The Front Pages
The main headlines on the national broadsheets today:
‘Eight year olds starting to use heroin’ – The Irish Examiner.
‘Disruption again for travellers as ash closes airports’ – The Irish Times.
‘College in fruit bat sex controversy’ – The Irish Independent.
If you’re waking up today with the expectation of jetting off abroad this morning then you better roll over and dream about it because, yes, the ash cloud is causing airport hiccups once again.
Dublin airport will be closed until at least midday today with over “300 flights cancelled last night and this morning, affecting the travel plans of at least 36,000 travellers,†as detailed in The Irish Times.
Donegal, Sligo, Belfast, Galway and Knock airports are all closed since last night. Cork and Shannon have been unaffected by closures. It is expected that Sligo, Galway, Waterford and Knock will all open this morning. The Irish Aviation Authority will continue to monitor the ash cloud situation and it looks like Irish travellers are still not of the woods just yet.
According to a report published by The Matt Talbot Adolescent Service, in today’s Irish Examiner, children as young as eight years old are using drugs and becoming involved in violent behaviour.
The frightening 2009 statistics show that 92% of young people attending the service in Cork were multi-drug users and referrals to the MTAS increased by 70% in the first six months of last year. Another finding showed 85% of young people attending were involved in the juvenile justice system. The smoking of heroin, using of prescription drugs, and carrying of weapons to defend themselves from drug dealers are all increasing trends with troubled youths according to the MTAS.
A UCC lecturer has spun college heads into a tizzy after showing a female colleague an article about the sex life of fruit bats. The Irish Independent covers the “political correctness†story concerning Dr Dylan Evans, who has been disciplined by the college for showing the article from a scientific journal to a colleague.
Dr Evans claims he has been harshly mistreated and that he showed the article which details “how fruit bats prolong copulation via oral sex†to more than a dozen colleagues for scientific purposes.
