De Bromhead said: “We had a good Christmas overall. New Year’s Eve was extremely frustrating, but apart from that it was the normal ups and downs when you have that number of runners. “Bob ran a blinder in defeat, obviously The Big Westerner was very impressive and Koktail Divin was good. “There were obviously a few disappointments but you just get that with the number of runners I suppose. “We’ll see where we go with The Big Westerner, but I’d imagine we will head straight to Cheltenham with Koktail Divin.”

Sean Keaney (35) from Ballinagh, Co. Cavan, has been identified locally as the Irish man who tragically drowned at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Emergency services recovered Mr Keaney’s body from the water at Whitehaven Beach at 11am on New Year’s Eve. In a tribute posted online, Mr. Keaney’s London GAA club, Tara GFC, for whom he played, said he had a smile “that could light up a room and a laugh that could warm your heart”. “After transferring from Crosserlough GFC in Cavan to Tara GFC, Sean spent an incredible four years with our club, leaving a lasting impact on everyone he met,” the club said. The club has set up a Gofundme page to help with the cost of repatriating Mr Keaney’s remains home in association with the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust.

Photo: ReutersSwiss investigators believe sparkling flares in Champagne bottles ignited the fatal fire at a ski resort when they came too close to a crowded bar's ceiling. Officials said on Friday that 40 people were killed and another 119 injured in the blaze at the bar in Crans-Montana while revellers were celebrating New Year's Eve. His uncle Sebastiano Galeppini told Italian news agency ANSA that their family are awaiting the DNA checks, though the Italian Golf Federation on its website announced that he had died. Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said 13 Italian citizens were injured and six remained missing by midday Friday. Three of the wounded were being transported from Switzerland to a Milan hospital, the Italian civil protection agency said.

The year in motoring: EVs and automatics are on the rise but Ireland's favourite car brand remains the sameSociety of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI)figures confirm the motoring trends for 2025The Hyundai Tucson has consistently ranked as one of Ireland’s best-selling cars in recent yearsGeraldine Herbert Today at 16:12New figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show a total of 124,954 new cars were registered in 2025 with electric vehicles hitting a record 23,601 sales.

Don’t Miss: It is another action packed weekend of rugby in the URC this weekend with Leinster welcoming an familiar face to the Aviva Stadium when they take on a struggling Connacht side on Saturday. Meanwhile, Munster are on the road when they make the trip to Belfast to take on Ulster. Watch all the action live on Premier Sports and TG4. In the IFC semi-final Kerry's An Ghaeltacht go head-to-head with Kildare's Sallins. Watch all the action live on TG4.

DoneDeal Cars reveal top user search trends in 2025Volkswagen was the most searched car brand on DoneDeal Cars in 2025, accounting for 13.8% of brand-filtered searches. Among searches where users applied the Car Model filter, the Volkswagen Golf was the most searched model in 2025, accounting for 5.3% of model-filtered searches. The Toyota Corolla, Toyota Yaris, BMW 3 Series, Audi A1 and Honda Civic also featured prominently. Most searched hybrid cars in 2025Among hybrid-filtered searches, the BMW 3 Series was the most searched model, accounting for 7.6% of hybrid model searches. The Hyundai Kona was the most searched electric model in 2025, accounting for 8.2% of electric model searches.

The price ceilings for homes to qualify for the State’s shared-equity scheme have been increased. The move should mean more buyers qualify for the First Home Scheme due to the increases in price ceilings for 17 counties or local authority areas, the company behind the scheme said. Accusations in the past that the scheme adds to housing inflation have been rejected by the scheme. The hike in the thresholds follows the latest of the scheme’s scheduled twice-yearly reviews of the price ceilings that apply to qualifying homes. The review has resulted in increased price ceilings in 17 of Ireland’s 31 local authority areas, with each of these 17 local authority areas seeing an increase of €25,000 in the relevant ceiling.

Abbey Clancy looked incredible as she celebrated the New Year alongside her husband Peter Crouch and their four children in Dubai. The model, 39, slipped into a lavender long-sleeved top and a matching skirt as she partied the night away. Abbey's lookalike daughter Sophia, 14, cut a stylish figure in a black dress which she wore with matching heels. Abbey's younger daughter Liberty Rose, 10, wore a black top and matching skirt while her sons Johnny, seven, and Jack, six, both wore matching navy jackets and trousers with white T-shirts. Abbey shared a black and white photo of the family posing together alongside a friend of the children and a clip of the fireworks display at midnight.

