Friday’s Top Stories: Ten held and campervan seized over drug smuggling; First look inside Clerys Quarter

Ten arrests in Co Cork as gardaí target international drug trafficking gang

Gardaí believe they have disrupted the activities of a major international drug smuggling gang after they arrested 10 men in west Cork whom they suspect were in the area to try to land a consignment of cocaine from a ship offshore.

Officers from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau along with officers from the Cork County Divisional Drug Unit arrested the 10 suspected gang members in Leap and Tragumna villages near Skibbereen in west Cork at about 7.30am on Thursday.

No drugs were recovered. Gardaí arrested six of the suspects after stopping a foreign-registered campervan in the middle of Leap.

Top News Stories

• Iarnród Éireann paid out over €207,000 to former employee last year: Irish Rail paid out more than €207,000 to a former employee as part of a confidential settlement last year, the company has revealed.
• Referendum wording chosen to ‘avoid a concrete and mandatory obligation’, files suggest: The Government is embroiled in a new referendum row after internal files suggest the care amendment wording was chosen to “avoid a concrete and mandatory obligation” on the State.
• Miriam Lord: Tiger whimpers in heart-melting moment as Charlie Bird’s memorial service has many lovely moments: And then the dog cried. A heart-melting moment in a memorial service with many lovely moments. Tiger Bird, rising to the big occasion and displaying a great nose for a good line. Just like his newshound master used to do. Timing is everything.
• Accommodation policies for Ukrainians will create ‘further strain’ in rental market: Controversial new accommodation policies for Ukrainians will create “further strain” in the rental market, and risk placing people fleeing the war in “direct competition with the general public”, the Irish Red Cross (IRC) has warned.
• St Patrick’s Day: All you need to know about parades and events this weekend: This year’s St Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin, on Sunday, is part of a variety of events across a four-day festival, which is expected to attract thousands to the city centre.
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News from around the World

• Chuck Schumer’s speech on Israel puts focus on Biden administration’s approach to Gaza: At last, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate could find a point of agreement: what they heard was unprecedented, writes Keith Duggan. Chuck Schumer has made a lot of speeches on Capitol Hill but there was a sense, in the opening minutes of his address before the Senate on Thursday morning, that he was embarking on a delivery that will become a defining element of his legacy.

The Big Read

• First look at Clerys Quarter: Fifth floor is one of two added to site offering impressive views over Dublin: Anyone searching for signs that Dublin keeps on changing and nothing stays the same need look no further than the big H&M posters in the windows of Clerys on O’Connell Street as it re-enters the world of retail this morning, Conor Pope writes. While there will be people buying and selling clothes on the site for the first time since it shut up shop in the dead of night almost a decade ago leaving 460 staff with neither notice nor jobs, many who visit the new-look Clerys Quarter might be confused or disappointed by what they encounter.

The best from Opinion

• Justine McCarthy: We may see a united Ireland with a DUP taoiseach sooner than a Constitution free of sexist language
• Gerard Howlin: What counts now for flailing Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil is which wins the race for the disgruntled centre
• Letter of the day: Weather forecasts – every cloud has a silver lining

Today's Business

• Online is the new face of the booming beauty business: Irish consumers were spending €2.6 billion on hair and beauty treatments before the Covid pandemic upended the sector, according to a report commissioned by the Hair and Beauty Industry Confederation of Ireland. Close to half of that was on hair, skin and cosmetic products with the balance on the services of hairdressers and beauty therapists.

Top Sports news

• Johnny Watterson: Is this Ireland team in danger of flattering to deceive?: Ireland v Scotland Six Nations game provides the ideal opportunity for Farrell’s team to show it is a superior model to its predecessors

Picture of the Day

Life & Style highlights

• How to eat well when you don’t have time: seven tips from a nutrition expert: Maya Vadiveloo spends most weekdays studying food. As a dietitian and associate professor of nutrition at the University of Rhode Island, she pores over large data sets to help people make healthier decisions when they are shopping. But, at night, when she gets home from work, perfect nutrition is not top of mind. Here are seven tips she shared for maintaining that balance, and for eating well when you don’t have a lot of time.

Podcast Highlights

• In the News: Why are gonorrhoea cases spreading so quickly in Ireland?

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