Athlone's Darkness Into Light confirmed to go aheadRebekah O'ReillyAthlone's Darkness Into Light walk will definitely to go ahead in May, organisers have confirmed. There was immense disappointment locally when, at the start of the month, the Darkness Into Light Athlone Facebook page posted that the event would not take place this year. "Yes, I can confirm that this year’s event is going ahead on May 9 at 4.15am. "We know there has been some confusion locally, but planning is continuing and we are looking forward to the event. The Athlone Darkness into Light walk starts and ends at Athlone Town Stadium in Lissywollen taking participants through the town in a unifying message of hope.

Czechia football has been rocked by a match-fixing scandal two days out from the crunch World Cup playoff against Ireland. In what’s being described as the “largest police crackdown in the history of Czech football", dozens of arrests have been made during dawn raids. They state: "Since 6am, a huge intervention of perhaps the largest scale in the history of Czech football has been underway. All is in coordination with the UEFA anti match-fixing unit.”According to media outlet Isport, the three-year investigation concerns alleged betting corruption in club matches from youth to first-team level. The probe is said to concentrate primarily on the area of Moravia, part of the eastern Brno region near the Slovakian border.

Ahead of that event, we invited her to share the most common childhood sleep-related questions parents ask. “Parents, struggling with any aspect of their child’s sleep, often reduce it to something they’re not doing right. She says there is no right or wrong, no one way to support a child to sleep better or differently. Or spread the load — draft in family support — have baby sleep in lots of other arms. “You can proactively begin to shape infant sleep by making daytime adjustments that will help the maturation of organised sleep.”What can I do to help my baby sleep better?

Two tankers carrying Russian oil for Cuba may never reach the desperate people they are intended for. Russian oil on troubled watersA Russian oil tanker carrying 700,000 barrels of crude oil was heading for the Cuban port of Matanzas until, according to maritime trackers, it changed course yesterday. The ship, which was sanctioned by the United States, the European Union and Britain, is one of two vessels carrying Russian oil reportedly bound for Cuba. Other reports said US coast guard vessels were in the region to prevent the Russian shipments from arriving in Cuba. But even if the Russian oil shipments are unable to land, the exercise of sending them carries some benefits for Moscow.

Shoppers buy 36pc less steak as beef prices riseConsumers in key markets report ‘growth in expensiveness’ as the biggest barrier when considering beef purchaseJoe Burke, Bord Bia senior manager, meat and livestock said shoppers have been cutting back on the amount of beef they are purchasing in response to the higher prices. Catherina Cunnane Today at 06:30Shoppers bought 36pc less steak in recent months as rising prices prompted them to buy less beef. The volume of mince purchased dropped by over 10pc.

Revolut may have a strong head start but Zippay also has its advantages. It took them five years after the arrival of Revolut in the Irish market in 2015 to start working on a competitor to its instant payments services. Revolut assuredly has a huge head start, particularly among younger customers for whom instant payments is “normal”, not “new” and who have no particular loyalty to the established banks. But Zippay has its own inherent advantages. Zippay will appear automatically on the app that most of those customers will have been using over several years for online banking.

Irish-based investors have a couple of options when looking to put money into a fund as they can be structured as a life-wrapped fund, a UCITS (Undertaking for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) or an ETF (an exchange-traded fund). This is a pooled investment fund that is traded like a stock, hence “exchange traded”, and is thus priced throughout the day – compared to an investment fund which is priced when the market closes. This is similar to a fund in that it pools money to invest in certain assets, but is traded on a stock exchange. Once you know where you sit, you can bear this in mind when looking for an investment fund, as fund managers will typically assign a rating, indicating the risk profile of the fund. Depending on where the fund is domiciled, it might either be liable to capital gains tax or exit tax.

Defiant Ben Stokes issues X-rated message after England captaincy decision confirmedBen Stokes' role as England captain was part of an ECB review following the recent Ashes debacle, as were the futures of head coach Brendon McCullum and managing director Rob KeyView Image Ben Stokes will stay on as England Test captain (Image: Philip Brown/Getty Images)A defiant Ben Stokes issued an expletive-laden statement after it was confirmed that he'd remain as England Test captain. ‌On Monday, Stokes took to Instagram to post an impassioned message, admitting that time since the Ashes has been 'without a doubt been the hardest period of his captaincy'. "Being England captain is the greatest honour a player can be given and I do not take it for granted. "I F*****G love cricket, I F*****G love this team, I F*****G love being England captain and I have got so much more to give to this role and I'm so happy that I get to do it with Baz and Rob. Article continues belowThis summer, England will host New Zealand (June) and Pakistan (August and September) for three Test matches each.

