must be urgently addressed, the Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) has warned.
- Scotland to Dublin, via Belfast: This is not a visible migrant route. There are no identity checks: Buchanan Street bus station, in the centre of Glasgow, is the size of two football pitches. It is busy. Coaches pull in and out constantly and there is a mill of people in the main hall.
- Northern Lights visible across east coast of Ireland over the weekend: The Northern Lights have made a rare appearance across Irish skies on Friday night as an intense solar storm and clear skies have resulted in people across the island, but mostly those along the east coast, being able to view the aurora borealis.
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World
- US threatens to block more arms sales if Israeli assault on Rafah goes ahead: The US may block more weapons systems to Israel if it goes ahead with a ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has said.
Consumer
- Ireland’s ‘sick’ car insurance system: A scrape involving two drivers who know each other turns ‘nasty’: If you are in any doubt that the car insurance sector in Ireland is utterly dysfunctional to the point that it sometimes seems to be actively working against the interest of its paying customers, the experience of a reader who we will call Claire should set you straight.
Opinion
- Joe Humphreys: Are we over-using terms like ‘far-right’, ‘racist’ and ‘fascist’?
- Ian O’Donnell: You steal a can of beer or damage an abandoned bike. Should you be jailed?
Business
- Retail and hospitality businesses in line for cash injection worth thousands: Retail and hospitality businesses could be set for a “cash injection” worth thousands of euro as part of a new enterprise support package being considered by the Government.
Sport
- ‘It felt like the Armagh fans thought that was their moment’, says Jim McGuinness: Armagh don’t need schooling on how to talk about days like these. For Galway 2022 and Derry and Monaghan 2023, read Donegal 2024. They were good enough to win this Ulster final and close out a chapter that has been dragging on since 2008. And still they didn’t get it done.
- Ken Early: This is the worst Manchester United team in more than 30 years: ‘United will need four points from their last two matches against Newcastle and Brighton just to equal their worst-ever points total in the Premier League era. They will need to score four more goals than they concede just to match their worst-ever goal-difference performance,’ writes Ken Early.
Life & Style
- How to be self-disciplined: ‘Choose what you want most over what you want now’: Discipline – it doesn’t sound like much fun, does it? It can conjure ideas around rules and restrictions. But discipline can be a good thing, says personal development expert Moira Geary. Discipline can set us free.
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