Good morning everyone, and happy, happy Friday!

It’s mild enough out, but with a very definite hint of rain so bear that in mind as you leave the house on your way to work.

This has felt like a bit of a long week, or maybe that’s just me.

Not to worry, it’s the freakin’ weekend everyone! Or it will be in about 10 hours. Hold on tight.

Quick weather warning to start things off, AA Roadwatch reports a rain warning for Wicklow, Donegal, Galway, Mayo, Cork, and Kerry.

Slow down out there.

Before we head to the weather, there’s an important announcement in from the gardaí.

Ah lads…

On the rails, the 5.40am Longford-Pearse service is running 25 minutes late due to a technical issues at Mullingar:

To the weather now, with Met Éireann.

Frankly, we’re looking at a horrible, horrible day. It’s going to very wet and windy with persistent widespread rain affecting the whole country throughout the day.

It’ll be heaviest in places in the afternoon and evening, particularly near mountains and on the south and west coasts, with the risk of localised flooding. The rain will clear gradually by evening time in western areas.

Strong southerly winds will reach gale force in coastal areas. Yikes. They’ll dissipate somewhat by the afternoon. Highest temperatures of nine or 10 degrees Celsius.

Dear lord, look at the rainfall radar:

Things will calm down a bit by tonight, with rain clearing and winds becoming light. There’s a chance of fog later in the night though. Lowest temperatures generally between two and four degrees.

It’s a big day for us here at TheJournal.ie towers – we’re launching a new dating site for our commenters.

You can read all about it here:

• Introducing: TJ Love, our new dating service for commenters

If you want an idea of how the complex algorithm behind the service works, take our commenting style quiz:

• TJ Love: Take our commenting style quiz to help us find your ideal mate

Love is just a click away people.

The issue at Mullingar is still causing problems for rail services heading for Pearse Station in Dublin.

Now the 6.15am service is delayed by 15 minutes.

There’s been a breakdown on the Ballymun Road in Dublin, heading into the city at the junction of Santry Avenue.

It’s unclear which lane it’s blocking, either the left or the middle, but that’s a bad place for a breakdown on a commuter morning. One to bear in mind, avoid the area if possible.

Let’s have a look at how things stand with our different commuter services:

Luas

There’s nothing major to report on the tram service.

This is worth bearing in mind though – there’ll be no services either tomorrow or Sunday due to the tram drivers’ ongoing strike action:

Dublin Bus

There are no major delays to report. The Dublin Bus Twitter person is having his usual busy morning though:

Dublin Bus / Twitter Dublin Bus / Twitter / Twitter

Irish Rail

As mentioned before, services into Pearse Station, Dublin, from Longford are running between 15 and 20 minutes behind schedule at present, due to a fault at Mullingar.

Bus Éireann

No news on specific routes to report this morning.

The breakdown in Ballymun is now officially blocking the left hand lane:

Google Maps Google Maps

Google Maps Google Maps

To Dublin traffic now with AA Roadwatch.

The breakdown mentioned before in Ballymun is the biggest news around the city at present.

The Swords Road/Drumcondra Road is busy in parts inbound.

The Navan Road inbound is busy, but moving.

The N4 Lucan Road at the M50 interchange is busy as far as Palmerstown. Con Colbert Road junction with Kilmainham is a little busy, but possibly not as heavy as usual.

DCC DCC

Delays on the Grand Canal, with traffic slow between Portobello and Leeson Street Bridge.

The M50 is slow southbound at Ballymount, junction 10. Northbound all is well on the ring motorway.

Google Maps Google Maps

DCC DCC

7.53am Pearse Station to Dundalk rail service is now departing from Connolly due to, you guessed it, the knock-on issues from a technical fault at Mullingar in Westmeath.

Pesky Mullingar…

There’s been another collision in Dublin, this time on the Cabra Road inbound before St Peter’s Church:

It’s not causing too much trouble though:

Meanwhile, the earlier collision on the Ballymun Road in Dublin has been moved to the bus lane.

That Cabra Road collision may be causing problems if Dublin City Council traffic management is to be believed:

Google Maps Google Maps

Google Maps Google Maps

Here’s the pick of this morning’s news from our 8 at 8:

Shutterstock Shutterstock

OBESITY: Irish women will be the second most obese in Europe by 2025 if current trends continue, a new study has found.

