Barry Keoghan's latest red carpet appearance had Beatles fans twisting and shouting on Wednesday evening as the actor prepares to play Ringo Starr in an ambitious four-film anthology. Sony Pictures previously announced there will be four separate films about the legendary band, with British actor Harris Dickinson playing John Lennon, Paul Mescal as Sir Paul McCartney and Joseph Quinn portraying George Harrison. The project marks the first time Apple Corps Ltd and The Beatles – Sir Paul, Sir Ringo, and the families of Lennon and Harrison – have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film. Ringo previously appeared to let slip that Saltburn star Keoghan had taken on the role. Keoghan recently admitted that he wasn't able to look Beatles legend Starr in the eye during their first meeting because he was so overcome with nerves.

A man in his 30s died following a single-vehicle collision in Co Monaghan yesterday evening. Anyone with information is asked to contact Monaghan Garda Station on (047) 77200, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda Station. Pedestrian (70s) killed in LaoisMeanwhile, a pedestrian has died in a separate collision involving a car in Co Laois on Wednesday evening. The pedestrian, a man in his 70s, was taken to Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore, where he was later pronounced dead. Anyone with information is asked to contact Abbeyleix Garda Station on (057) 8730580, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.

A two-year-old snooker prodigy has secured multiple Guinness World Records by becoming the youngest person to perform two trick shots. The achievements make Jude officially the youngest person ever to perform both trick shots — and one of the youngest double record holders in Guinness World Records history. “But for him to achieve not just one, but two world records, it’s probably the pinnacle moment. Editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records, Craig Glenday, said: “Record-breaking has always belonged to everyone — regardless of age. We’re thrilled to welcome him into the Guinness World Records family.”

Part of a landbank on Cork City’s Airport Hill, which famously sold for €2.4m per acre at the height of the boom, is on course for the construction of 121 homes, within a €50m development. Contractors Noel Kelleher Tree Care & Site Clearance are on site, clearing trees. The sale included 7.23 acres on the left-hand side of Kinsale Rd/Airport Hill and 4.4 acres across the road. The developer is currently active on several sites in Cork City, including one on Dunbar St, off George’s Quay, where work on the construction of 14 apartments has just got under way. I’ve found Cork City Council brilliant to work with,” Mr McBarron added.

The Confederation of African Football has suspended Senegal coach Pape Thiaw for five games and fined him $100,000 for "unsporting conduct" after he told his players to leave the pitch during the Cup of Nations final against Morocco. CAF also fined Senegal's federation $615,000 due to the team's conduct and the behaviour of their fans, while players Iliman Ndiaye and Ismaila Sarr were suspended for two CAF games for unsporting behaviour towards the referee.

Tourism now accounts for one in 10 jobs in Cork, and the industry is targeting a growth in visitor numbers to the region by up to 10% this year. Visit Cork is the official destination tourism marketing agency for Cork. Visit Cork confirmed it is actively targeting Canada as a priority market from 2026, alongside continued focus on the US, UK, Spain, France, and the Netherlands. Expansion of activity in Germany was also announced, with Visit Cork twinned with Tourism Ireland’s German market office for the rest of 2026. Cork Convention Bureau, a public private partnership which operates as part of Visit Cork to promote the city as a business tourism destination, said conference and business events have delivered approximately €150m to the Cork economy since 2007.

Arne Slot urges Liverpool to take dominant European form into domestic campaignBy Carl Markham, Press AssociationLiverpool head coach Arne Slot was delighted to have qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League but even he admitted the 6-0 thrashing of Qarabag was unlikely to quell the noise surrounding their domestic form. But Slot knows if they cannot transfer that form to Saturday night’s visit of Newcastle then the scrutiny will not ease. But despite having a squad which is shrinking by the game Slot does not think there will be any late movement in the transfer window. “What we don’t want to have is a squad where we have four right-backs and 12 midfielders and three or four number nines. That’s not how it works over here so we have to do the smart things for the near future, but also for the longer future.

Mark O’Connor has come home to represent Dingle before, but it never felt as raw as this. The sense around the team was different this season; they could see the path to the summit. The Geelong AFL star previously played for his home club in 2018, without permission from his employer. That relationship blossomed to the extent that Geelong granted him permission to play through the Kerry county championship, Munster championship and All-Ireland series.

