LAST UPDATE | 4 Jan 2025

GOOD MORNING.

Here’s all the news that you need to start your day.

Mirjana Pap

1. A 31-year-old man was yesterday charged with the murder of his mother, Mirjana Pap, whose lifeless body was discovered in Roscommon on Monday.

The mother of three, who was 58 and originally from Croatia but resided at Beechville Athlone, Co Westmeath, was found on bogland at Curraghaleen outside the town after being reported missing two days earlier.

Birth reflections service 

2. One of the country’s biggest maternity hospitals, the Rotunda hospital, has paused a service that allows women to talk through their birth experiences.

Women who have had difficult birth experiences have been upset to discover the ‘birth reflections’ service, which the hospital previously advertised online, is no longer available.

Killeavy collision

3. Tributes have been paid to Tiarnán Trainor, a thirteen-year-old boy who died yesterday following a collision involving a quad bike in Co Armagh. 

Yoon Suk Yeol

4. South Korea’s political leadership was in uncharted territory today after the sitting president resisted arrest over a failed martial law decree days before the warrant expires.

The South Korean president was impeached and suspended last month after the bungled martial law declaration – a political move swiftly overturned by parliament – with a separate warrant later issued for his arrest.

The trial of Diarmuid Phelan

5. Barrister and academic Diarmuid Phelan was yesterday found not guilty of the murder of Keith Conlon, who had trespassed on his farm in 2022, following a highly publicised ten-week trial. 

You can read the full story of the trial here. 

Met Éireann

6. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be a “big disruptor” in the world of weather forecasting, allowing more models to be run to reduce uncertainty in predictions, according to Met Éireann’s head of forecasting.

Speaking to The Journal, Met Éireann’s Head of Forecasting Eoin Sherlock outlined that Met Éireann is laying the groundwork to integrate AI developments into its work, explaining that AI can help to produce forecasts that have “more confidence” and “less uncertainty”.

Hush money case

7. A New York judge has set US president-elect Donald Trump’s sentencing in his hush money case for 10 January, ten days before his White House inauguration – but said he was not inclined to impose jail time on the former president. 

Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts in May last year after a jury found he had fraudulently manipulated business records to cover up an alleged sexual encounter with porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.

Darts

8. Luke Littler yesterday his dream by winning the World Championship after bulldozing his way past Michael van Gerwen.

The 17-year-old sensation beat Van Gerwen 7-3 in a one-sided final to become the youngest ever world champion.

Cold snap

9. Status Orange warnings have been issued for counties in the south of the country across this weekend, while the rest of the country is under various Status Yellow warnings. 

Impacts are expected to include very difficult travelling conditions, poor visibility, travel disruption delays to public transport likely (air, rail, bus), difficult conditions underfoot, and animal welfare issues, Met Éireann said.