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

IRELAND

The remains of Dickie Rock leave the Church of the Most Precious Blood following his funeral in Cabra, Dublin. Gareth Chaney / RollingNews.ie Gareth Chaney / RollingNews.ie / RollingNews.ie

• A man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of missing schoolboy Kyran Durnin, as searches continue in Drogheda.
• The freight and shipping industry is calling for Holyhead Port to reopen for ferries as soon as possible afters days of closure due to damage sustained during Storm Darragh.
• The 38 countries taking part in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland have been revealed, and they include Ireland, Israel and the Netherlands.
• The iconic Irish showband singer Dickie Rock has been laid to rest following his funeral near his home in north Dublin this morning.
• The solicitors for the family of Rebecca Browne, a young Derry woman who died after being struck by a Garda car, have said that the decision by the DPP not to prosecute any officers is “outrageous”.
• The Road Safety Authority is to hike fees for a number of its services, including the NCT and the fee to receive a driving licence and a learner permit.
• A man has pleaded guilty to making threats to Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris earlier this year.
• Eoin Hayes has taken down his GoFundMe and iDonate pages that were set up to fund his election bids due to “increased public interest” in the contributions and his desire to protect some donors’ privacy.

INTERNATIONAL

President-elect Donald Trump after ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange today. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#SYRIA: Syria’s new interim prime minister pledged to protect minority rights as Washington’s top diplomat flew to the region today to urge an “inclusive” transition, following the ousting of president Bashar al-Assad.

#BIDEN: Outing going US President Joe Biden has commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 criminals and pardoned 39 others convicted of non-violent crimes, in what the White House called the largest single-day act of clemency in US history.

#PERSON OF THE YEAR: Time Magazine has named US President-elect Donald Trump its “person of the year,” marking the second time he has won the accolade, in acknowledgement of the mogul’s stunning political comeback.

PARTING SHOT

WELL, THAT ESCALATED quickly. The Journal’s politics team talk Eoin Hayes drama, government formation, and who the next Ceann Comhairle may be.

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