Five things you need to know this Monday morning

Morning briefing: Five Irish Times stories that matter

Cork’s Rena Buckley lifts the O’Duffy cup in Croke Park after winning the Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Senior Camogie Final on Sunday. Photograph: Inpho/Bryan Keane
Cork’s Rena Buckley lifts the O’Duffy cup in Croke Park after winning the Liberty Insurance All-Ireland Senior Camogie Final on Sunday. Photograph: Inpho/Bryan Keane

O’Sullivan’s sudden retirement takes Government by surprise

The Government and the Garda force were caught by surprise on Sunday after the unexpected resignation of Nóirín O'Sullivan, the second Garda commissioner to step down in 3½ years. Ms O'Sullivan retired from the force without serving out a notice period after a near three-year commissionership dogged by controversies.

New Government scheme to keep people with arrears in homes

A new mortgage-to-rent scheme, currently being finalised by the Government and expected to be launched in the coming weeks, will keep thousands of families currently under threat of eviction in their homes, it is expected. Proponents of the scheme say it could help 30,000-40,000 homeowners whose mortgages are in distress, though Government sources say that the numbers are likely to be more modest.

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Hurricane Irma weakens after storm surges cut off Florida Keys

Hurricane Irma is showing signs of weakening and could be downgraded to a tropical storm on Monday. The National Hurricane Centre said the storm "should continue to lose strength and fall below hurricane intensity" during the day, as it continues its path northwards.

Dalata hotel group will attempt to ‘end commercial relationship with Newstalk’

Pat McCann, the chief executive of the Dalata hotel group, which sponsor's George Hook's radio programme's, said on Sunday night "we will be attempting to end our commercial relationship with Newstalk" on Monday morning.

"We can't be associated with either a presenter or a station that allows those kind of comments", he said. Comments such as those of broadcaster George Hook can lead to victims of rape and sexual assault not reporting their cases to the authorities, the chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has said. Noeline Blackwell said Mr Hook's comments on Friday about a UK rape case were problematic, wrong, and entirely irresponsible. "When someone is raped the only person responsible is the rapist."

Rebels time their assault on Kilkenny to perfection

Cork 0-10 Kilkenny 0-9: There's been a bit of the wounded lion about Cork's camogie team through the years, rarely more dangerous than when there's talk of them no longer posing quite the threat they once did. But as the clock was hitting 60 minutes at Croke Park, and they were trailing by a point to the team that beat them in last year's All-Ireland final and again in April's League decider, it seemed as if those wounds would have to be licked for at least another 12 months. Not so fast, writes Mary Hannigan.

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