LAST UPDATE | 31 Oct 2025

GOOD MORNING, AND happy Halloween. 

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

Homelessness

1. In our main story this morning, Diarmuid Pepper reports that over 5,000 children are set to spend Halloween in emergency accommodation this year. 

The emergency accommodation figures for September will be released later this afternoon. Each month seems to bring a new high and Ber Grogan, the executive director of Simon Communities of Ireland, told The Journal that the “increases are shameful and shocking”.

Kildare

2. A man who was assaulted in Kildare town in the early hours of Sunday morning has died in hospital.

DJ Carey

3. Former Kilkenny hurling star DJ Carey is due to be sentenced today following his guilty plea to ten counts of fraudulently inducing people to give him money by falsely claiming he had cancer.

Car insurance claims

4. According to a new report published by the Central Bank, the average cost of motor insurance rose by 9% to €623 between 2023 and 2024.

Meet Mr Windsor

5. The decision by Britain’s King Charles to formally strip his brother Andrew of his ‘prince’ and honours is dominating the UK front pages this morning. 

Extreme weather

6. The death toll from Hurricane Melissa has risen to nearly 50 people, officials said, after the ferocious storm devastated Caribbean islands and was bearing down on Bermuda.

Global tensions

7. US President Donald Trump’s surprise directive to begin nuclear weapons testing has provoked global criticism, with Japanese atomic bomb survivors group Nihon Hidankyo sending a letter of protest to the US embassy. 

Oversight

8. Sinn Féin has come out against Government moves to restrict access to new local committees covering policing and community safety.

At Least It Looks Good From Space

9. Our columnist Carl Kinsella has written his first book – and has given us a little peek at what to expect.