Voters in Dublin and Galway are going to the polls in two byelections on Friday after intense canvassing in the closing days of the campaign and efforts by candidates to ensure their supporters turn up to vote.The Government has exceeded its annual spending target by an average €5.1 billion in each of the last three budgets, new figures from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (Ifac) indicate. Meanwhile, spending in the justice and transport areas seem set to be hit by the impact of the new levy being imposed across Government to offset a €640 million overrun in the education sector, an initial breakdown of the new savings being sought suggest.Ask any millennial which novels they remember reading as a child, and odds are they’ll list the fictional famine tale Under the Hawthorn Tree as one of them. In today’s Me Myself and Ireland, its author Marita Conlon-McKenna says the inspiration to write it came during a ghostly dream.“I’m such a fan of this city and this country,” actor Paul Rudd tells Tara Brady while speaking about his new movie Power Ballad, which was filmed on location in Dublin. Presented by Aideen Finnegan.
Polls open in byelections, Paul Rudd on filming in Dublin, and Under the Hawthorn Tree
Early Edition with Aideen Finnegan
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