Craig Casey has a chance of facing Castres in Munster’s must-win Champions Cup pool game at Thomond Park on Saturday after fears of a serious shoulder injury were dispelled on Tuesday. The same applies to lock/flanker Tom Ahern, forced out of last Sunday’s tie with a neck injury but being assessed as the week progresses. Frontline second row Jean Kleyn and tighthead prop Oli Jager are both available for selection, though. South African Kleyn missed the trip to Toulon with a calf issue while Jager has been absent since October 10 when he sustained a concussion against Edinburgh. Academy scrum-half Jake O’Riordan, 21, could be also be primed for a Champions Cup debut as a replacement in that scenario having looked assured in his first two senior appearances, both this season, against Connacht and Argentina XV.

Ireland is working to resolve “outstanding issues” for “quite a number of industries” following the EU-US trade agreement, the Taoiseach has said. Speaking to reporters before a Cabinet meeting, Micheál Martin said: “Last year, the European Union and the United States reached an agreement in respect of tariffs and the trading issue – which did stabilise the situation as evidenced by our own economic and fiscal returns.

This week, the Chinese market has officially reopened for Irish beef, which was welcomed by members of the Irish Government and Bord Bia. The reopening of the Chinese market further underlines the strength of these systems and Ireland’s long-standing commitment to safe, sustainable, and high-quality agri-food production. In the longer term, Bord Bia, working closely with Irish exporters, is committed to building stable, sustainable growth for Irish beef in the Chinese market.”Bord Bia's office in Shanghai will officially relaunch Irish beef to the market in February for the Chinese New Year (February 17 - March 3) with key customers, Irish beef companies and Chinese trade media. Over the next few months, events such as the EU co-funded beef and lamb campaign will take place, as well as industry engagements for the B2B community with chef demonstrations on how to cook Irish beef, plus the presence of Irish beef at China's largest food and drink trade fair, SIAL, in May. Bord Bia China Manager, Sinead Kennedy, added: “With the resumption of exports, we can now dial up our activities in China.

The “26 for ‘26” campaign kicks off a year of activities to celebrate International Volunteer Year. Offaly volunteers asked to give 26 hours in 2026Offaly Volunteer Centre is calling for people to join an international community of volunteers by giving a couple hours a month this year and commit to volunteering 26 hours during 2026. The “26 for ‘26” campaign kicks off a year of activities to celebrate International Volunteer Year. Volunteer Ireland has been named the national lead on IVY 2026 by the Government of Ireland and will deliver a programme of activities together with other partners in the sector. Ireland’s leadership in IVY 2026 shows how a global idea can become something real in people’s lives.

A ceremony to present the new Iranian ambassador to Ireland with credentials has been postponed as its regime cracks down on protesters. The department of foreign affairs said the decision to delay the ceremony at Áras an Uachtaráin was taken after a “significant” number of Iranian protesters were killed and injured in recent days. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands detained in the uprising against supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s rule. On Tuesday, Ireland’s department of foreign affairs said the ceremony for the Iranian ambassador at Áras an Uachtaráin would be postponed. On Monday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin called for an end to the violence in Iran and said Iranians had the right to protest and to free speech.

The price of a pint looks set to rise as Guinness owner Diageo announced plans to increase prices of draught products to publicans by 7c. Diageo said higher costs were behind the price increase, with the company facing increases include wage inflation, rising energy costs in Ireland, and increased logistical and regulatory requirements. The price increases are effective from February 2. This includes an increase equivalent of €0.7c per pint of Guinness, and €0.10c per pint of Guinness 0.0," a statement from Diageo said. This latest price increase from Diageo will put even more pressure on pubs that are already operating on extremely tight margins.

Woodies owner Grafton Group said revenues rose by more than 10 per cent last year, boosted by growth in its Irish and Iberian businesses. But a weaker home improvement and maintenance market in Britain weighed on revenues there, while Grafton’s Northern Europe division also reported weaker revenue year on year. The final two months of the year saw average daily like-for-like sales growth turn broadly flat. There was brighter news from Grafton’s Iberia sector, where Salvador Escoda’s average daily like-for-like revenue rose 6.1 per cent for the year on a pro forma basis, and 4.4 per cent for the two-month period. Despite slowing growth in the latter half of the year, the group said the outlook remained favourable.

However, the total number of electric car registrations during 2025 was just marginally ahead of the number recorded during 2023. In 2024, there were 17,191 new electric cars registered in total, this was down from 22,493 recorded in 2023. This means electric car registrations accounted for 19% of the market in 2025. In addition to the electric car sales, there were 19,316 hybrid vehicles registered during the year and 18,226 plug-in electric cars. The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in 2025 was the Volkswagen ID.4.