BRUSSELS: Zaventem airport, which was hit by a deadly bomb attack last week, is ready to partially reopen today, BBC reports.

#ROCK ON: The Workers’ Party wants to nationalise TXFM, which is due to come off air later this year.

#GANGLAND: John Gilligan is back in the country, having fled after two attempts on his life, The Herald reports.

Now to the regional cities, with AA Roadwatch.

In Galway, Limerick, and Waterford cities traffic is light or moving well with no significant delays.

Cork is the city on the bold step this morning:

There are city centre delays on South Mall Street, Anderson’s Quay and on Summerhill North.

The Dunkettle Interchange is getting busy on approach on the N40 South Ring Road.

Things are certainly looking a little rough around the city centre per Google Maps traffic:

Cork city centre live traffic Google Maps Google Maps

From commenter Jonny Lennon, regarding the crash on the Cabra Road in Dublin.

It sounds like traffic is dealing well with the problem:

Thanks for that Jonny.

If anyone else sees anything else you think belongs in this blog please do drop me a line at cianan@thejournal.ie or on Twitter @ciananbrennan.

Rollingnews.ie Rollingnews.ie

There’s been a deal of drama this morning in the ongoing Luas dispute.

First Workplace Relations Commission chairman Kieran Mulvey gave an interview to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland which appeared to be quite critical of the Luas drivers and their union Siptu.

In the aftermath Siptu president Jack O’Connor has called on Mulvey to resign.

And on top of all that there’s a two-day strike about to take place. Read all about it here:

• Jack O’Connor calls on Luas strike mediator to resign after RTÉ interview

I think we can all get behind this patriotic gesture:

It really does seem quite quiet on the roads around Dublin this morning.

Apart from the North Quays that is. Sure aren’t they always playing up:

DCC DCC

Actually, now that we say it, Guild Street isn’t looking too good either.

DCC DCC

In Limerick, there’s been a fuel spill on the M7 southbound at Castletroy. Gardaí are at the scene and extreme caution is warranted.

Take care out there:

This should give you a good indication that the M50 is moving well this morning:

In Galway, there’s a report of debris on the M18 Galway-Limerick road between Junction 16 Gort and Junction 15 Crusheen:

Google Maps Google Maps

Google Maps Google Maps

It’s strange, we’ve covered the horrible weather earlier, but there’s very little sign of it in Dublin city centre at the moment. Give it time says you.

In all seriousness, drive safe, it sounds like the heavens will be open for most of the day:

The breakdown inbound on the Ballymun Road in Dublin has now been cleared.

The traffic doesn’t look that bad considering:

Google Maps Google Maps

Let’s take another quick look at Dublin traffic before we check in with the regions. All information courtesy of AA Roadwatch.

The Navan Road is busy but moving – the collision on the Cabra Road isn’t causing too many issues.

On the Rock Road on the south side there are delays inbound from Booterstown Avenue to the Merrion Gates.

The North Quays are slow from Arran Quay to Bachelors Walk.

The Grand Canal is seeing delays between Harold’s Cross and Leeson Street Bridge.

The M50 continues to run well this morning, although the slow spot at Junction 10 Ballymount southbound is still causing issues.

DCC DCC

Things aren’t looking pretty weather-wise at the Red Cow roundabout mind you:

DCC DCC

Sure isn’t April Fools day the best day of the year?

Now, let’s check in with the regions with AA Roadwatch before we sign off for this morning.

In Cork there’s are some light delays around the city centre, but overall things are working well on the city’s roads this morning.

In Galway city traffic is a little busy inbound from the Kirwan roundabout to Terryland Cross. Traffic moving well elsewhere in the city though.

Google Maps Google Maps

Limerick and Waterford cities have nothing untoward to report traffic-wise.

Both the debris seen on the M18 Galway-Limerick Road and a fuel spill on the M7 Dublin-Limerick have been cleared and treated.

And that’s it for another day and another week on the liveblog!

Take care out there, have a brilliant weekend, and stay strong in the face of all the April Fools merriment. Remember there’s no shame in being made look silly when everyone else knew it was a joke and not you.

Only kidding.

Have a good one folks.