Red weather warning
A red weather warning has been issued for the south-west of Ireland as the island braces for the arrival of Storm Eunice, with schools in seven counties being advised to close.
The Met Éireann red storm warning for counties Kerry and Cork comes into effect at 3am on Friday morning and will remain in place until 8am.
The Department of Education has advised that schools in Cork and Kerry close on Friday.
Nphet mask wearing
The National Public Health Emergency Team (Nphet) is to propose changes to current face mask requirements following a meeting of the group earlier today.
According to The Irish Times, it is understood Nphet agreed face coverings should only be required in healthcare settings, meaning they will no longer be obligatory in schools and retail settings, or on public transport.
The group is also thought to have given the green-light for a radical shake up of the testing system, however, further details of the plan have not yet been revealed.
Fisherman murder trial
A Central Criminal Court jury was unable to reach a verdict in the murder trial of a 20-year-old man, who said he acted in self defence and was protecting his home when a drunk fisherman entered as a trespasser.
Dean Kerrie said that after Jack Power had smashed the front window of his home, kicked in the door and attacked his family, the deceased received a knife wound to the chest when he "lost his footing and fell onto the knife". The accused had asked for a complete acquittal.
"I asked him to leave my house and to stop what he was doing. He started to kick me and I tried to move out of the way. I was trying to get out of his way, he ended up stabbed," Mr Kerrie, who was 17 at the time of the incident, told the jury.
Limerick funeral
Twelve-year-old Wiktor Chojecki, who died when the car he was driving collided head-on with a lorry last week, was kindness personified, his funeral Mass heard on Thursday.'
Wiktor, originally from Poland but living in Newcastle West, Co Limerick, was driving his mother’s Nissan Qashqai approximately 23km from his home on Friday at around 2am when the collision occurred.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, with a small shrine of teddy bears, candles, and floral tributes now marking the point on the N21, on the outskirts of Adare.
Criminal convictions
A minister has said it is “astonishing” that Sinn Féin might allow people with criminal convictions to serve as government advisers.
Earlier this week, Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy indicated that any ban on people with criminal convictions working as advisers in a Sinn Féin-led government would “depend on the circumstances”.
On Thursday, Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris said he was shocked that such a matter would even be debated.
