NEED TO CATCH up? The Journal brings you a round-up of today’s news.

IRELAND

The Island Road in Enniscorthy is still showing the damage caused by the Slaney River during Storm Chandra with skips holding the destroyed possessions of its residents, who have experienced all this heartache before. Rollingnews.ie Rollingnews.ie

• There are major disruptions to train timetables this weekend due to the Bank Holiday weekend.
• Today’s Dublin Racing Festival card has been postponed until Monday following 17mm of rainfall on Leopardstown racecourse overnight.
• Taking part in European defence initiatives and increasing the capability of a country’s security services does not impact on a State’s neutral status, the Austrian ambassador to Dublin has said. 
• Gardaí have seized €10.12m euros worth of cannabis in a joint operation with Revenue Customs in County Louth. 
• A man died this morning when he was struck by a car on a roadway in County Kildare. 
• A man in his fifties has died and two women in their sixties have been hospitalised following a fatal assault in Ballybough, Co Dublin in the early hours on this morning.
• Tánaite Simon Harris has said flood relief payments are to increase following the damage caused by Storm Chandra.
• Former police officer Jon Burrows has become the new Ulster Unionist leader, while Diana Armstrong has become deputy leader.
• Tánaiste Simon Harris has said he wants to put an age restriction on social media in Ireland as it is “experimenting with the minds” of young people.
• The ESB has warned that heavy rainfall has caused them to consider releasing water from its Poulaphouca Reservoir which may cause flooding along the River Liffey.

INTERNATIONAL

The 21st edition of the Chinese New Year, an event celebrating the Year of the Fire Horse, took place in the Liberdade neighborhood, in the central region of Sao Paulo. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#PALESTINE Israeli air strikes killed 28 people in Gaza on Saturday, including children, according to the civil defence agency.

#AMERICA Thousands of protestors rallied in US cities last night in the latest show of anger over US President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

#USA The US Government entered a partial shutdown Saturday as a midnight funding deadline passed without Congress approving a 2026 budget, though disruption was expected to be limited with the House set to move early next week to ratify a Senate-backed deal.

PARTING SHOT

Many workers in countries around the world use ferries to make their daily commute, so could it work here?

Minister of State and TD for Dublin Rathdown Neale Richmond has said the Manly ferry in Sydney, the Staten Island ferry in New York and the Thames river taxis in London are used regularly. 

He told The Journal that introducing a water ferry from Dún Laoghaire into Dublin Port could be a quick and affordable option to help with Dublin’s traffic congestion. 

It’s an idea that has been put forward by Fine Gael Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Councillor John Kennedy, who says the journey by ferry between the two ports takes just five minutes. 

We asked in today’s poll: Should a water ferry from Dún Laoghaire into Dublin Port be rolled out? 

The results are in:

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