Your top stories on Wednesday: 30 large sites to house asylum-seekers identified; Ireland stun France at Páirc Uí Chaoimh

Thirty large sites to house asylum-seekers identified

The Government has identified more than 30 large buildings for use as accommodation for asylum seekers against the backdrop of ongoing fallout from violent clashes in Coolock this week.

The requirement to open more accommodation centres means the Coalition faces potentially dozens more flashpoints amid opposition from locals fanned by online networks and far right activists.

News in Ireland

• Former An Bord Pleanála official received €212k exit payout: An Bord Pleanála gave €212,850 in severance pay to a former top official, months after consultants to the crisis-struck body found she had “no case to answer” in relation to claims of a conflict of interest.
• Varadkar will not contest next general election: Former taoiseach Leo Varadkar has confirmed that he will not contest the next general election, saying he has decided to “explore new options and opportunities”.
• Dublin man who beat partner unconscious, leaving child wandering streets looking for help, jailed for three years: A Dublin man who beat his partner unconscious, leading to her seven-year-old child being found wandering the streets in his pyjamas in winter looking for help, has been jailed for three years.
• Paper tax discs for vehicles set to be abolished: Motorists will no longer have to display paper tax discs under legislation agreed by the Government, Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan has said.
• Weather forecast: There will be sunny spells this morning but it will become cloudier from the west with scattered outbreaks of light rain and drizzle developing, mainly for the western half of the country with many eastern areas staying fully dry. Humid, with highest temperatures of 17 to 22 degrees. Tonight will be humid and cloudy with further outbreaks of rain, most frequent for Atlantic coastal counties. Temperatures not falling below 13 to 15 degrees.
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Your Money

• The costs of pet ownership: Owning a pet can be great. The majority of people who live with one say it has a positive impact on their mental health but having a pet costs money too and would-be owners should budget for the expense to avoid what could be a costly mistake.

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• Lost Republican daughter Nikki Haley falls into the Trump adoration line: In she came, the lost daughter of the Republican Party and the last holdout during the Republican primaries, when Donald Trump crushed the would-be contenders during a rapacious winter storm in Iowa. It’s a distant memory now that Nikki Haley alone showed a streak of independence and spine and, it appeared, true values by continuing her winter campaign through New Hampshire and on to her home state in South Carolina, amassing a significant minority of never-Trump Republicans, writes Keith Duggan.

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