Thursday’s Top Stories: Public sector workers strike in North; Snow showers, frost and ice forecast

Northern Ireland comes to ‘unprecedented’ standstill as public sector workers strike

Northern Ireland will come to an “unprecedented” standstill on Thursday as up to 170,000 public sector workers take part in the largest strike in the North in a generation.

Members from 17 trade unions, including nurses, midwives, bus and train drivers, teachers and ambulance staff, are involved in the 24-hour industrial action which has closed schools, suspended public transport and cut healthcare provision to emergencies only.

The Department of Infrastructure on Wednesday night warned people not to travel, saying “only absolutely essential journeys” should be made on Thursday.

Top News Stories

• China confirms resumption of Irish beef exports and easing of travel rules: Irish beef exports to China can resume immediately after the Chinese government confirmed it would reopen its market during the visit to Dublin of premier Li Qiang.
• Landlord Paul Howard told Revenue he kept rent money at home in cash: Tenants of a Dublin couple against whom tax judgments of more than €3 million have been made were told to leave their rent in an envelope in cash at a launderette the couple owned on Talbot Street, Dublin 1.
• Snow showers, frost and ice predicted by Met Éireann: Met Éireann has warned that today will remain bitterly cold with snow showers in the northwest and frost, ice and fog slow to clear for the rest of the country.
• Policing surge to combat Dublin city-centre violence is halted: A Government plan to surge policing in Dublin and shore up perceptions of public safety, following street violence last year, has quietly ended after the €10 million budget for the operation was spent and not renewed.
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News from around the World

• Pakistan carries out missile strikes on militants in Iran: Pakistan carried out missile strikes against militant hideouts in Iran after Tehran launched similar attacks the day before, in an escalation of tensions.

The Big Read

• Allta review: This is going to be my restaurant of the year: “No point in burying the lede here. I’m in heaven,” writes Corinna Hardgrave. “This is going to be my restaurant of the year. I have always loved the food from Niall Davidson, the chef behind Allta, with his Øland sourdough and shiitake miso butter and dishes that are imbued with the mind-altering machinations of miso, koji and lacto ferments.”

The best from Opinion

• Finn McRedmond: Derry Girls allowed the Troubles to hum in the background of adolescent angst
• Charles Lysaght: British Post Office scandal shattered lives. We need safeguards to stop it happening here
• Newton Emerson: Northern Ireland’s public sector strike may have been doomed before it began

Today's Business

• Happy 40th birthday to the one computer I love: The Mac – the computer synonymous with Steve Jobs, launched by a famous Ridley Scott-directed Super Bowl ad in January 1984 – is celebrating its 40th birthday. If you’d talked to me in the mid-1990s, when I regularly wrote about Apple, I’d never have predicted such longevity, writes Karlin Lillington.

Top Sports news

• Gerry Thornley: Ireland squad steady as she goes as Andy Farrell pulls no rabbits from his hat: Perhaps above all else, the composition of Ireland’s 34-man squad for the forthcoming 2024 Guinness Six Nations confirms how much this championship is a standalone tournament in its own right. Hence this squad constitutes more of a continuation from the World Cup than a new four-year cycle.

Picture of the Day

Culture and Life & Style Highlights

• ‘The things some married pilots say to get you into bed’: Paula Gahan: “There can be few jobs in existence that offer such a perfect environment for infidelity than being a pilot. Think about it. You’re abroad, in a foreign country, with the hotel room paid for and a 50 per cent discount at the bar. Plus, young stewardesses are just vying for your attention. You don’t even have to make up an excuse about where you are – the wife thinks you’re safely tucked away in the hotel room in Bangkok, pining with homesickness.”

Video & Podcast Highlights

• Inside Business: Is the restriction on passenger numbers at Dublin Airport doing untold damage to our economy?

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