1. Four US officers killed at Dallas protest over police shootings
Four US police officers were killed and seven others shot in a sniper attack in Dallas last night during a protest over this week's police shootings of black men. Two snipers firing from "elevated positions" were suspected of carrying out the deadly shootings in downtown Dallas, according to the city's police chief David Brown. The attack brought chaos to the streets of the Texan city near the end of a "Black Lives Matter" demonstration. Heavily armed police rushed to the scene of the attack, while the Dallas police department issued a public call for information to help identify the suspects. Gunshots rang out at around 9pm local time (3am Irish time) during the protest held over the shooting of black men in St Paul and Minnesota on Wednesday (http://iti.ms/29Dei5p).
2. Schools fear legal actions over waiting list ban
Principals of some south Dublin secondary schools say they expect legal actions from parents who will lose automatic school places for their children as a result of new laws to ban waiting lists. Minister for Education Richard Bruton is to publish school admissions legislation today which proposes to end waiting lists on the basis that they unfairly discriminate against parents and children. This will mean children who are first in the queue for school places after being placed on waiting lists shortly after their birth will lose this advantage, Instead, all children will be required to apply to enrol in a school in the year before enrolment. Many prestigious secondary schools already have the names of thousands of young children on waiting lists for admission who are not due to begin second-level for up to 10 years or more.
3. Brexit may lead to surge in third-level students in Ireland
Education authorities are concerned that the fallout of the Brexit vote will lead to a dramatic increase in the number of Irish students studying at third-level in Ireland. Some 10,905 Irish students currently study in UK colleges and universities. The head of the Higher Education Authority said many of these students may opt to study at home in the future given uncertainty over fees for Irish students in the UK. Tom Boland said that in principle Irish students would be treated as international students – who face much higher fees – in UK universities unless a deal was struck with authorities there. He said there would likely be greater demand for places in Irish universities not just from Irish students, but from EU students seeking to study in an English-language environment.
4. Majority support repeal of Eighth Amendment, poll shows
Two-thirds of voters say they are in favour of repealing the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution to allow for abortion in cases of rape and fatal foetal abnormalities, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll. The Eighth Amendment, inserted into the Constitution as article 40.3.3 in 1983, guarantees the equal right to life of the unborn and the mother, and is the foundation for Ireland's anti-abortion laws. The attorney general recently reaffirmed her advice that proposed legislation allowing for abortion in case of fatal foetal abnormalities fell foul of the constitutional protections of article 40.3.3. Asked if they were in favour of changing the Constitution "so that terminations in, for example, the case of rape or fatal foetal abnormality might be made legal", 67 per cent of respondents said they were in favour.
5. Varadkar is voters’ choice to be next FG leader - poll
Leo Varadkar is the voters' favourite to succeed Enda Kenny as Fine Gael leader, according to the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll. He is followed in second place by Simon Coveney, with other potential contenders far behind the two frontrunners. The poll findings come as the Fine Gael leadership emerged as a live issue in the party with pressure growing on Mr Kenny to declare a timetable for his departure. Asked who they would like to see succeeding Mr Kenny as party leader 31 per cent opted for Mr Varadkar, 21 per cent for Mr Coveney, 10 per cent for Frances Fitzgerald, 5 per cent for Simon Harris, 3 per cent for Pascal Donohoe, 2 per cent for Others, with 29 per cent having no opinion.
Misc
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