Today’s headlines: Surge in building costs to keep house prices at boom levels; Leo Varadkar slaps down Simon Harris over ‘navel gazing’ comments

Here are the top stories of the morning.

Surge in building costs to keep house prices at boom levels

The surging cost of building materials is set to keep house prices close to Celtic Tiger levels despite more properties being constructed at last.

Boris Johnson left clinging to power after 148 Tory MPs vote against him in confidence ballot

Boris Johnson’s victory in yesterday’s confidence vote does not mean the end of the prime minister’s problems.

Leo Varadkar slaps down Simon Harris over ‘navel gazing’ comments

Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris last month launched a thinly veiled attack on Mr Varadkar, saying that “we don’t need navel gazing or debates or workshops or focus groups”.

Simon Coveney’s brother ran five-star Ritz-Carlton in Moscow remotely from Ireland

The brother of Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney was managing the prestigious Ritz-Carlton hotel in Moscow remotely from Ireland, having left Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

The Indo Daily: It is what it is: why do so many of us love Love Island?

Covid alarm as holiday destinations suffer high rates of cases

Some of the country’s popular holiday destinations – Kerry, Waterford and Wexford – are the counties with the highest rates of Covid-19, according to the latest figures.

Ketchup feels squeeze as climate change risks global tomato harvest

Tomato ketchup, a stalwart of dinner tables everywhere, may soon be a much rarer commodity as climate change threatens to halve the fruit’s global harvest this century, according to a new study.

Running marathons could age men over 40 by a decade

Running marathons could age men by as much as a decade, research suggests.

Rush hour is no more as busy traffic is spread across the day

The traditional rush hour is no more as changing traffic patterns following the pandemic mean that a day-long series of dashes is the new trend.

Trump may signal 2024 presidential run ‘within weeks’

Advisers to Donald Trump say the ex-president is eager to jump back into electoral politics as a candidate in the 2024 election and could announce a third presidential run this summer.

Irishman (24) is preparing to go to war for Finland: ‘Our tanks are more than a match for theirs’

Dubliner Henry Brown has taken a particular interest in Russian tanks on the battlefield in Ukraine over the past three months.