1. Chief executive resigns as Goal reels from Syria inquiry
Barry Andrews has resigned as chief executive of Goal as the aid agency reels from a US investigation into its multimillion-euro Syria operation, The Irish Times has learned.
Mr Andrews, a former Fianna Fáil minister who took the helm at the organisation in 2013, informed the Goal board in August of his intention to step down as soon as his successor could be identified. That appointment will be made in the coming days.
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2. Garda Commissioner holds ground amid fresh accusations
“You promoted your husband, your bridesmaid; you’ve surrounded yourself with your supporters rather than concentrate on promoting quality.
“When you replaced commissioner Callinan, there hasn’t really been a serious change to the hierarchy and really things are much like they were, commissioner. What do you think of that?”
As it turned out, Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan didn't care very much at all for what Mick Wallace TD had put to her.
In reply to him during a lively exchange before the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, she said she had never even had bridesmaids when she got married.
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3. Only free eye clinic for children closes waiting list
The waiting list at the country’s only clinic offering free sight tests to younger children has closed due to “unprecedented demand”.
The National Optometry Centre in Dublin, which offers free tests to children aged up to seven, says it has been forced to close its paediatric clinic list due to a lack of resources.
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4. Syrian bomb plotter dies by suicide in German police custody
A Syrian migrant suspected of planning a bomb attack on a Berlin airport has died by suicide in a detention centre in Leipzig, the justice ministry for the state of Saxony said on Wednesday.
Investigators believe Jaber Albakr (22), who arrived in Germany last year, was close to staging an attack comparable to those that killed 130 people in Paris last November and 32 in Belgium in March.
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5. Budget 2017: Who will benefit from childcare package?
The childcare package in Budget 2017 was never going to please everybody because there are so many permutations on how families structure their lives, depending on circumstances and personal preferences.
With the new Single Affordable Childcare Scheme, which will operate alongside the existing Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programme, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Katharine Zappone has taken a step towards reducing the cost of centre-based childcare for all parents, with bigger subsidies targeted at those earning less.
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And finally. . . Miriam Lord: Kenny assures Brexit VIP of his insignificance
The EU’s chief negotiator on Brexit got a warm welcome on his visit to meet the Taoiseach.
He must have been delighted to hear the car horns blaring as he was driven through the gates of Leinster House. And most gratified by the sight of uniformed gardaí keeping back the hordes of happy drivers who had stopped their vehicles to shout indistinct good wishes.
They even threw in some Freddie Mercury.