Creeslough death toll could have been higher, says GP
The death toll from the Creeslough explosion could have been twice as high if the blast had happened five minutes earlier, a doctor has said.
Village GP Dr Paul Stewart said a group of school children had been sitting on a wall of the service station and convenience store just before it was buried by falling rubble.
A five-year-old girl and her father, who were buying a birthday cake, were among 10 people killed in the devastating explosion in Co Donegal on Friday afternoon.
An Garda Síochána continues to investigate the cause of the blast, which is being treated as a “tragic accident”.
A five-year-old girl and her father are among the 10 people named as victims of the devastating explosion at a petrol station in Co Donegal.
'All systems go' for Hutch trial
It is "all systems go" for the trial next week of Gerard ‘The Monk’ Hutch, who is accused of the murder of Kinahan gang member David Byrne at the Regency Hotel in 2016, his counsel has told the Special Criminal Court.
The court heard on Monday that the trial is expected to open before the court next Tuesday, October 18th.
Defence counsel Brendan Grehan SC, for Mr Hutch, told the non-jury court that the "newer evidence" in the case will be "back loaded" and there will be "substantial cross-examination" at the "latter part of the trial".
Red Cross pauses Ukraine field work
The International Committee of the Red Cross and at least one other aid group paused their field work in Ukraine for security reasons on Monday after Russia fired missiles at cities across Ukraine.
Russia hit sites across the country, striking the capital Kyiv with an intensity not seen since Russian forces sought to capture the capital early in the more than seven-month war.
Moscow says the strikes were against energy, command and communication targets in retaliation for what it describes as terrorist attacks.
Stock of second-half homes drop by 26 per cent
The total amount of second-hand properties for sale has fallen by 26 per cent since before the pandemic, according to new figures from real estate group Sherry Fitzgerald.
There were 15,300 properties for sale in July 2022, according to the figures, or 0.8 per cent of the country's total housing stock. This represents a fall of 7,900 properties since July 2019.
This figure is an improvement on last year's figure, however, when there were 13,500 second-hand houses for sale.
The dearth of properties for sale was reflected by the supply crisis in the rental sector, the group said.
