The Government has agreed to a request from Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan for the army to be on standby to help with security at Dublin Airport. Passengers have experienced serious issues at security in recent weeks, with many missing flights because of the delays. Members of the Defence Forces will receive basic training and be in a position to assist the daa when called upon.

A new €363 million strategy to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence was approved yesterday. The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said the plan, which includes tougher penalties and a doubling of refuge places, will take a 'zero tolerance' approach.

Meanwhile, SIPTU members employed in community organisations in county Waterford and county Galway have announced a 24 hour work stoppage on Wednesday, 6th July, as part of a wider campaign by workers in the sector seeking to secure their first pay rise in 14 years.

Elsewhere, fifty-one people have died after being abandoned in a lorry trailer in the sweltering Texas heat, one of the worst tragedies to claim the lives of people crossing the border from Mexico to the US. 

In other news, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenagers. The term, handed down in the Manhattan federal court, means the 60-year-old will spend much of the rest of her life in jail.

Back here, the Government is expected to make changes to a new tipping legislation, which will effectively ban so-called 'service charges' on bills unless the money goes straight to staff. The new law, the Payment of Wages Bill, is currently making its way through the Oireachtas.

And Unions have called on the Minster for Health to extend the Covid Special Leave with Pay (SLWP) scheme to ensure frontline workers suffering with Long Covid symptoms continue to be supported. The National Joint Council of ICTU Healthcare Unions said healthcare workers have been receiving letters from their employer informing them that their special leave with pay will cease on 1 July.

Finally, it’s a case of 'Happy feet all over the place' as Dingle welcomes baby penguins. Humboldt penguins are native to Chile and Peru in South America, and the species has been listed as vulnerable, but five of those baby penguin chicks have been born in west Kerry, with Dingle Oceanworld Aquarium appealing to the public for help in naming them. So, if you’re feeling creative or have any good names in mind, do help out!