7 is the magic number. Catch up on all of today’s top news every night at 7pm on TheLiberal.ie
#1 School bus crash: A major incident was declared in Co. Tyrone this morning when a bus carrying school children collided with a car in the Omagh road. Although both vehicles ended up resting on their sides on a nearby field, it is understood that none of the people involved in the accident were seriously injured.
#2 Violence: Ireland’s murder rate has jumped by a third. A report reveals that 60 people have been murdered in the country in the 12-month period up to last June. This rate equals to more than one murder per week, up by more than 33 percent from the same period the previous year.
#3 Burton: A group of protesters blocked Joan Burton’s car from leaving a Dublin event this morning. Four people connected with the “Dublin says no” protest group briefly stood on the way of the Minister for Social Protection’s car at St Eithne’s school.
A woman accosted the minister and asked how austerity had affected her, while someone else accused Burton of “selling out”. The group then left the scene peacefully after the minister refused to engage with them.
#4 Arson attack: Serial arsonist sought after six cars were set ablaze in Belfast over the weekend. Police are looking for anyone with information on these incidents to come forward.
#5 Limerick: Improvements to Limerick’s prison “a matter of urgency”, according to review of the penal system done by the Government. The review specifies that the two female prisons, Dóchas Centre (Mountjoy) and Limerick, are now the most overcrowded prisons in the State. Prison overcrowding impacts the level of services which can be offered in prisons and of itself creates barriers to rehabilitation and reintegration.”
Proposed improvements to Limerick’s prison also specify that the practice of slopping out for the male population would be totally eliminated by 2015.
#6 Ebola: Entire areas of Sierra Leone put under quarantine as viral epidemic rages on. Some areas of the country where there are suspicion of Ebola infection have been put in quarantine by health authorities aided by police and military personnel armed with automatic weapons.
Panic, fear, and distrust are said to have spread across these areas, as more and more victims are reported.
The official (estimated) death figure for the current outbreak is over 2,400 so far.
The disease has also taken its toll on medical staff working with the infected in thoroughly unsuitable conditions. Over 30 health workers perished to the disease in one Sierra Leone hospital alone, and it is reportedly becoming increasingly difficult to recruit staff to replace the dead.
#7 Weather: It has been the warmest month of September in over a decade, and the balmy conditions are set to continue for at least another week. The meteorological office has forecast mild temperatures and sunny skies up to, and including the weekend.