Sligo murders latest
A man remains in custody as gardaí probe the murders of two men who detectives believe may have met their killer online, with their investigation currently focusing on a suspect's online dating history.
Gardaí are conducting two separate murder inquiries after the violent deaths of Aidan Moffitt, 42, and Michael Snee, 58, in the town of Sligo on the west coast.
LGBT Ireland has said it is “deeply saddened” by the killings, as gardaí examine the possibility of a hate-related or homophobic motive for the fatal attacks. Detectives have issued safety advice to people using dating apps.
The suspect, in his 20s, was arrested on suspicion of murder during the early hours of Wednesday morning and remained in custody on Thursday. Detectives can question him for a total of 24 hours, excluding breaks.
In Sligo town, the shocked community of 20,000 people is still coming to terms with the events of the past few days.
Taoiseach warns of 'great crisis'
The Taoiseach has warned business leaders that Ireland and the world is facing a moment of “great crisis” and unpredictability over the war in Ukraine.
Micheál Martin said Russia’s war has created challenges across the European Union.
Speaking at the Global Ireland Summit event at Dublin Castle, Mr Martin said Ireland and the EU must hold Russia to account.
Those speaking at the event included Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, EU Commissioner Mairead McGuinness, and Mathias Cormann, secretary general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Coveney in Kyiv
Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney is visiting Kyiv on Thursday.
Mr Coveney will visit areas in the Ukrainian capital directly affected by the Russian invasion and meet Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba and defence minister Oleksii Reznikov.
He is the first foreign minister on the UN Security Council to visit Kyiv since the war began.
A statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs said his discussions with the Ukrainian government will focus on how Ireland can continue to provide political, security and humanitarian support to Ukraine, and assist in its application for EU candidate status.
Varadkar aims for re-election
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said he can see the current Government being re-elected, after the latest opinion poll showed Fine Gael up two per cent and an increase of three per cent for Fianna Fáil.
The two parties have regained some ground against Sinn Féin since last year but remain well adrift of the main Opposition party, according to the latest The Irish Times/Ipsos opinion poll.
Mr Varadkar said Sinn Féin members were "strutting around Leinster House" behaving as if they would soon become government leaders.
He said that support across the coalition parties suggested that "this is a Government that could be re-elected."
External review into Holohan controversy
The Government has commissioned an external review of the abandoned appointment of the chief medical officer (CMO) to a university professorship.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said it was important to examine learnings from the controversy involving CMO Dr Tony Holohan.
Dr Holohan ultimately decided against taking up the proposed secondment to Trinity College Dublin after contention flared over the transparency of the process that would have seen the state pay his annual salary of €187,000 through competitive research funding, administered by the Health Research Board.
A report into the controversy compiled by secretary general in the Department of Health, Robert Watt, was published late on Wednesday night.