‌It means that the Champions League is looking very England heavy with players and managers citing how the Premier League is indeed showing that it is the best league in the world. If all of the Premier League sides go out in the next round, we probably can't say that they have dominated. Will that still translate later in the competition when energy has been sapped by the relentless scheduling of Premier League sides? It's why Tottenham can finish fourth in the Champions League table, while sitting 14th in the Premier League. TV rights have generated enormous broadcast revenues for Premier League sides, with the income from that source dwarfing those of other countries.

Lewis Hamilton has made his demands perfectly clear as Ferrari appointment deadline nearsLewis Hamilton is getting a new race engineer at Ferrari after his first season with the Italian team didn't go according to planView 2 Images Lewis Hamilton will hope to put his initial Ferrari struggles behind him in 2026 (Image: NurPhoto, NurPhoto via Getty Images)Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton will enter the 2026 Formula 1 season with a significant behind-the-scenes shake-up, providing all goes to plan. The seven-time world champion will have a different race engineer in his corner after an initial campaign with Riccardo Adami failed to deliver the desired results, but time is running out to get Adami's successor in place. ‌Hamilton's maiden Ferrari season saw him claim sixth place in the Drivers' Championship, trailing team-mate Charles Leclerc by more than 80 points and finishing over 250 points behind world champion Lando Norris. Regardless of the final choice, there's an increasing awareness of the requirements needed to establish the right chemistry with Hamilton. Still, despite the impending change, Hamilton isn't interested in pointing fingers and is keen to have everyone at Ferrari united in their goals.

Spring moves about four kilometres northwards each year, due to climate change. Trees can’t pull up their roots and leave when facing challenges, so they find coping with climate change’s impact particularly tough. Changes may even be to their advantage, as a recent paper on mosquitoes in Brazil’s Atlantic Rainforest suggests. Human blood-meal deposits were detected in nine mosquito species. The authors say: "The results revealed a clear tendency for the captured mosquito species to feed predominantly on humans."

The ponds have been at the centre of debate around single-sex spaces (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)A charity has been blocked from challenging rules allowing trans people to use single-sex facilities in Hampstead Heath’s swimming ponds. A High Court judge dismissed the legal challenge brought by gender-critical charity Sex Matters against the City of London, which operates the men’s, ladies’ and mixed bathing ponds in north London. The barristers for Sex Matters told a hearing in December that the policy of allowing trans people to use facilities which matched their gender identity was sex discrimination. In a ruling throwing out the legal action on Thursday, Mrs Justice Lieven said that the ‘appropriate forum’ for the claim was the county court, rather than the High Court. Reacting to the High Court Verdict, the chief executive of Sex Matters, Maya Forstater, said: ‘The fight for women’s safety, privacy and dignity in single-sex spaces will continue.

Irish mothers are older than the EU average but they still end up having more children. So the fact that women giving birth in Ireland are a couple of years older than the EU average is significant. Figures for 2023 – the latest complete EU data – show that the average age of a woman giving birth here was 33.2, the highest in the EU and two years above the EU average of 31.2. Looking at the average for first births, Ireland is at 31.6 – up from 26 in the mid-1980s – compared with the EU average at 29.8. On current trends, women in Ireland have, on average, 1.5 children (this is called the fertility rate), compared with the EU average of 1.38.

But at least part of what is driving the current political turmoil is a failure to accept, and adapt, to ecological limits and to address rising global inequality. Our economic system is entirely dependent on growth, or rising levels of income per capita: it is the singular obsession of neoliberal capitalism and all financial institutions. However, if we can’t agree on how to set limits on material resource use, we are bound to overshoot limits. This is the only way to end the vicious cycle where energy consumption drives growth and growth drives energy consumption. Finding the right balance between voluntary co-operation and hard limits on energy and resource use is a minefield that most politicians will run a mile from.

Tickets for the third annual International Women’s Day lunch hosted by Macra and the Agricultural Science Association (ASA) are now available. The theme of this year’s event is ‘Unstoppable: Women Driving Progress.’Macra president Josephine O’Neill, said: “We're delighted to see the return of our International Women's Day event in association with the ASA and proudly sponsored by FBD. "Women have always played an integral role in driving progress behind the scenes in rural Ireland. We look forward to shining a light on inspirational women and showcasing their achievements in Irish agriculture.”Held in recognition of International Women’s Day on March 8, the event will bring together industry leaders, professionals and advocates to celebrate and recognise the contribution of women across agriculture and rural Ireland. The Macra and ASA International Women's Day event will be held at the Lyrath Estate Hotel on March 5.