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Poll: Will you celebrate St Brigid's Day today?

TODAY IS ST Brigid’s Day.

With its origins in the Celtic festival of Imbolc, St Brigid’s Day was the festival of fertility and marked the beginning of spring. You can read more about it on the National History Museum’s site here.

Typically, it’s the day Irish children make crosses from rushes and reeds to honour the feast day of St Brigid.

This morning we want to know: Will you celebrate St Brigid’s Day today?

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Wednesday 1 February

Today's Top Stories

# disability payments

State 'didn't have a leg to stand on' over non-payment of disability allowance, says Varadkar

# Protocol

EU reports 'very constructive' Northern Ireland Protocol talks but says there is no deal yet

# Cancer

People in Ireland's most deprived areas have higher risk of dying from cancer, report finds

# colm horkan

New jury to be sworn in at Stephen Silver murder trial after initial jury was discharged

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Missing radioactive capsule found in Australia

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# Active travel

National Transport Authority allocates €290m for walking and cycling infrastructure

The investment will fund around 1,200 Active Travel projects.

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# Protocol

EU reports 'very constructive' Northern Ireland Protocol talks but says there is no deal yet

The Times earlier reported the EU has accepted a plan that would avoid routine checks on goods going into the region.

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# Arrest

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Graham Carey is being held at a south Dublin garda station.

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# Romania

Andrew Tate appears in court to appeal against second 30-day extension of detention

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# disability payments

State 'didn't have a leg to stand on' over non-payment of disability allowance, says Varadkar

A secret Cabinet memo revealed that the State could have been liable for up to €700 million in DPMA claims.

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# colm horkan

New jury to be sworn in at Stephen Silver murder trial after initial jury was discharged

A note was handed to the judge this morning to say that one of the jurors had a difficulty serving.

6.7k

1 hour ago

# nursing home charges

Public Accounts Committee to probe whether Government hid information about nursing home charges

The committee is meeting this afternoon to discuss the strategy.

4.4k

Updated 1 hour ago

# Roderic O'Gorman

Minister: 'No level of consultation' would change views of some on housing asylum seekers

Minister Roderic O’Gorman also expressed concern about the impact of some ‘untrue, online rumours’.

11.6k

Updated 2 hours ago

# Finance committee

'Significant decline' in account activity across KBC and Ulster Bank as market exit looms

TDs are due to hear from both KBC and Ulster Bank later today.

8.6k

Updated 2 hours ago

# rent credit

'Exceptionally high volume' of calls to RTB leading to backlog on queries about renters' credit

Green Party TD Patrick Costello said that the RTB are overburdened and don’t have the resources they currently need.

6.4k

Updated 3 hours ago

# Mea Culpa

Sexton has 'probably proved me wrong' after Lions omission, admits Gatland

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Good Morning

The 9 at 9 Potential Protocol breakthrough, €14 billion in mortgages drawn down and PayPal announces job cuts.

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SPOTLIGHT

Voices

A wide mix of viewpoints, analysis and first-hand experiences

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Feast day

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Listen Now

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# st brigid's day

Poll: Will you celebrate St Brigid's Day today?

Let us know.

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# friction

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Mining giant Rio Tinto apologised for losing the capsule.

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# strike action

Walkout Wednesday: Up to 500,000 workers across the UK on strike today

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# tech lay offs

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PayPal employees around 2,000 people in Ireland and has operations here in Blanchardstown and Dundalk.

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# BACKLOG

RSA chief to apologise in front of Transport Committee for delays in NCT inspections

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# tyre nichols

Tyre Nichols to be laid to rest three weeks after deadly assault by police

A funeral will be held on Wednesday for the 29-year-old skateboarder and amateur photographer.

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# ChatGPT

ChatGPT creators release new tool aimed at easing concerns over university plagiarism

Various universities have now banned the software.

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# heatwaves

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# Mortgages

Ireland had the highest number of mortgage drawdowns last year since 2008

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Ireland three years past deadline to send long-term climate strategy to European Union

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The government has repeatedly fallen short of promises to get the important strategy finished.

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13.0k

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# Done Deal

Spurs terminate Matt Doherty's contract to enable Atletico Madrid move

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# Nuclear Weapons

US says Russia is not complying with last remaining nuclear treaty

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# Bah Non

1.27 million people joined protests over French pension reforms, say officials

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# nursing home charges

Varadkar defends controversial 'legal strategy' for limiting nursing home payouts

Opposition parties have called on the Government to release documents relating to the strategy.

The government has confirmed the legal strategy existed to block refunds to nursing home residents and that the plan was "pursued by successive governments".

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar agreed with the policy, calling it a "sound policy approach" and "legitimate legal strategy".

Wexford TD Verona Murphy told The Journal that some families who have contacted her feel "aggrieved" at the legal strategy, as they made sacrifices in order to pay for the nursing home care.

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