Opposition parties gearing up for November general election
Opposition parties are in the midst of “extensive” general election preparations with posters already ordered and full manifestos nearing completion.
Taoiseach Simon Harris has insisted that the general election will be next year, but sources both within the Coalition and within Opposition parties are now planning for a date in mid-November.
A senior Sinn Féin figure said the party would be “mad not to” prepare for an autumn election. Everyone else was doing the same thing, the person added.
News in Ireland
- Irishman serving on Ukrainian frontline missing, presumed dead: A 20-year-old Irishman serving as a volunteer in eastern Ukraine is missing in action and presumed dead following a suspected Russian drone attack.
- Mobile phones set to be banned across all second-level schools: The Minister for Education is planning to ban mobile phones from all second-level schools in response to research which links use of devices to student distraction and cyberbullying.
- Escaped farmed Salmon found in three of Ireland’s most important angling rivers: Farmed salmon that escaped from a fish farm in Killary Harbour have been found in three of Ireland’s most important angling rivers nearby.
- Marc Godart company got permission for housing development in Cork and then sold site: The controversial landlord Marc Godart is a shareholder in a company that was granted permission to build 13 houses and 40 apartments on a site in Blackpool, Cork City, which has since been sold.
- Weather forecast: Any Lingering overnight rain and drizzle will soon clear eastwards this morning and sunny spells and scattered showers will follow. Cloud and rain will return to the west and southwest this afternoon before spreading this evening and turning heavy in parts. Highest temperatures of 15 to 18 degrees. Tonight will see fairly widespread rain and with some heavy falls will lead to spot flooding in places. It’ll turn very windy for a time in parts of the south and east overnight, with strong to gale force and gusty southerly winds developing. Lowest temperatures of 9 to 12 degrees.
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The Big Read
![1985 - 18/10/1985 Nell McCafferty at the launching in Dublin yesterday of her book on The Kerry Babies case, "A Woman To Blame". Photograph: Pat Langan . . . neg no 85/10/194](https://www.irishtimes.com/resizer/v2/LQLU6AAP25E4FMOIJKD4OK3AHY.jpg?auth=9a0aa23095d9c2f8d36de11bb1a8917cb41015456bbf7d1921fd2bbae4b9e04e&width=800&height=627)
- Nell McCafferty obituary: Fearless journalist and campaigner with ‘lovely sense of divilment’: “Nell”, she called her autobiography, and that was how she was known. Small, fierce and feisty. That mop of curls, the waft of cigarette smoke, the tongue in cheek smile and her distinctive walk, like a sailor ashore. Everyone soon knew her smoky Derry voice, laconic, challenging, always ready to break into laughter. You never knew what Nell was going to say next. It was often outrageous. She was a character, and she loved to play herself to the hilt. She was also one of the most important Irish journalists of the latter half of the twentieth century. She listened. She paid attention. She told the truth.
Opinion
- Finn McRedmond: Gen Z are drinking far less than their parents. That’s not all good news
- Newton Emerson: Something weird is happening to the North’s economy, and for once Brexit is not responsible
Business
- Riots, online safety and rights prove awkward bedfellows: Online safety legislation has popped back into headlines everywhere after a spate of destructive riots staged by far-right protesters, particularly in the UK, writes Karlin Lillington
Sports
![](https://www.irishtimes.com/resizer/v2/4LPK6M6MBBRVSQKNXRQWFXW7JU.jpg?auth=d994d45734563b7417a4c8126139d3c2d2536cd35375822bbaeaa70bb043627d&width=400&height=266)
- There’s no begrudging the continuation of Shane Long’s boy-meets-hurl story: The various sports news aggregator sites know they’re on to a winner with me when they report on stories like Shane Long’s return to Junior C hurling in Tipperary last week.
World
- Sicily yacht sinking: Search to resume for remaining person missing: The search will resume for the remaining person missing after a luxury yacht sank in a storm off the coast of Sicily following the discovery of five bodies inside the wreck.
Life & Style
- Are we pampering our pets too much?: There’s always been a whiff of irony to the phrase “it’s a dog’s life”, but the Cambridge Dictionary may need to rethink its definition if actor Demi Moore’s Chihuahua, Pilaf, is any sort of standard-bearer for the current state of canine living.
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