A holidaymaker missed her flight due to a simple iPhone setting mistake. Brett Chody said she woke up too late for an early-morning flight to Chicago as a result. Brett said in the clip: 'I missed my original flight to Chicago this morning because I set an alarm on my iPhone in the alarm app from Apple and it went off, but silently. When you're looking at your device, it will lower the volume of your alerts if switched on, Apple's website explains. Once you look away, the volume of your alerts will go back to normal, hopefully ensuring your alarm goes off.

Nesting by Roisín O’DonnellRoisín O’Donnell’s novel was the first book I read this year and it stayed with me throughout the year. The story is achingly real for so many women, which makes this book all the more important, and incredibly sad. With its extraordinary writing, and ability to create tension, fear, and claustrophobia, it’s hard to believe this is O’Donnell’s debut novel. It’s no surprise Nesting was named Novel of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. Chaos Theory is a feelgood book with plenty of laughs, with likeable characters and real connections — between humans and robots.

Michael Healy-Rae noted his insistence 'that we relook urgently at planning exemptions for long-standing STL operators'. Photograph Nick BradshawThere should be a “serious rethink” of the Government’s planned crackdown on short-term letting (STL) “before irreparable damage is done to rural Ireland”, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Michael Healy-Rae has told senior Coalition figures. The Independent junior minister and Kerry TD said the existing plans are “not the solution to the housing crisis ... The Departments of Enterprise and Housing are developing a new regime for short-term lets, such as those advertised on Airbnb and other platforms. Mr Healy-Rae added that he was “insisting that we relook urgently at planning exemptions for long-standing STL operators”.

One neighbour who helped to rescue the family at Meakstown near Finglas, north Dublin, told The Irish Times he could see children looking down at him from an upstairs bedroom window as fire spread towards them. Garda sources said the five people in the house were lucky to survive after arsonists threw a petrol bomb through the ground-floor kitchen window. They went into the house and rescued the final person trapped, a woman in her 40s who is believed to be the mother of the children. Gardaí hope CCTV footage recorded by cameras at houses locally, including the targeted house, and nearby businesses has captured the attackers in the area. Dublin Fire Brigade said six ambulances from Dublin Fire Brigade and the National Ambulance Service attended the scene.

The body of Jeremiah Downing has been discovered on his farm just outside the village of Sneem. More than 100 people took part in the extensive search for missing Mr Downing after he was reported missing on New Year's Day. Search teams includes friends and family from the village along with people from nearby Kennmare, Castlecove and Caherdaniel. Some of the search party members also focused on the approach roads to Sneem village particularly the Castlecove road as Mr Downing would frequent Castlecove often travelling on the Locallink service. He praised the volunteers who searched the area to ‘diligently’ in the hope Mr Downing and helped locate his body.

Pep Guardiola committed to Man City contract despite Enzo Maresca speculationBy Andy Hampson, Press AssociationPep Guardiola has reiterated his desire to stay on at Manchester City amid fresh rumours surrounding Enzo Maresca. The long-serving City manager said last month he intended to see out his contract at the Etihad Stadium, which runs until the summer of 2027. Guardiola, who will celebrate the 10th anniversary of his appointment this year, said: “The only (thing) I can say is that Chelsea, I think, from my point of view, lose an incredible, incredible manager, incredible person. He said: “We don’t talk much if we don’t know what the opponent’s going to be like because we don’t know which manager will be sitting. “I don’t know what’s going to happen so no concern (about that).

Austin Gleeson has withdrawn from the Waterford senior hurling panel. According to team sources, the Mount Sion man, 30, has been hit with a number of injury setbacks and is taking time out to consider his options. Gleeson produced impressive displays against Fourmilewater and Roanmore which indicated he was getting back to his best. Meanwhile, Waterford forward Paudie Fitzgerald has undergone an operation on his shoulder and is expected to be sidelined for four months. Fitzgerald incurred the injury in the closing stages of Kilrossanty’s Munster intermediate final defeat to Kilbrittain in late November.