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

IRELAND

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Minister for Children and Youth Affairs Katherine Zappone, with Donnacha Barr and Sam Lafferty Kivlehan at the launch of the National Childcare Scheme MAXWELLS DUBLIN MAXWELLS DUBLIN

• Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said Lisa Smith, who has reportedly been detained in Syria, will be allowed to return to Ireland as it is the “compassionate” thing to do.
• The Taoiseach also postponed his departure for the US for St Patrick’s Day to hold an unscheduled Cabinet meeting on a Brexit update this evening.
• A well-known criminal was arrested in north Dublin after shots were fired during an incident in Ballymun this afternoon.
• Met Éireann declared a Status Orange wind warning for four counties as Storm Gareth approaches.
• Talks between government and nurses’ unions were referred to the Labour Court after the latter rejected new contracts drafted by the government as “unreasonable”.
• The mother of Irish aid worker Michael Ryan, who died in an air crash on Sunday, paid tribute to her son as an “amazing” person who lived to help others.
• The HSE confirmed that the uptake rate for the HPV vaccine is now at 70%, marking an increase of 20 percentage points in just over two years.
• A section of Dublin was closed off following a fire at a restaurant in Temple Bar this evening.
• DUP leader Arelene Foster hit out at the City of San Francisco for posthumously awarding Martin McGuinness for his “courageous service in the military”.

INTERNATIONAL

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker welcomes Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Jean-Francois Badias Jean-Francois Badias

#BREXIT Theresa May travelled to Strasbourg for last-ditch talks with senior EU officials ahead of another expected vote on the Brexit deal in Westminster tomorrow.

#PLANE CRASH Flight recording equipment from the Ethiopian Airlines plane that killed 157 people when it crashed yesterday was recovered, according to the airline.

#INQUEST An inquest heard the cause of death of The Prodigy frontman Keith Flint, who passed away last week.

#ALGERIA Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced he would drop his bid for a fifth term in office following weeks of protests against his candidacy.

PARTING SHOT

Don’t like Mondays? Well one man who probably won’t agree with you is Dinny Corcoran of SSE Airtricity League side Bohemians.

First, he was awarded the league’s Player of the Month award, having netted three goals in three games for the Dublin club, including the winner in the Dublin derby over arch rivals Shamrock Rovers.

Then, hours later, the striker made a surprise appearance on the long-running Channel 4 quiz show, Countdown.

Although he didn’t manage to progress on the show, it was certainly a productive start to the week for the in-form striker.

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