The Minister for housing is to publish proposals on regulating home rental on Airbnb. At least 1,000 homes currently being used for short-term lets in the Greater Dublin area could be back on the long-term rental market very soon, Eoghan Murphy has said. This news comes as a much-hyped fast-track housing plan to deliver thousands of new homes for families will be sitting still for at least three years before anything is done. Meanwhilewhile, a report from myhome.ie found house prices across the country have risen by 6% in the last year.
Pilot programmes to train doctors in abortion care are already underway and are modelled largely on the training provided in Britain, according to Dr. Cliona Murphy, the first female chair of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Providing abortion services, improving obstetric care and promoting sexual health, including free contraceptives, will cost the exchequer about €50 million a year, the Cabinet was told as it formally approved the abortion legislation.
Presidential candidate Joan Freeman's campaign is being partly funded by a "commercial loan" worth €120,000 from the executive vice-president of Herbalife Nutrition. The company was previously at the centre of a $200m settlement with the Federal Trade Commission in the United States, avoiding a finding that it was operating as a pyramid scheme.
Republicans have said the Senate judiciary committee will today vote on the supreme court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, after a full day of testimony that saw his accuser share her emotional story of sexual assault while he angrily denied the allegation. Trump came out in support of the accused, tweeting: "Judge Kavanaugh showed America exactly why I nominated him. His testimony was powerful, honest, and riveting."
Ryanair face disruption today as some of its cabin crew in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Italy are set to strike for 24 hours. Some of the airline's pilots in Germany are also taking part in industrial action today. The airline had already cancelled 150 flights in advance of the cabin crew strike. Meanwhile, unions accused furniture retailer Ikea on Thursday of undermining workers’ rights in the Republic of Ireland, the US and Portugal, and asked the Dutch government to mediate.
Finally, today's Zen is brought to you by the unlikely duo of Saoirse Ronan and American rapper, Macklemore. The pair teamed up to record a spoken word intro for this year's Ceol record. Ceol is a music project whereby artists record their songs as Gaeilge for an album each year, with previous contributors including Picture This, Wheatus (the 'Teenage Dirtbag' band!) and Ed Sheeran. The 2018 edition was launched on Wednesday but doesn't seem to be available online yet, so instead, here's an example from a few years back.