World News"If it goes well we're going to end up with settling this otherwise we're going to keep bombing our little hearts out," says Trump in response to Iranians' 'fake news' dismissal

Claims that victory in this final could be a huge psychological blow in the title race are perhaps a little fanciful. But still, that flatness in the second half, the way Arsenal were pinned back and unable to break forward, has to be a concern. City went on to win the title by five points. They lost one game during the run in, to Aston Villa, City won nine in a row, and a second title chance in two years was gone. But the biggest fear for Arsenal will be that they were undone by anxiety, tightening up as the line came into view.

Social welfare overpayments worth €25.6m made to dead people were uncovered by the Department of Social Protection in 2025. Of this, nearly €24.7m related to pension overpayments to over 1,500 pensioners who had passed away. Another €668,919 was overpaid to 34 people receiving carers’ allowance, while disability allowance payments worth €940,595 were overpaid to 39 people. A widow’s pension worth €11,438 was overpaid to one widow, while illness benefit overpayments of €59,336 were linked to 93 people. He said that when there is an outstanding social welfare overpayment or a new overpayment is discovered, the Department of Social Protection will “pursue the overpayment from the estate of the customer”.

A decision by Cork City Council to waive more than a third of €800,000 in derelict site levies on a former Magdalene laundry has been slammed as “a disgrace”. Cork City Council has confirmed it has accepted from Moneda a payment of €500,000, waiving the €323,943 balance. A spokesperson for the Department of Housing told the Irish Examiner the only circumstances in which the derelict sites levy may be waived is under section 26 the Derelict Sites Act 1990. A Cork City Council spokesperson said the former Good Shepherd site remained on the derelict sites register, with fresh levies accruing to Bellmount until dereliction is removed. Under the new Derelict Property Tax, announced in Budget 2026, the Revenue Commissioners will soon have direct enforcement powers over the imposition of dereliction penalties.

Natalie McNally (32), who was 15 weeks pregnant, was stabbed in her home in Lurgan, Co Armagh. Stephen McCullagh (36) has been found guilty of her murderThe former partner of Natalie McNally has been found guilty of her murder. McCullagh was sentenced to life imprisonment – which is mandatory for such a crime – with the minimum tariff to be set at a later date. Family and friends of the victim cheered and hugged in court after the verdict was announced, and a number broke down in tears. He then played the grieving partner and father-to-be, convincing the McNally family he was “distraught”.

The Four Courts: An investment fund is seeking to redeem what it says is some €124 million to €125 million in loan facilities on a significant commercial property portfolio due to be sold by receivers, the Commercial Court heard. An investment fund is seeking to redeem what it says is some €124 million-€125 million in loan facilities on a significant commercial property portfolio due to be sold by receivers, the Commercial Court heard. Goldstein Property ICAV is also seeking an injunction preventing receivers appointed by RELM loan firms, which provided the facilities, from selling the properties. On Monday, Judge Mark Sanfey admitted to the fast-track Commercial Court the case brought by Goldstein against RELM Loan Opportunities 2 DAC, RELM Loan Opportunities 3 DAC, RELM Loan Opportunities 4 DAC and against receivers Ken Fennel and Brendan O’Reilly. Goldstein claims it is entitled to redeem loan facilities made to it by the RELM defendants.

The Concert Hall is the largest performance space in the Kennedy Center and seats 2,442. President Donald Trump extended his deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)A coalition of architects and historical preservation groups have sued to stop President Donald Trump from remaking Washington D.C.'s famous Kennedy Center in his image. The Concert Hall is the largest performance space in the Kennedy Center and seats 2,442. "Given the numerous public statements and actions by the Board of Trustees and Mr. Trump — which at minimum signal an intent to hastily gut the Kennedy Center down to its structural steel studs — immediate and effective judicial relief is required to prevent irreparable harm to the Kennedy Center." In December the board added Trump's own name to the building's facade, declaring it "The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts" — which experts have described as illegal.