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

IRELAND

Iseult Fitzsimons of Macnas helps to launch St.Patricks Festival 2025 at the Hugh Lane gallery in Dublin. Justin Farrelly / Rolling News Justin Farrelly / Rolling News / Rolling News

• Around 168,000 premises remain without power following damage caused by Storm Éowyn, as further support arrived from Austria and Finland this morning
• Taoiseach Micheál Martin dismissed claims that there was a lack of preparedness prior and post Storm Éowyn hitting Ireland
• A Department of Defence document has revealed that the Tánaiste been warned that EU “tolerance” and understanding for Ireland’s neutral stance may become less
• Sinn Féin announced their new front bench, which included two newcomers
• The Taoiseach has insisted that there was ‘no deal’ made with the Regional Independents on Dáil speaking rights
• Meanwhile, Sinn Féin TD Pa Daly has launched legal action against the Government over whether the attendance of ‘super junior’ ministers at Cabinet is unconstitutional 
• An OPW project to replace an unsafe 70-metre perimeter wall around a government office ended up costing over €490,000
• The government is set to sell a further 5% of its stake in AIB for around €652 million and could exit the bank later this year
• The HSE has said all families directly impacted by external reviews into the delivery of nine babies at Portiuncula University Hospital in Ballinasloe, Co Galway have been contacted 

INTERNATIONAL

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pictured during her first briefing today. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

#USA: Karoline Leavitt became the youngest person to serve as White House press secretary, making her debut in the briefing room this afternoon

#GULF OF MEXICO: Google has confirmed that it will add a ‘Gulf of America’ label to the Gulf of Mexico on its Maps app following Donald Trump’s bid to rename the body of water

#CHINA: Chinese firm Deepseek’s artificial intelligence chatbot has soared to the top of the Apple Store’s and Google Play’s download charts, displacing market leader ChatGPT

PARTING SHOT

Taoiseach Micheál Martin is in Roscommon where an emergency hub has been set up following #StormÉowyn.

One resident, who says they will not have power restored until 5 February, asks Martin about the government’s response to the storm. pic.twitter.com/nexGnq1wal

— TheJournal.ie (@thejournal_ie) January 28, 2025

A tetchy exchange unfolded today at a storm community hub in Castlerea, Co Roscommon, when a local resident approached Taoiseach Micheál Martin to ask about the government’s response to Storm Éowyn.

Rachel Connolly told Martin that in her view, not enough had been done to prevent hundreds of thousands of people across the country losing their power.