What the papers say: Friday's front pages

Friday's front pages focus on a range of stories from Jack Chambers and Pascal Donohue raising concerns about the Budget's once off payments to backlash over the Government spending €9 million on phone pouches in schools. 
What the papers say: Friday's front pages

By Jessica Coates, PA

Friday's front pages focus on a range of stories from Jack Chambers and Pascal Donohue raising concerns about the Budget's once off payments to backlash over the Government spending €9 million on phone pouches in schools.

The Irish Times reports the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure raised concerns privately about the nature of some expenditure elements of Tuesday’s Budget 2025 in advance of it being signed off.

The Irish Examiner leads with a piece about schools which said the €9 million set aside for mobile phone pouches in Budget 2025 would have been better spent on the “more significant and biting” problems they face.

The Echo focusses on protests outside Cork University Hospital as 200 health service staff called for changes to staffing levels at the hospital.

In the UK, foreign and domestic politics feature heavily on Friday’s front pages.

The Daily Mail leads on the UK handing over sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius following decades of debate.

Meanwhile, The Times says Keir Starmer defied US warnings in handing the islands over.

The Daily Telegraph splashes on calls from former prime minister Boris Johnson to hold a referendum on the UK’s hip of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In foreign affairs news, i and Financial Times both focus on a potential oil price spike after Joe Biden claimed he was “discussing” potential retaliatory strikes on facilities in Iran with Israel.

Dame Esther Rantzen hopes assisted dying will be legalised in her lifetime after an MP pledged to introduce a Bill, the Daily Express reports.

And The Guardian splashes on the private member’s Bill from Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, hailed as a “historic vote” on end-of-life care.

Metro leads on the court case of a doctor suspected of making a chemical weapon and posing as a nurse to kill his stepfather.

The Daily Mirror interviews a teen battling a rare form of cancer who met the Princess of Wales this week.

In entertainment news, The Sun claims classic game show Bullseye is making its TV return with Freddie Flintoff as host.

Lastly, the Daily Star says a “sun burp” due to hit Earth on Saturday could “send phones and Wi-Fi bonkers”, telling readers “it’ll be a good day to buy a newspaper”.

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