Sanctions on Aughinish Alumina; criminal court shutdown; and outpatient waiting lists

On today’s episode: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the European Union to block exports from Aughinish Alumina in Limerick, to Russia. The criminal courts face a possible total shutdown today and tomorrow, and three days next week, in a dispute with barristers over a new criminal legal aid model. One of the top legal aid law firms urged barristers to routinely ask judges to assign multiple solicitors to individuals facing more than one charge to prevent “unnecessary loss of revenue”, letters seen by The Irish Times reveal.Up to 4,000 patients per month could be added to outpatient waiting lists if a healthcare initiative known as “insourcing” is ended as planned, according to an HSE report. A nationwide hosepipe ban will come into effect from midnight on Friday.