LAST UPDATE | 24 Feb 2022

GOOD MORNING.

Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to catch up with to start your day.

1. #INVASION: Ukraine says Russia launched a full-scale invasion in the early hours of this morning.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced what he described as a military operation in a televised address at around 3am Irish time just as the UN Security Council had convened for a special meeting to discuss the crisis.

Follow all the latest developments in our live blog this morning.

2. #NEUTRALITY: Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has strongly condemned the Russian attack, describing it as “a murderous act of aggression”.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1′s Morning Ireland programme this morning, he said. “Ireland is a neutral country, we’re militarily non-aligned, but we are certainly not neutral on an issue like this, when there is blatant aggression happening on the continent of Europe,” 

3. #UKRAINE: World leaders have strongly condemned the Russian attack this morning. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen vowed to hold Moscow “accountable”. 

“We strongly condemn Russia’s unjustified attack on Ukraine. In these dark hours, our thoughts are with Ukraine and the innocent women, men and children as they face this unprovoked attack and fear for their lives,” she wrote on Twitter

4. #WEATHER WARNING: Motorists across the country are being advised to take caution this morning with a Status Yellow snow and ice warning still in place.

Separately, a Status Yellow wind warning for Clare, Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo has been in place since 8am and is effective until 6pm.

5. #TRINITY COLLEGE: An investigation is underway after a man was discovered dead in the library of Trinity College. Officers from Pearse Street were called to an incident in the library of the university at around 8.50pm last night.

6. #UNDER PRESSURE: The HSE is urging the public to think carefully about whether they require ambulance assistance after several calls were made to the services over low-risk incidents in the last two weeks. 

7. #EMERGENCY POWERS: According to the Gardaí and the Director of Public Prosecutions, there were no prosecutions of publicans and no pubs closed for breaching lockdown rules while emergency legislation was in place.

8. #COURTS: A young driver who drove through a red light and fatally knocked down a pedestrian in Rush in north County Dublin has received a fully suspended sentence.

Lawyers for Letitia Barry (22) told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that there were unusual features at the pedestrian crossing at Whitestown Road, in Rush, Dublin which made the position of the victim somewhat invisible to a driver at a certain point.

9. #STARDUST: Justice minister Helen McEntee has said that she will be considering amendments to current laws around jury selection for the upcoming Stardust inquest, due to concerns raised by families who lost loved ones in the tragedy.