LAST UPDATE | 4 Apr 2025

EVERY WEEKDAY EVENING, The Journal brings you five of the biggest stories of the day. 

1. #CHARGED Actor and comedian Russell Brand has been charged with rape, UK police have said.

2. #TARIFF TALKS The government, business leaders and unions are meeting to strategise Ireland’s response to US President Donald Trump’s imposition of tariffs, which have launched a stock market slide and sparked recession fears.

3. #PATERNITY A new report has revealed that only half of new fathers in Ireland avail of the paternity benefit available to them.

4. #SANCTIONED Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris has said it was “appropriate” that a “significant sanction” be placed on party councillor Punam Rane over comments she made last year about Jewish people and Israel at a Dublin City Council meeting.

5. #EDUCATION There has been a 540% increase in the number of schools who were referred to the state’s Financial Support Services Unit which offers guidance to school management in times of crisis in the last two years.