LAST UPDATE | 3 Dec 2024

GOOD MORNING. Here’s all the news to know as you start your day.

1. Election winners

All 174 of Ireland’s Dáil seats are now filled after a mammoth three-day shift put in by count centre staff across the country.

Fianna Fáil, with 48 TDs, comes out of this election with the most seats in the 34th Dáil.

2. Coalition talks

Newly elected Labour TD Marie Sherlock has said her party would not enter into a coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael on its own.

Sherlock said there would only be a basis for negotiation if “we’re with other small parties also”.

3. Pollution

Ireland’s environment watchdog has warned that councils are not doing enough to enforce water, air and noise pollution rules – with Galway, Waterford City and Sligo among those criticised as “not good enough”

The Environmental Protection Agency found that while performance in waste enforcement improved, local councils did not do enough to check farms and businesses are not polluting water and air quality.

4. Child Benefit

A double Child Benefit payment will be paid to around 676,000 families today.

Child Benefit is a monthly payment of €140 for each child but it will be doubled this month to €280 each.

5. Hunter Biden pardon

US President Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter has drawn criticism from both Republicans and Democrats.

Republicans are claiming the move was hypocritical while Democrats are warning that it undermines attempts to rein in Donald Trump.

6. France no-confidence vote

French Prime Minister Michel Barnier is bracing for a no-confidence vote this week that is almost certain to topple his fragile government.

President Emmanuel Macron appointed Barnier in September to tackle the country’s ballooning deficit. However, Bariner’s austerity budget – featuring €40 billion in cuts and €20 billion in tax hikes – has been widely criticised, escalating tensions in the French parliament.

7. Diarmuid Phelan trial

The State has asked a murder trial jury during closing arguments to consider whether law professor Diarmuid Phelan lost his temper and overreacted having “reached the end of his tether” due to repeated criminal acts on his property when he pulled a revolver from his pocket and fired it at a trespasser on his farm. 

8. Harvey Weinstein hospitalised

Harvey Weinstein has been hospitalised following an “alarming blood test”, according to his lawyer, less than a week after he filed a legal claim alleging that he is receiving substandard medical care.

9. Beatles

Recently discovered papers documenting the legal battles the Beatles were facing before they broke up are to be sold at auction in London.