EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know before 9am…
1. #KEVIN CARDIFF: The fallout over the Kevin Cardiff appointment to the European Court of Auditors is set to continue today, as calls grow for MEPs to meet and vote again on his appointment. The calls follow the disclosure that the current Irish member, Eoin O’Shea, emailed two influential MEPs to raise concerns about Cardiff’s nomination – evidently because he was annoyed at not being allowed to keep the €244,000-a-year job.
2. #RTE: The national broadcaster has denied claims by the family of a deceased Christian Brother that it made incorrect and prejudiced allegations against him. The family of Br GG Dillon said RTÉ had not tried to verify abuse claims with them or with the Christian Brothers in South Africa, where the abuse is said to have occurred. RTÉ says it engaged with the Christian Brothers “at the most senior level” over the claim.
3. #EGYPT: Authorities in Egypt are preparing for renewed demonstrations on the streets of Cairo today after the country’s military rulers nominated a former ally of deposed president Hosni Mubarak to be the interim prime minister. The army insists, however, that parliamentary elections due next week – the first in decades – will proceed as planned.
4. #RACE ROW: A leading member of Ireland’s African community believes it is “about time to move on” from the row caused by the remarks of the former mayor of Naas, Darren Scully. Eric Yao, the head of the Africa Centre, told 4FM he was a “strong believer in forgiveness, and people make mistakes”.
5. #BUDGET 2012: A new report from the Irish Taxation Institute has found that the average family’s take-home pay has fallen by over €600 per month in the last three years – and warned that the VAT increase could be the ‘breaking point’ for struggling Irish households.
6. #SHAM MARRIAGES: Joan Burton has said she hopes legislation to prevent ‘marriages of convenience’ will be introduced in Ireland during 2012. She told the Dáil that revised marital guidelines have been sent to marriage registrars, but that their ability to enforce them is limited without legislation.
7. #TURKEY: The teenager who is charged with killing two Co Down women in the Turkish holiday resort of Kusadasi is to return to court next month for a hearing on whether to be tried as a juvenile, RTÉ News reports. Recep ‘Alex’ Cetinm is accused of killing Kathy Dinsmore and Marion Graham.
8. #CONRAD MURRAY: Prosecutors in the Conrad Murray trial have demanded that the guilty doctor pay the children of Michael Jackson around $100m to compensate them for their father’s lost earnings. Murray was last month found guilty of the involuntary manslaughter of Jackson, who was preparing for 50 finale shows in London when he died.
9. #BLACK FRIDAY: Today marks ‘Black Friday’ in the United States – the day after Thanksgiving, in which the Christmas shopping season begins in earnest. It’s the busiest retail day of the year – and if you don’t believe us, check out our selection of videos showing the chaos from previous years as shops open their doors in the middle of the night.
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