Thursday’s Top Stories: Audit identifies just 500 extra asylum seeker beds; How do you know if your friend is an emotional vampire?

Audit identifies just 500 extra beds for asylum seekers despite over 4,000 Ukrainians leaving accommodation

An audit of emergency accommodation for migrants has found roughly 500 extra beds, despite thousands of Ukrainians leaving their accommodation while hundreds of asylum seekers remain unaccommodated.

Figures compiled by the Department of Integration show there are 4,300 fewer Ukrainians in hotels and other serviced accommodation compared with the start of the year, while 1,260 people seeking international protection remain unaccommodated.

A spokesman for Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman said on Wednesday the department had sourced “several hundred” beds with providers who are contracted to house Ukrainians which can be converted to accommodation for asylum seekers.

Top News Stories

• Ethics watchdog had ‘no role’ to query State-funded NGO referendum spending: New questions have been raised about the referendum campaigns of State-funded interest groups, after the public ethics watchdog said it had “no role” to examine their spending.
• ‘He’s an evil man’: Victims of paedophile Bill Kenneally come face to face with his depravity: Convicted paedophile Bill Kenneally talked a lot on the stand about his constitutional rights, but nothing about his responsibilities to his victims.
• Kildare pastor convicted on 87 charges, including theft of €125,000: A former pastor of a Christian church based in Kildare has been convicted of a range of theft charges, involving more than €125,000, as well as multiple breaches of company law and deception.
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News from around the World

• What if your salary was tax free and materials were taxed instead?: A Dutch think tank is promoting a radical shift in taxation, away from labour, focusing instead on the creation of pollution.

The Big Read

• How do you know if your friend is an emotional vampire? What if it is you?: It seems it would be easy to recognise a “good” friend. They are there for us, have our best interests at heart, and give us space to breathe and grow. There’s also a presumption that a ‘bad’ friend would stand out like the sore throbbing thumb they are, and we’d be best to cut the sore off rather than bandage it. However, when it comes to spotting a friend who intentionally or unconsciously saps our energy, it may not be as obvious unless we tune into how we feel after spending time in their company. Certain friendships can leave us exhausted, stressed and emotionally drained, with a cloud of other negative emotions lingering.

The best from Opinion

• Finn McRedmond: Kate’s Photoshop fail: Troubles began when the royals confused themselves with celebrities
• Newton Emerson: In both the UK and Ireland, even the left is starting to turn right
• Daniel MacSweeney: I want to give the 796 children buried at Tuam their dignity and, if we can, an identity

Business Highlights

• First company in Ireland found in breach of new sick leave laws told to pay worker €450: A staffing agency at Dublin Port has become the first company in Ireland found to be in breach of new legislation on sick leave which came into force last year.

Top Sports news

• Colour me sceptical as we reach the pinnacle for adult GAA jersey wearers: The success of a fine Tipperary number seems to have led to a questionable cottage-on-a-shirt industry.

Martyn Turner

Culture and Life & Style Highlights

• Lucky the leprechaun and 11 more reasons why it hasn’t always been cool to be Irish: Oh, Irish people are cool now, but you youngsters don’t know you’re born, writes Patrick Freyne. For St Patrick’s Day, here is a brief survey of Irish characters on international television from olden times to the present day.
• The Old Couch in Waterford: Modern, inventive dishes on a clever tasting menu: Chef Luis Martin takes us on a jaunt around the world with vibrant flavours in a restaurant that will soon change its name.
• St Patrick’s Day Quiz 2024: 50 questions to test your Irishology: It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for: your big chance to prove you know more about Irish things and Irish people than almost anybody else on the planet (or least the other people who compete in this year’s big St Patrick’s Day Quiz). If you know the answers to these and the rest of our 50 questions, you could win this great prize:

Podcast Highlights

• In the News: The pursuit of the Kinahan cartel leader: could Daniel Kinahan finally face trial in Ireland?

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