This morning/afternoon.

Covid-19 Testing Centre, Finglas, Dublin.

One of three new walk-in Covid-19 testing centres for asymptomatic people (exhibiting no symptoms) that have opened today in various locations around Ireland where there is a ‘high rate of coronavirus infections’.

RollingNews

Meanwhile…

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Over our dead bod…

*checks calendar*

Phew.

Save Poolbeg.

This morning’s Irish Independent

This afternoon.

Further to the Dubs dawn ‘workout of hate’ shenanigans…

former GAA president, Ireland South MEP Séan Kelly, has said that some form of sanction will have to be imposed on the Dublin players involved in the training session on Wednesday which broke Covid restrictions.

“If it is true it is surprising and very disappointing – especially coming from the six in a row Dubs,” he told Newstalk Breakfast. Such a successful team had a responsibility to lead by example, he added.

“Every club and every county in the country are probably frustrated they can’t get back out on the field but there is a road map there. The GAA have outlined the guidelines and everyone will have to stick by them.” Mr Kelly said that the GAA would have to react “strongly” to this breaking of restrictions as there was a need to be consistent in the way rules were applied.

Croke Park express ‘frustration and extreme disappointment’ over Dublin training (Irish Examiner)

Dublin GAA stars broke rules on Covid gatherings with early morning training (Independent.ie)

Behold: the central black hole of supergiant elliptical galaxy M87 (it’s a big one). To wit:

The featured image represents the detected intrinsic spin direction (polarization) of radio waves. The polarization is produced by the powerful magnetic field surrounding the supermassive black hole at the center of elliptical galaxy M87. The radio waves were detected by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), which combines data from radio telescopes distributed worldwide. The polarization structure, mapped using computer generated flow lines, is overlaid on EHT’s famous black hole image, first published in 2019. The full 3-D magnetic field is complex. Preliminary analyses indicate that parts of the field circle around the black hole along with the accreting matter, as expected. However, another component seemingly veers vertically away from the black hole. This component could explain how matter resists falling in and is instead launched into M87’s jet.

(Image: Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration; Text: Jayanne English (U. Manitoba)

apod

Professor Pete Lunn of the ERSI, at a media briefing yesterday  at the Department of Health

Last night.

At a Department of Health covid briefing.

Professor Pete Lunn, from the ESRI behavioural research unit, said a “small minority” of people are showing more risky behaviour:

“What has happened here is there has been clear slippage in people following the restrictions and primarily it is not that they are rejecting them, it is not that they are saying they don’t believe in them anymore, it is that there is pushing of the boundaries.

“The primary pushing of the boundaries is social visits to other people’s houses and that we would see as being the biggest behaviour change that is risky.”

Meanwhile…

Dr Ronan Glynn [ Deputy Chief Medical Officer] said if people are mixing in the coming days, they should avoid doing this inside.

“Of course, we are aware that some households are going to do that and are doing that already but what we would say to people is: if you have made the decision to meet up with another household – while that is not our advice at the moment – if you’re going to do it, do it outdoors.”

“Meet up in parks, meet up outdoors over the coming days.”

Numbers presenting with Covid symptoms up 50% as ESRI note ‘clear slippage’ in public behaviour (Irish Examiner)

RollingNews

This morning.

Dail Eireann at the Convention Centre.

Labour Party Leader Alan Kelly and the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, clash over vaccine roll-out figures.

Minister Donnelly had said “slightly less than a million doses” of Covid vaccines will arrive in the month of April.

However, Sinn Féin’s Health Spokesperson, David Cullinane said Mr Donnelly told a meeting of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meeting last night that the figure he received for April was 860,000.

Donnelly criticised after Covid vaccine arrivals are revised downwards (RTÉ)

Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny

On The Late Late Show.

Jennifer O’Brien writes:

Ryan will chat all things Line of Duty with an Irishman who’s leading the charge at AC-12, Adrian Dunbar. Adrian will discuss how it feels to become watercooler famous more than 40 years after leaving the island to become an actor…

Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny joins Ryan to speak about life after politics and his new series that starts next week on RTÉ, sees him rediscovering Ireland’s railway routes….

Broadcaster Sarah McInerney, recently announced alongside Fran McNulty to join Miriam O’Callaghan as new presenters of Prime Time, will speak with Ryan about her new role…

Paul Howard, journalist and author of 23 books featuring Ross O’ Carroll Kelly, will be on the show to discuss everything from class privilege in Ireland, to how ROCK is surviving the pandemic…

To mark World Autism Awareness Day, we will meet with a group of parents and children who are living with autism and the everyday challenges they face.

Hotelier John Fitzpatrick will chat about New York opening up and the vaccine rollout and whether we’ll see the Irish in the Big Apple anytime soon.

The music line-up includes Wild Youth exclusively performing their new single ‘Can’t Say No’ and, on the day of its release, John Spillane performs a song from his critically acclaimed album ‘100 Snow White Horses’.

The Late Late Show, RTÉ One tomorrow at 9.35pm.

RollingNews

Here’s How.

The current affairs podcast hosted by William Campbell (right) meets a radical champion of the rights of Irish farmers.

William writes:

Are Irish farmers just a bunch of whiners who think the world owes them a living? Or do they deserve more support? Farmer and beef protester Daniel Long (above left) is running for president of Macra na Feirme but can he justify his blockading of central Dublin in 2020, demanding that the government force up the price for beef?

Listen here

Here’s How

Broadsheet.ie