NEED TO CATCH up? TheJournal.ie brings you a round up of today’s news.

IRELAND

The Christmas lights being switched on on Dublin's Henry Street this evening Rollingnews.ie Rollingnews.ie

• Fianna Fail’s director of elections Pat Carey has stepped down from his role amid speculation that he is the minister at the centre of a Garda investigation into allegations of child abuse
• Flights were cancelled as Storm Abigail wreaked havoc across the country
• Five men were arrested on suspicion of child rape in Ballymena, Antrim
• Friends, neighbours and his 80-year-old mother wrote letters of support for David Drumm
• Famed Irish business Avoca has been sold to a US catering giant
• A Limerick man was jailed for 12 and a half years for brutally raping a woman in her home
• Mairia Cahill said she deeply regrets her involvement with dissident organisation the Republican Network for Unity
• 240 jobs look likely to be lost at the Roche Ireland plant in Co Clare
• A ‘bunch of whimpering babies’ got rather feisty in Dáil Éireann
• J1 students will need to secure a job in the US before being granted their visa next summer
• A shortage of chefs is forcing Irish restaurants to close
• Festive event Christmas Kingdom has moved from Malahide, Dublin after residents protested at its presence
• Security is to be beefed up at Leinster House to provide increased protection for TDs

INTERNATIONAL

Andy Kelvin Andy Kelvin

#LIVERPOOL: Gayle Newland, the woman at the centre of a ‘prosthetic penis’ sex case, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for tricking a friend into having sex with her by disguising herself as a man.

#NETHERLANDS: A man was due in court over the suspicious death of his Irish wife in Den Bosch

#GIRL’S BEST FRIEND: Leonardo Di Caprio has been putting money into a venture which claims to ‘grow’ real diamonds

INNOVATION

• The Irish government is easing up on its requests for Facebook data
• With barely a month to go before the release of the new Star Wars movie, new details are finally beginning to emerge (Geek.com)

PARTING SHOT

His namesake may be busy fighting White Walkers and the like in HBO’s Game of Thrones, but Channel Four News’ Jon Snow has stolen a march on Kit Harrington – he’s actually made it all the way to the Iron Throne without spilling a drop of blood.

You know everything, Jon Snow…