Russian sanctions
The Russian ambassador to Ireland has been summoned to a meeting with the Department of Foreign Affairs following the banning of 52 Irish politicians and officials by Moscow.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney, who is currently in the United States, summoned ambassador Yury Filatov to Iveagh House on Thursday. Mr Filatov will meet the secretary-general of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The Taoiseach, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, Mr Coveney, and Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe, as well as a number of other key officials and politicians, are among those to have been sanctioned.
The Government has confirmed it has not yet received a full list of the Irish politicians and officials sanctioned by Russia.
Meath fatal crash
A woman aged in her 70s has died following a road collision in Co Meath.
The pensioner was a pedestrian who was involved in the incident with a car in Navan at around 1.25pm on Wednesday.
Gardaí confirmed the woman was pronounced dead at the scene and no other injuries were reported.
Toll hikes
Motorists are about to be hit with the highest price rises allowed for road tolls.
State roads operator Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) said the decision to hike tolls was "driven by the current rate of inflation".
Under the changes, the cost of using one of the 10 toll roads on the national road network will rise by up to 60 cent a journey.
On the M50 in Dublin, tolls will rise from €2.10 to €2.30 for those using tags, €2.70 to €2.90 for those captured on video, and €3.20 to €3.50 for unregistered vehicles.
Tolls for the eight public-private partnership companies running the country's other motorways will also rise – by either 10 or 20 cent depending on the route. The Dublin Port Tunnel is the only tolled road not facing an increase.
Tourism sector warnings
The Government's approach to housing refugees will lead to "significant damage to Irish tourism" if the current situation continues into next year, the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) has warned.
In its report on the impact the war in Ukraine is having on the Irish tourism sector, the group outlined the unintended consequences of the Government's policy for accommodating refugees from Ukraine, as well as international protection applicants from other countries.
The ITIC said 22 per cent of the tourism accommodation stock nationally is already contracted to the State to house refugees, including 15 per cent of hotel rooms.
The confederation estimated that, at present, there are approximately 34,000 Ukrainian citizens living in tourist premises in the State.
