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

IRELAND

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe and Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers during a photo opp ahead of Budget 2026 RollingNews.ie RollingNews.ie

• Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said that Jim Gavin told the party that he “absolutely” did not have any issues with a tenant.
• The tenant at the centre of the Jim Gavin rent payment issue contacted Fianna Fáil on Saturday but has not received any call back from either the party or the former candidate
• A body has been discovered in a burned out car in north Dublin this morning. 
• A young woman has been charged with the murder of a 47-year-old Czech national whose body was found In an apartment in Carrick-on-Suir in Co Tipperary over the weekend.
• An award-winning bookstore in Dublin city centre was cordoned off this afternoon following an overnight arson attack.
• MEP Maria Walsh has warned that a proposal to cut the EU’s mackerel quota by 70% would “threaten the livelihoods of people across rural Ireland”.
• Yuno Energy has announced a price freeze for electricity and gas customers until at least 1 March. 

INTERNATIONAL 

Activists arriving at the Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport in Athens after being deported from Israel for taking part in a Gaza-bound aid flotilla Alamy Alamy

#COMING HOME  The Irish citizens who were taken from the Global Sumud Flotilla while sailing to Gaza have been released from prison in Israel.

#GHISLAINE MAXWELL The US Supreme  Court has rejected an appeal from Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein.

#TRUCE TALKS Israel and Hamas officials are meeting in an Egyptian resort today in the hopes of hammering out a potential ceasefire in Gaza on the eve of the war’s second anniversary.

#RIP Jilly Cooper, the best-selling British author who was best known for her Riders, Rivals and Polo novels, has died at the age of 88.

PARTING SHOT

Independent Áras hopeful Catherine Connolly has showcased her football skills.

Connolly was canvassing in Dublin city yesterday following the RTÉ debate.

At Courtney Place Flats on Ballybough Road, 68-year-old Connolly wowed locals as she performed ‘keepie-uppies’ and played basketball with children.

A video shared by Sinn Féin of the keepie-uppies in question has (thus far) amassed over 85,000 likes and close to 750,000 views on TikTok.