Bord Na Móna workers are to hold a public protest in Co Longford today over the loss of 72 jobs at its midlands plant. The protest will highlight the threat by the company to lay off permanent staff at Mountdillon without pay, as well as objecting to the treatment of 78 of seasonal workers who have already been laid off indefinitely. Trade union members from SIPTU, Connect and Unite, who are organising the protest, will gather in Lanesboro at 7.30pm this evening. 

The total number of job vacancies in Ireland has dropped over the last year due to uncertainties over a no-deal Brexit, according to a new report by IrishJobs.ie. While vacancies remain strong in construction and hotel and catering, there have been reductions in accounting and finance, banking, financial services and insurance. The report points to total job vacancies declining by 4% year-on-year and 2% quarter-on-quarter, despite a healthy, growing economy.

The failure to recruit hospital consultants has led to more than 47,000 children waiting to see a specialist, according to the Irish Hospital Consultant Association (IHCA). The group says waiting lists within these hospitals have increased by over 46 per cent since June 2016, and more than 19,000 children must now wait more than 12 months to see a specialist. Members of the public, patients and other stakeholders are being urged to follow the campaign and add their voices via Twitter using the hashtag #CareCantWait. 

The Times reports that rape victims should be allowed give their evidence via video link according to the Bar Council. In its submission to the review of how sexual offences are investigated and prosecuted, the body has also called for "rape myths" to be combatted. Such myths include that a victim is at fault if he or she dressed "provocatively" or if they do not scream or fight back. The Council also called for an overhaul of the pre-trial disclosure process to speed up trials, which may not occur until years after the offence was first reported.

Hundreds of protestors marched through the streets of Cork city on Saturday to protest the proposed closure of the Cork Mail Centre in Little Island. Staff at the mail centre set up an action group called the Cork Mail Centre Action Group (CMCAG), to defend their jobs after An Post announced the closure last month. The closure will affect around 240 people.

Fianna Fáil is warning that numbers in the Defence forces has hit “new low.” At the end of May, there were 8,571 serving members on the books, marking a drop of almost 300 on the same time last year. 

The first of three twelve-hour traffic-free events took place at College Green in Dublin city-centre yesterday, when the council held an event to showcase the potential of a pedestrian plaza in the area. Dublin City Council has announced that it will review how it implements a traffic-free zone following concerns that security barriers negatively impacted a trial of pedestrianisation of the area. 

A review is under way into what the Health Service Executive has described as “the unacceptable use of client funds” at one of the country’s largest organisations providing services for people with disabilities. It is understood that management at Stewarts Care alerted the HSE to “legacy” practices in place in the past relating to how money it was essentially minding on behalf of people in its facilities was used.

The Examiner reports that a €500m data centre has been given the green light for Arklow, Co Wicklow, which will see 450 jobs created during the construction phase, and 90 full-time roles when completed.

Finally, our zen this morning is courtesy of this gem from The Guardian. A growing band of hobbyists are buying rolls of undeveloped film, getting them developed and looking at strangers’ lives from many years ago.

Have a good day folks.