Morning all
by Niall Shanahan

In the Irish Examiner Noel Baker reports on the rate of injury to staff and children in residential care settings. He reports that there were 3,422 incidents last year in which children in care or their carers were injured. These included 784 cases where medical attention or first aid was required.

 

Jobs Minister Heather Humphreys is to announce €30m in funding today for the Regional Enterprise Development Fund (REDF), aimed at projects where the private and public sector work together to drive regional job creation, while Ryanair is reported to be one of the UK's worst offenders when it comes to gender pay disparity, with women earning 67pc less than men on average.

 

Elsewhere, speculation about what might happen at Eir continues, and Coillte is looking to sell half of its 50 per cent stake in the Sliabh Ban wind farm project in Roscommon. That news follows hot on the heels of a report that Ireland's power system is the first in the world capable of delivering 65pc of all electricity from variable sources including wind.

 

In other news, the Sunday Business Post reported that one in seven medical consultants employed across public and private hospitals have not completed specialist training in medicine or surgery, and young people are being urged to ensure they are registered to vote before 8th May.

 

Despite the welcome sight of sunshine this morning, I'm afraid the forecast isn't good.

 

Casting about for something worthy of today's moment of Zen, I remembered this thread on Twitter, a reminder that kindness is the glue that holds us all together.