Every evening at 6 o'clock, WLR brings you the 6 biggest stories of the day.
1. Reopening Ireland: Waterford retailers open doors hopeful of summer trade bounce
Thousands of retailers have reopened their doors to customers across the country after almost five months of closure.
Click-and-collect services and shopping by appointment resumed last week as part of a phased reopening of retail, but stores have not been allowed to open their doors to all customers since before New Year’s Eve
2. Council CEO “disappointed” but remains “confident” the North Quays will be developed
THE CEO of Waterford Council says he is “disappointed” the partnership with Falcon Real Estate has not worked out but is “confident” that the North Quays development will proceed regardless.
Michael Walsh said the time is now for the council to move on and suss out market interest in the north quays site which remains ideal for a mixed-use development of residential, tourism, retail and office development.
“We’re moving on with a heavy heart,” he told Deise Today this morning. “We are disappointed but we know we have a valuable site and we’re satisfied that the market will be interested in it.”
3. Thunderstorm warning in place for Waterford
A status yellow thunderstorm warning is in place of Waterford and Cork.
Met Eireann says there will be scattered thunderstorms this afternoon and early this evening.
There will be heavy downpours with the risk of spot flooding and hail.
The warning is in place until 6 o’clock.
4. HSE hackers could publish patient data online, says Minister
Hackers are expected to have accessed patient data as part of the HSE ransomware attack, and may now publish it online, a Government Minister has said.
While there is not yet definitive evidence of patient information being compromised, with the HSE on Sunday saying it was still too early to determine if it had happened, Minister of State for Communications Ossian Smyth told The Irish Times: “I expect it has [been accessed] and it wouldn’t surprise me if it was published at some point in the future.”
5. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ‘positive’ about Harry Maguire being fit for EL final
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists both he and Harry Maguire are “positive” that the Manchester United captain will be fit to lead his side out for the Europa League final.
United face Villarreal in Gdansk next week looking to win the competition for the second time in four years.
Maguire has been a mainstay of the United side since moving from Leicester but suffered an ankle injury in last week’s win at Aston Villa and faces a race against time to be fit for the final – but Solskjaer plans to give his skipper as long as possible.
6. Cabinet to approve easing of restrictions with international travel returning by July
The prospect of vaccinated people being able to fly abroad by late summer will take a giant leap forward tomorrow as Cabinet ministers are to approve a major easing of restrictions on travel.
As the Irish Examiner reports, the Government will tomorrow approve a plan to remove most, if not all, European countries from the mandatory hotel quarantine list as part of a move to adopt the EU digital green cert.
