Recovery operations
Storm Barra is only “halfway through” and the strongest winds could be yet to come, the Minister for Housing has warned.
Some 56,000 homes are without power and may not be reconnected for a number of days, Government officials have said, after the country was battered by winds of up to 130km per hour.
The Defence Forces are to be drafted in for “extensive recovery operations”, to clear debris and damage caused by the storm.
Vaccine booster appointments
More than 215,000 appointments for Covid-19 booster shots were missed in the last two weeks, prompting concern within Government.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said there is not the same urgency to get the third dose compared with the first and second jab.
Mr Martin told the Dáil that in the week beginning November 22nd, 208,000 appointments were made, but about 80,000 people turned up to receive their booster shot.
Last week 180,000 appointments were made, but 93,000 people turned up.
Dangerous driver jailed
A man who drove the wrong way down the N7 dual carriageway and caused a crash which killed one man and seriously injured two others has been jailed for six years.
Thomas Doran (29) had been spotted driving dangerously by gardaí in Tallaght, Dublin, before the collision, but they stopped the pursuit as it was too unsafe to continue.
Doran drove 700 metres down the N7 in the wrong direction before colliding head on with another car, killing the driver, Anatolie Butucel, and seriously injuring the passenger, Serghei Grigoras. Doran’s uncle, Patrick Connors, who was in the car with him, was also seriously injured.
GoFundMe donations
Ireland is the most generous country in the World on GoFundMe once again after being given the honour for the third time running.
Close to a million donations in total were made to campaigns in Ireland this year
GoFundMe launched its annual Giving Report on Tuesday which reveals Ireland has retained the position of the most generous country in the world on GoFundMe with the highest number of donations per capita.
Squatter jailed
A squatter who helped ransack a "pristine" and newly refurbished Dublin apartment has been jailed for six months.
Anne Marie Prince (35), of Thomas Bawn Court, Dublin 8, pleaded guilty at Dublin District Court to a burglary on February 21st, 2021.
The owner, Susan Boylan, told the court she spent months painting and redecorating the apartment at Viking Court, Meath Place, Dublin 8, which she owned for 25 years.
At the time, she was considering whether to sell or rent it out and checked the property regularly. It was "pristine" weeks before the burglary.
