The number of people hospitalised with influenza has increased by almost 60 per cent over the last two weeks as pressure on the health system continues to mount. The figures also show there were seven admissions into intensive care and one flu death reported by the HPSC that week. The highest number of cases reported last week were in children aged 0 to 14, who accounted for 1,022. On Wednesday morning, there were 20 children waiting for a bed across the three Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) sites. There were 434 patients waiting on hospital trolleys for a bed on Wednesday morning, of whom 70 were waiting more than 24 hours.

The final report into the British army/MI5 agent known as Stakeknife once again illustrated how during the Troubles the lives of some people were viewed as expendable by representatives of the British state. More people died than were saved by him. Scappaticci was run by the British army’s secretive Force Research Unit (FRU) but this latest Kenova report disclosed that MI5 was involved in “briefing and tasking Stakeknife” via the FRU throughout his “operation as an agent”. He was a spy from the late 1970s until at least the early 1990s. Previously it said its role with Stakeknife was “peripheral”.

Next year, parents applying for special schools will no longer need an Assessment of Needs in order to access it for the 2027 academic year. Depending on the age of the child, being able to access special education can often change their life for the better. Next year, however, parents applying for special schools will be told they no longer need an AoN in order to access special education for the 2027 academic year. According to the National Council for Special Education (NCSE), a child does need a “professional report” which identifies that they do have a special educational need, before they can be placed in a special class or a special school. “Who is going to be the gatekeeper of special education?” Ms O’Neill said.

The European Court of Human Rights is interpreting “inhuman and degrading treatment” too broadly, which is limiting the ability of member states to deport foreign criminals, the Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has said. It is understood that Denmark is frustrated with people who have successfully evaded deportation, if they can argue that they would suffer cruel or degrading treatment in their home country. Mr O’Callaghan was speaking as part of a meeting of justice ministers at the Council of Europe, to discuss the European Convention on Human Rights and migration. Some have successfully argued they would face cruel or degrading treatment in their home country. A spokeswoman for Mr O’Callaghan confirmed he believes that “the European Court of Human Rights has interpreted Article 3 on inhuman and degrading treatment too broadly”.

Photograph: Alan BetsonA veteran Irish executive has described finding out from a company newsletter that she was being demoted from her role as managing director of the multinational where she spent 24 years. “I have to say, that was pretty stressful,” Caroline O’Connell told the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC). “I believe I was dismissed because I took a grievance about my job being changed in a newsletter to the company,” Ms O’Connell told the tribunal. “What was I supposed to do, sit around for a year on the dole?” Ms O’Connell said. Mr Curran said that Ms O’Connell had failed to show sufficient evidence of efforts to mitigate her losses by interviewing for three jobs in the number of months she was unemployed.

Health chiefs are worried as uptake rates of highly effective flu jab are below target. This, Bernard Gloster, head of the HSE, said indicated the flu virus was likely to peak at a time of key socialisation: during the weeks of Christmas and new year. Kim Price, clinical nurse manager at Temple Street Hospital’s emergency department, said they were seeing “huge numbers of patients presenting”. The main issue for health officials is whether hospitals will be able to withstand the pressure in coming weeks. All of these things combined – a highly virulent strain, lower-than-optimal vaccine uptake, an ageing population and bed shortages – paint a daunting image of how much pressure the hospital system could be under this Christmas.

Roy Mercer walks along the coast at the Shelley Banks in Ringsend, Dublin, as Storm Bram battered the country on Tuesday. Photograph: Bryan O’BrienA status yellow wind warning is set to come into force overnight for counties Galway, Kerry and Mayo. As of 5pm on Wednesday, the ESB confirmed, 2,500 households and businesses remain without supply predominately in the southeast region. Met Éireann has said a temperature of 17.2 degrees was recorded at its weather station in Dublin’s Phoenix Park during Storm Bram. The highest verified temperature recorded in Ireland in December is 18.1 degrees which was noted at Dublin’s Peamount weather station on December 2nd in 1948.

Photo: Sam Boal/CollinsThe Glendalough Hotel in Co Wicklow was one of 14 premises served with a closure order by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) last month. The closure order was served on the hotel in Glendalough after a rodent infestation was found in the main food preparation area, evident by the presence of droppings throughout the main kitchen area. Rodent droppings were noted on the floor of the internal dry store, below the dishwasher area, on the floor below the hot holding unit and below the pot wash area. The closure order was served on November 5th, but lifted on November 7th. Among other food businesses served with a closure order was Cruncheesz takeaway on Cavan Road, Oldcastle, Co Meath.

