LAST UPDATE | 7 Jan 2025

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

1. #COLD SNAP

A Status Yellow snow-ice warning is in place in every county until midday today and temperatures as low as -8C are forecast for some areas of the midlands tonight.

Andrew Doran Sherlock of Met Éireann has said that it will likely escalate warnings to Status Orange as it is set to get “extremely cold”.

2. #GOVERNMENT FORMATION

Getting a government up and running by 22 January – when the Dáil is set to resume – is increasingly being seen as unrealistic among sources in both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

Government formation talks resumed yesterday after the Christmas break and while there has been much talk about accelerating negotiations, it is now being viewed as “fanciful” that a government will be in place by the above date.

A number of sources have told The Journal that it could take an additional week or two to get final agreement on all sides.

3. #US ELECTION

The US Congress formally certified Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory, four years after he tried to stop the same process when Joe Biden won in 2020.

Kamala Harris, who lost out to the Republican in the November election, presided over the certification in her role as US Vice President.

4. #TAX

The State collected €28 billion in corporate taxes in 2024, an 18% increase on what it collected the previous year.

5. #SOUP KITCHENS 

Dublin City Council has defended proposals to introduce a licensing system for on-street soup kitchens, saying that it wants to ensure that groups “operating as charities will be regulated as charities”.

6. #HIT AND RUN

A cyclist was seriously injured by a hit-and-run incident in Dromiskin, Co Louth.

Gardaí and emergency services attended the scene on the R132 in Dromiskin, Co. Louth at approximately 6.25pm yesterday evening.

The cyclist, a man aged in his 40s, was brought to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda to be treated for serious injuries.

7. #EARTHQUAKE

A devastating earthquake in China’s remote Tibet region killed at least 90 people and collapsed “many buildings”, with tremors also felt in neighbouring Nepal’s capital Kathmandu and parts of India.

8. #US

A man accused of burning a sleeping woman to death inside a New York City subway train is due in court on murder and arson charges.

9. #UK

The UK government has found itself the latest target of online attacks from the world’s richest man, Elon Musk.