Morning Briefing: Top stories on Friday, May 12

Morning briefing - cover image

Good morning everyone. Here's today's briefing from the early crew here on the Irish Examinernewsdesk.

YOUR 8AM DASHBOARD

Here are the nine stories we are highlighting on the irishexaminer.com home page right now.

Cork communities 'detached' from local Garda stations under new centralised call system: A new centralised phone system re-routes all calls in Co Cork away from local stations to a regional control centre in Anglesea St Garda Station in the city. >>READ MORE. 

Cork's 'Grande Dame' set for €25m sale: Behind-the-scenes talks are at an advanced stage for the sale of Cork city’s oldest hotel, the ‘Grande Dame’ Imperial Hotel on South Mall, for as much as €25m, with its purchase linked to veteran Dublin hotel and bar owner Louis Fitzgerald. >>READ MORE. 

Imperial Hotel Cork Cork City, Cork, Ireland.

Joyce Fegan: The role of domestic abuse in Ireland’s 'vanishing' women: There was no mysterious Vanishing Triangle in Ireland, no serial killer on the loose, because in many cases most signs pointed to stalking, abuse and intimate partner violence >>READ MORE.

Here's how water quality ranks at Ireland's beaches: The water quality at almost eight out of 10 bathing water sites at beaches and lakes around the country has been rated as ‘excellent’ by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in its latest annual report. >>READ MORE.

Ballybunion beach North, which was marked as excellent water quality, and found to have made a positive change since last year's ratings

Prisoner punched and knocked out another inmate in exercise yard: A further 10 weeks added to soccer player's sentence for assault >>READ MORE. 

Cork home of the late Dr Tom Cavanagh, champion of litter-free streets, is on the market for €450k: Delightful gardens are part of the package at handsome Rathcairn, just outside Fermoy >>READ MORE. 

Sheedy leads Cork to win over Kerry to set up home semi-final against Tipp: Thursday evening’s quarter-final result, watched by a very healthy crowd of 2,367, means Cork will enjoy home advantage for their semi-final against Tipperary. Kerry, meanwhile, will be on the road to Phase 1 winners Limerick >>READ MORE. 

Ask Audrey: What's the story with paying to watch hurling?: Sorting out Cork people for ages >>READ MORE. 

Johnny Logan, Dustin and avenging the past: Julie Jay's 10 fave Eurovision moments: From Pat Kenny’s glasses to Icelandic coolness... Julie Jay picks her 10 fave Eurovision moments >>READ MORE.

TRAFFIC AND WEATHER ROUND-UP

.

Some patches of mist will be evident in Munster early this morning, before revealing a mainly dry day filled with sunny spells.

A few isolated showers may develop in the late afternoon and evening.

Highest temperatures of 15C to 18C with light northerly breezes throughout the day.

Thank you for your continued support and have a great day.