Live: First mica case admitted to Commerical Court; Salmonella outbreak confirmed

Mica "pathfinder" case

The first of at least 1,100 legal actions over the mica controversy has been admitted to the fast track Commercial Court.

The case is being brought by husband and wife teachers, Liam Ó'Dochartaigh and Greinne Bean Uí Dochartaigh, of Urbledreagh, Malin Head, Co Donegal. It will be among five "pathfinder" or test cases which the court will be first asked to deal with.

The application for entry of the case into the commercial list first came before Mr Justice Denis McDonald last November when he postponed until January a decision on whether to admit the case to the fast track court.

He said there was a need for case management and for the parties to discuss how it should proceed given the importance of these cases.

Salmonella outbreak in Ireland

Salmonella has been found in eight poultry flocks across the country.

The Department of Agriculture is currently working with the Food Safety Authority and the National Reference Laboratory for Salmonella, in order to determine the cause of the outbreak.

The agencies are working to mitigate the risks, and the investigation is ongoing.

According to the Department of Agriculture, all of the flocks affected have been restricted and are under departmental controls. It's understood that some flocks have been culled.

Tackling dereliction

A multi-million euro fund that aims to bring vacant buildings back into use will focus on the areas in Ireland with the highest vacancy and dereliction rates.

Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien launched the third round of the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund (URDF) on Monday, worth 150 million euro, to help boost housing supply amid worsening rates of homelessness.

The fund asks local authorities to propose residential or commercial sites along with the work needed to de-risk or improve the site so that it is more attractive for re-use or sale.

The fund is expected to be replenished from the proceeds received from sale or use of a site, allowing a local authority establish a rolling programme to tackle long-term vacancy and dereliction without borrowing.

Johnson lied about missile strike, says Kremlin

The Kremlin has suggested Boris Johnson told “a lie” when the former British prime minister said Russian president Vladimir Putin appeared to threaten him with a missile strike.

The former Downing Street incumbent made the claim in a new three-part series for the BBC looking at how the West grappled with Mr Putin in the years leading up to the war in Ukraine.

Mr Johnson, talking about a phone call between the two leaders ahead of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, said: “He sort of threatened me at one point and said: ‘Boris, I don’t want to hurt you, but with a missile, it would only take a minute’, or something like that.”

But the Kremlin disputed the claim, saying there were “no threats with missiles” during the bilateral conversation held in February 2022.