It is also criminal to produce, share, or disseminate images that fall into the category of “child sex-abuse material”. In addition to the criminal dimension, there are also regulations governing the technologies behind this scandal. At a European level, the AI Act regulates AI systems such as Grok while the Digital Services Act regulates platforms such as X. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties and Digital Rights Ireland are calling on An Garda Síochána to investigate X. It is estimated that almost 40% of accounts that engage in pornographic or sexually explicit content are anonymous.

Clara’s Aoife Dalton with the player of the match award after Ireland’s Six Nations win over Italy in May 2025. Clara's Aoife Dalton named in Irish Rugby training campClara's Aoife Dalton is named among a 37-player squad taking part in a three-day Irish Women's Rugby training camp ahead of the start of the Guinness Women's Six Nations in April. Aoife Dalton, who is only 22, won her 25th cap for Ireland when she made her Women's Rugby World Cup debut in their opening game against Japan at Frankin Garden's in Northampton last August, where they claimed an emphatic 42-14 win. The former Moate Community School student, who began her rugby career with Tullamore RFC, was named Rugby Players Ireland Women's Players’ Player of the Year for 2025 after a brilliant Six Nations tournament where she started all five games. The Round 5 encounter will be the first ever standalone Women’s international at the home of Irish Rugby, and ticket sales have already passed the 12,000 mark.

Ireland is working to resolve "outstanding issues" for "quite a number of industries" following the EU-US trade agreement last year, the Taoiseach has said. Last year, the two leaders engaged with reporters for 50 minutes on a range of issues — including the tariff dispute. On Tuesday, Mr Martin said dialogue is ongoing on a range of issues. Mr Martin said: "It still is challenging for quite a number of industries, so our focus is on dialogue, continuing to work with United States government to resolve any outstanding issues." The Taoiseach also cautioned it is "early days" in relation to planning for the March trip.

ALDI Ireland announces pay rise for staffALDI Ireland has announced a 2% increase for staff paid hourly rates, with effect from February 1. ALDI first committed to paying the Living Wage at a minimum in 2018. ALDI has 166 stores across Ireland, and more than 4,800 staff across its store network. It said the latest increase will see the business meet or exceed the Living Wage, as calculated by the Living Wage Technical Group (LWTG) for the eighth year in succession. We are proud to confirm a 2% pay increase for our valued hourly colleagues, effective from February 1.

Gardaí would act if Grok-type platform set up in someone’s basement – ministerBy Bairbre Holmes, Press AssociationIf a business creating the type of images produced by the AI chatbot Grok had been “set up in someone’s basement” it would have been raided by the Gardaí “the next day”, a minister has said. Grok is an AI tool embedded in the social media platform X, and it has come under fire in recent days over reports users can create sexual abuse images, including of children. Minister for Further and Higher Education James Lawless said Grok is particularly challenging to tackle as it is not the “primary tool”, rather it is part of a “publication tool”. He said: “I don’t think Ireland is any better or worse than any other country in that regard. “I think that the world struggled with this.”He added: “As legislators, we need to get on top of this very quickly.”Mr Lawless also said the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, which is currently being introduced, would be an “opportunity” to help regulate the industry.

Sue Noakes felt her stomach drop as she read a letter delivering the most devastating news - she had early-onset dementia. 'I don't think you ever really come to terms with it,' she told the Daily Mail, speaking to support the Defeating Dementia campaign with Alzheimer's Society. You never know that you're going to get it, so you can't prepare, and it's rife. You don't know how you'll be with dementia.' 'And you're fretting, you're worried, you're frightened, and so that's taking up precious mental space that you don't need to have.

TEAM GB has been set a recording-breaking target of up to eight medals at the Winter Olympics next month. The British delegation is expected to number around 55 athletes at the Milan Cortina Games with the expectation of a substantial upgrade on the two medals won in Beijing four years ago. No British team has returned from a Winter Olympics with more than five medals, but such is the level of funding and success on the world level since 2022, squad bosses are bullish about their prospects in Italy. In the cohort of Mia Brookes (snowboarding), Kirsty Muir (freestyle skiing), Zoe Atkin (freestyle skiing), Bruce Mouat (curling) and Matt Weston (skeleton), there is an unprecedented range of British athletes with a realistic shot at gold. We are heading to Italy as a credible force across more disciplines than ever before, and I’m excited to see the nation get behind them.’