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

IRELAND

Eoin Kearns, nine, with his brother Rory, six, from Antrim, with their snowman in Antrim Castle Gardens. PA / Liam McBurney PA / Liam McBurney / Liam McBurney

• A man in his 30s was charged with the fatal assault of Stephen McCahill in Ardara, Co Donegal.
• Insurance brokers have been left in the dark after prominent firm Footprint Underwriting gave notice that it has ceased trading on 2 January, without making any public statement.
• Tánaiste Simon Harris said it was “disgusting” that social media platform X’s artificial intelligence tool Grok is being used to create explicit and illegal images, as he urged people to report it to An Garda Síochána.
• There was a €2 billion improvement in the Exchequer surplus at the end of 2025 when receipts from the Apple tax ruling were excluded.
• A young Cork man who died while on a ski trip in France was named locally as 20-year-old Cian O’Brien.
• Ireland had its warmest spring and summer since 1900 last year and its overall second warmest year on record.
• Irish broadcaster Angela Scanlon is following her compatriots Ryan Tubridy and Graham Norton off the air at Virgin Radio UK, as the station overhauls its schedule.

INTERNATIONAL

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and US businessman Jared Kushner attend a joint press conference after the signing of the declaration on deploying post-ceasefire force in Ukraine at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Alamy Live News Alamy Live News

#GREENLAND ANNEXATION: Greenland and Denmark have requested a meeting with the US Secretary of State after Donald Trump’s latest threats to annex the Arctic island.

#UKRAINE: British armed forces will be deployed on the ground in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire with Russia, a press conference for the Coalition of the Willing heard today.

#STORM GORETTI It’s set to bring heavy snow, strong winds and disruption to parts of Britain and northern France later this week (but Ireland is likely to escape the worst).

PARTING SHOT

“The origins of the idea Woman’s Christmas in the South West of Ireland are unclear, but what is clear is that it has been celebrated since at least the 19th century.”

Where exactly does the idea of Nollaig na mBan, which has gained traction as a tradition in recent years, come from?

For the day that’s in it, Dr Mary McAuliffe looks at the history of the celebration.