EVERY MORNING,TheJournal.ie brings you the stories you need to know as you start your day.

1.#WATERWORKS: The cabinet is to meet today, with Irish Water set to dominate the agenda. Bonuses, sign-ups and communication are set to be discussed.

2.#GALE FORCE: Ferry services have been disrupted as gale-force winds batter Ireland. Met Éireann is saying that Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo will get the worst of the wind.

3.#EBOLA: A group of emergency doctors are worried that Ireland may not be able to cope with an outbreak.

4.#PISTORIUS: South African athlete Oscar Pistorius will find out today if he will serve jail time for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp today.

5.#BEST SMALL COUNTRY: Ireland is a great place to come on holiday. That is the opinion of Lonely Planet, anyway.

6.#STARDUST: The families of Stardust nightclub fire victims will hand over new information to the Department of Justice. They say that the information proves that previous reports into the fire got it wrong.

7.#WELFARE: The Department of Public Expenditure urged Brendan Howlin to cut social welfare payments as part of a review on public spending, the Irish Times reports.

8.#RIP: Legendary fashion designer Oscar de la Renta has died aged 82. He had been diagnosed with cancer in 2006.

9.#BREAKTHROUGH: A Bulgarian man who was completely paralysed from the waist down can walk again following pioneering surgery.