The Front Pages
It may be the weekend, but for the front pages of the all the broadsheets there’s nothing light-hearted or relaxing about the main headlines this Saturday.
The Irish Independent leads with “HSE in new storm over child deathsâ€. The story below the headline tells of how the powers that be running our health service have finally revealed the true number of children to have died in care over the last decade – 37 in total. Among them  five children died by suicide, five child deaths were drug related, two were unlawful killings and six died in accidents (including three on the roads).
This figure will rise when the HSE release figures on those – like Danny Talbot – who died while in after-care programmes.
The Irish Examiner goes with the same lead story as the Indo, and also has the story that a mentally ill inmate on temporary release from Cork Prison slept in the prison car park after leaving jail because he had nowhere else to go.
Elsewhere on the front page they publish figures from the Garda Siochána Annual Report that reveal that 35,000 people were fined last year for using a mobile phone while driving.
The Irish Times go with the news that the Government is taking control of EBS after investor talks fail, injecting €100million now and committing €775million in the future.
They also have the story that single parents whose youngest child is over 13 will no longer be eligible to claim one-parent family payments (payments are made up of a personal rate for the parent of €196 a week, with €29.80 extra for each additional child). Fine Gael’s spokeswoman on social protection, Olwyn Enright, described the move as “blunt and brutalâ€.
There is light relief on the front pages in the form of pictures of Niamh Kavanagh getting ready to do her bit on our behalf in the Eurovision final (Indo), and of a grinning and waving Taoiseach sitting in a 1951 Merc 220 Cabriolet (The Times) as the final section of the Dublin to Cork (or Cork to Dublin) motorway between Portlaoise and Cullahill was opened. Presumably the vintage car was picked because that’s when the slow work on the road was started.
Tales of the Tabs
Normally the tabloids shy away from the more serious news of the day, but not always. Today the Irish Daily Mirror leads with “37 Kids R.I.P. – Eighteen children killed violently or by drugs since 2000â€.
The Sun and The Star both go with front page stories concerning people more used to appearing on the backpages. In The Sun’s case it’s their exclusive that Ireland and Man Utd player John O’Shea is to wed his long-term girlfriend Yvonne just days before the World Cup stars. But before we all put in a one-off order for VIP magazine we need to note that, according to a source, “It’s not going to be one of those big glitzy footballer affairs.†Talk of affairs already? Blimey.
The Star goes for “Back from the Deadâ€, and features an interview with Shane Duffy who is celebrating getting out of hospital a week after his collision with the Ireland Amateurs goalie during a freak accident as he prepared for last week’s international friendlies at the RDS. “I’m so happy to be alive,†he says. “It was crazy to be told I nearly died.
The Sports Pages
The Irish Times lead with a preview of the Magners League final, with Rugby Correspondent Gerry Thornley saying that Michael Cheika’s Leinster squad have the strength to make the chances they’ll get count. He reports that the only change to the Leinster starting line-up following their Munster-defeating semi-final is the return of Springbok CJ van der Linde who will replace an unfit Cian Healy. It will be the South African’s last start for the Irish province. The Times also has the headline “Trapattoni salutes his new recruits†the day after the boys in green shirts (Ireland) beat the boys in green shorts (Algeria) 3-0. Oh, just think what could have been…
The Indo has a picture of Shane Duffy accompanied by a few words from the Everton defender. “I woke up and mum and dad were telling me ‘you nearly died last night’,†he says. They also have news that many of our top rugby stars are to face up to a 50% cut in their pay. Those affected include Gordon D’Arcy, Peter Stringer, Shane Horgan and Marcus Horan, all of whom had contracts up at the end of the current season. Some players will see their basic salaries trimmed from €200,000 to €120,000 per year as the IRFU seeks to lower their costs. Just €120,000? How will they cope?
Over on the tabloids it’s football all the way with The Star reporting that first-choice goalie Shay Given believes he will be fit for the start of Ireland’s Euro 2012 qualification bid in September. The  Sun have a shot of rookie international Paul Green putting his head in harm’s way in order to score the first goal in Ireland’s defeat of Algeria at the RDS on Friday night. ?The photo is accompanied by the headline “Green ‘n So Keane: Trappy days for Gioâ€. Meanwhile the Mirror has a shot of the man in charge with the headline “Al’s well for Trap: Irish head for summer hols with bigger fish to fryâ€.
