1. Clinton holds narrow lead in polls as US prepares to vote
Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump criss-crossed the United States yesterday in a frantic effort to shore up their support as a long, nasty and divisive presidential election campaign drew to a close.
US voters go to the polls today with opinion polls showing Mrs Clinton narrowly ahead nationally and in the key swing states where the election will be decided. In a two-minute television advertisement broadcast on two national networks yesterday evening, Mrs Clinton made a closing pitch for the presidency, contrasting her “hopeful and inclusive” campaign with the “dark and divisive” message of her opponent.
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2. Noonan insists no Garda-style pay rises across public service
As the Cabinet prepares to consider the fallout from the €40 million proposals to settle the Garda pay dispute, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has ruled out similar awards across the public service.
The Cabinet is expected to accept the recommendation drawn up by the Labour Court last week to avert a threatened strike by gardaí. However, there have been divisions among Ministers on how the deal should be funded.
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3. Rents dwarf Celtic Tiger era with ‘disastrous effect’ on society
The Republic’s rental crisis is having a “disastrous effect” on social cohesion and shows no sign of ebbing with rents in Dublin now almost 10 per cent higher than their previous peak in early 2008, according to Daft.ie.
The property website’s latest quarterly rental report shows rents rose nationwide by an average of 11.7 per cent in the year to September. This is the largest annual increase in rents ever recorded in the Daft.ie report, which began in 2002.
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4. Failure to end teachers’ dispute could ‘derail’ State exams
A further 100 secondary schools are set to close today as the dispute between the Government and a teachers’ union over pay for new entrants continues.
While just over 400 secondary schools closed indefinitely yesterday as a consequence of the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland’s (ASTI) withdrawal of supervision duties, a further 100 schools are set to close today. More than 250,000 students will be affected.
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5. UK and Ireland pledge security co-operation post-Brexit
The Minister for Justice and the Northern Ireland secretary yesterday committed the British and Irish governments to enhancing security co-operation in the wake of Brexit.
Frances Fitzgerald yesterday hosted James Brokenshire for talks in Dublin where the ministers discussed co-operation between the gardaí and the PSNI.