Ireland

Five things you need to know today

Westminster attack, Bill Clinton at McGuinness funeral, construction boom could overheat

The flag above the Houses of Parliament in London flies at half mast the day after a terrorist attack where police officer Keith Palmer and three members of the public died after the attacker was shot dead. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire
The flag above the Houses of Parliament in London flies at half mast the day after a terrorist attack where police officer Keith Palmer and three members of the public died after the attacker was shot dead. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire
Thu Mar 23 2017 - 07:02

[ Five killed and 40 injured in Westminster terror attack ]

A large area in Westminster remained cordoned off last night after five people died and at least 40 were injured near the Houses of Parliament in the worst single terrorist attack in Britain for more than a decade.

An assailant carrying two knives mowed down pedestrians as he drove a car across Westminster Bridge before stabbing an unarmed police officer to death inside the grounds of parliament. Police shot the attacker, described as “a thick-set man in black clothes”, killing him.

Scotland Yard’s top anti-terror officer Mark Rowley said they believed they knew the identity of the attacker but declined to give any details. He said the man was thought to be inspired by Islamist-related international terrorism.

[ Bill Clinton expected to attend funeral of Martin McGuinness ]

Former US president Bill Clinton is expected to be among the thousands of people attending the funeral in Derry on Thursday of former Sinn Féin deputy first minister Martin McGuinness.

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There was no confirmation, but some expectation, that DUP leader Arlene Foster would join mourners for the funeral, notwithstanding that a row between her and Mr McGuinness over the botched Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme triggered the recent Assembly elections.

Ms Foster, according to senior DUP sources, was anxious to travel to the funeral, but the party was holding off on confirming her attendance because of concern over whether there might be IRA paramilitary trappings at it.

[ Redress scheme may be extended to mother and baby homes ]

The existing redress scheme for victims of residential child abuse could be reopened to cover those abused as children in mother and baby homes, an unpublished report to the Government has recommended.

The proposal is contained in the second interim report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes, The Irish Times has learned. It has caused alarm in Government circles, due to the cost of the existing scheme.

It says the redress scheme established in 2002 could be used again to provide compensation for those who were abused as children in mother and baby homes.

[ At least 30 dead after air strike hits Syrian school ]

At least 30 Syrian civilians were killed in an air strike by the US-led coalition fighting Islamic State militants in a rural area of Raqqa province early on Tuesday, according to residents, activists and state television.

The US-led coalition said it had no indications an air strike had hit civilians, but in its daily report on coalition strikes, the US military acknowledged that strikes were carried out in the area. It said that on Tuesday, coalition warplanes carried out 19 air strikes – an unusually high number for a single day – on a range of Islamic State facilities near the city of Raqqa.

[ Construction boom could overheat economy, says ESRI ]

The renewed boom in construction will drive the Irish economy to full employment next year, two years earlier than previous envisaged, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has predicted.

However, it warned that the disproportionate role being played by the construction sector had the potential to overheat the economy, drive up wages and erode competitiveness in a way similar to that of previous boom times.