IRISH TIMES
- Special Olympics Summer Games open: 1,277 athletes and coaches paraded into Tallaght Stadium to cheering families and supporters, reciting the athletes’ oath as the Games got under way.
- Serial child abuser jailed: Former teacher Patrick Sharkey (83) sentenced to 6½ years for sexually abusing 19 boys in Donegal between 1970 and 1995 across 132 charges; told in court he may die in prison.
- ASTI leadership change: Linda Kelly, a senior official at Fórsa, appointed general secretary of the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland, succeeding Kieran Christie.
- Iceland murder trial: Evidence heard that Catherine Mancel, 29, may have tried to escape a noose; her mother, Ming Ting Mancel, a Dublin-based French national, denies murdering her in concert with her late husband.
- M50 bridge safety works: A custom steel collar has been installed on the central pier of Blackglen Road bridge near Junction 13 after wear was detected during inspection; TII says the measure addresses the issue.
- Elderly woman gets reprieve: Court of Appeal finds High Court had jurisdiction to order sale of a family home and four rentals in an assets dispute between divorced spouses, but grants relief over the lack of a stay, potentially allowing the woman (in her 80s) to keep her home.
- Curragh caravan removal: High Court orders about 70 Travellers’ caravans to leave Defence lands at the Curragh immediately; serving of papers reportedly met some hostility.
- Public sector pay impasse: After two exploratory meetings, unions say there’s no basis for full pay talks and instruct affiliates to prepare for strike ballots.
- Liberties squat defies order: Occupiers of former pub Ardee House remain despite a High Court directive to leave within three days; site has operated as a café/social centre since a Christmas break-in.
- Prison violence spotlight: A mentally ill prisoner in his 70s lost an eye after a cellmate stabbed him with a pen; incident underscores overcrowding and the management of inmates with acute psychiatric needs.