Five things you need to know today

OCI walkout; O’Brien silent on Trump; homelessness; Dublin Bus; Rosetta

1. OCI members stage walkout over Pat Hickey phonecall

A number of Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) committee members staged a walkout in late August prior to a committee meeting in Dublin because Pat Hickey was “live” from Rio de Janeiro on the phone of one of the members.

Last month, Mr Hickey said he would temporarily step aside as president of the OCI after a warrant for his arrest was issued by Brazilian police.

2. Denis O’Brien remains silent after Trump’s attack on his record

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Denis O’Brien was maintaining his silence last night on US presidential candidate Donald Trump’s unprecedented action of using the controversial businessman’s record to attack Hillary Clinton, the Republican Party candidate’s rival for the White House.

In dragging Mr O’Brien into his battle with Mrs Clinton, the Democratic Party nominee, Mr Trump also appeared to criticise the Irish Government over its relationship with the Clinton Foundation, the global aid charity set up by former US president Bill Clinton which he now runs with his and Mrs Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea.

3. Homeless families ‘spending the night in fast-food restaurants’

Homeless families in Dublin, unable to access emergency hotel accommodation, have been “spending the night in fast-food restaurants”, Focus Ireland has said.

Mike Allen, director of advocacy with the charity, described a recent night where a mother with a young child had, by midnight, been unable to access an emergency bed and so sought out a restaurant for overnight shelter.

4. Dublin Bus deal puts pressure on Government’s pay policy

The Government’s public service pay policy is coming under mounting pressure on foot of the deal agreed yesterday for workers in Dublin Bus to end the current wave of strikes.

The new pay agreement at 3.75 per cent per year – or 11.25 per cent over three years – is considerably ahead of the 2.6 per cent average rise forecast for this year across the private sector and is almost identical to that secured by workers in the Luas light rail system after their industrial action earlier this year.

5. Rosetta spacecraft set to crash land on Comet 67P

Scientists behind the historic Rosetta mission have said their goodbyes to the spacecraft as it entered the final stage of its descent on to a comet.

The quest to 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is due to end with a crunch at around 11.38am Irish time on Friday.

And finally . . . Preventing gardaí from striking could be a serious error

“With the Garda Commissioner concerned to open a new era in Garda industrial relations and to restore staff morale, she, along with the Minister and Government, is wise to keep the focus on ongoing dialogue and seeking a way out of the most serious series of disputes ever to have engulfed the Garda,” writes Bill Roche in analysis.