Mia Jennings in action for Ireland in their FIH Pro League game against Belgium in Abbotstown. Photograph: Nick Elliott/InphoFIH Pro League: Ireland 1 Belgium 2Ireland’s FIH Pro League debut ended in defeat at Abbotstown on Wednesday, but they put up a gutsy show against Belgium, ranked third in the world, losing by just a 2-1 margin in the end. And Ballenghien doubled that advantage just after half-time when she dived to deflect the ball in to the roof of the Irish net. Ireland rallied well, Mia Jennings denied a goal on her debut when the Belgian goalkeeper make a smart save, Róisín Upton and Charlotte Beggs coming close too. England, who were beaten 3-1 by Belgium in their opening game on Tuesday, are up next for Ireland.

Iceland will not take part ‍in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, the country’s public broadcaster RUV said ‍on Wednesday, after organiser the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) last week cleared Israel’s participation. Iceland was ‍among the countries that had requested a vote last week on Israel’s participation. But the EBU decided not to call a vote on Israel’s participation, saying it had instead passed new rules aimed at discouraging ‌governments from influencing ‌the contest. Iceland has never won the song contest but came second in 1999 and 2009. ‌The Eurovision Song Contest dates back to 1956 and reaches around ⁠160 million viewers, according to the EBU.

(Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)European shares ended flat on Wednesday, as investors adopted a cautious stance in advance of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision, while also parsing a slate of corporate announcements. Market attention centred on the Federal Reserve’s rate decision later in the day, where the central bank is expected to trim interest rates by 25 basis points. EuropeAn index of automakers led losses, down 1.5 per cent, dragged lower by a 4.8 per cent drop in luxury carmaker Ferrari. LondonBritain’s blue-chip FTSE 100 edged up on Wednesday, supported by gains in banking stocks as investors awaited ‍the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision. Policymakers are also due to update their economic and interest rate projections for the coming quarters.

US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell: the central bank maintained its outlook for just one cut in 2026. Photograph: Caroline Gutman/The New York TimesThe US Federal Reserve delivered a third consecutive interest-rate reduction and maintained its outlook for just one cut in 2026. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted nine-to-three on Wednesday to lower the benchmark federal funds rate by 25 basis points to a range of 3.5-3.75 per cent. It also subtly altered the wording of its statement suggesting greater uncertainty about when it might cut rates again. Following the last rate cut in October, several officials warned of persistent inflation, indicating their hesitancy to support another reduction.

File photograph: PA WireA United States judge on Tuesday cleared the US justice department to release grand jury documents in ‍the criminal case against Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, who is in prison for sex trafficking underage girls with the deceased financier. The documents could also shed ⁠more light on Epstein’s ties to rich and powerful people, including Mr Trump. He previously amplified conspiracy theories about ‌Epstein and vowed to release ‌the files but now says they are a Democratic hoax aimed at distracting from his administration’s accomplishments. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence ‌following her 2021 trial conviction for child sex trafficking and other offences, though she maintains her innocence. During ⁠an interview with a top justice department official in July, Maxwell said she never saw Mr Trump behave inappropriately.

RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst said the acceptance rate for the broadcaster's voluntary exit offers is around 63 per cent this year. Mr Bakhurst, a former BBC News executive, also said that he has not applied for the vacant director general role at the BBC and is “very happy” in his current job. So we’re still very hopeful indeed of 100 exits this year from RTÉ,” Mr Bakhurst said. In response to questions from Social Democrats TD Sinéad Gibney, Mr Bakhurst also confirmed plans to outsource National Lottery programming as part of its cost-saving initiative. Asked by Ms Gibney if management is targeting any other programmes, Mr Bakhurst said: “The Lotto will be going out, because that costs a lot of money to do.

Luas staff said the service disruption has been caused by a power fault. Photograph: Sam Boal/Collins PhotosThe Luas Green line in Dublin, which has been affected by a power fault, is not expected to resume full operations by the peak commuter period this evening. Luas operator Transdev apologised for any inconvenience caused, confirming in an update at 4.30pm that the Green Line is still entirely down. On its website, the Luas operator said the service disruption has been caused by a power fault, the cause of which it cannot yet confirm. “Multiple Luas technicians are on site and are working systematically along the Green Line to identify the source of the fault,” it said.