10,000 without power, weather alerts in place as Storm Hannah hits

Some 10,000 homes, farms and businesses are without power across the country due to Storm Hannah.

The ESB has said the outages are mainly in Cork and Kerry, with further power cuts expected throughout the night.

The damage is mainly attributable to trees falling on overhead lines as a result of the high winds, which have been recorded in excess of 130 kph.

Varadkar, May pledge new process of political talks for Stormont

Talks between the main parties at Stormont in Northern Ireland will resume in May to try and end the stalemate.

The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and British Prime Minister Theresa May earlier issued a joint statement.

Sinn Féin and the DUP have failed to agree terms to form a new assembly for Northern Ireland, which last sat back in 2017.

University Hospital Waterford mortuary to get mobile refrigerated unit

The mortuary at University Hospital Waterford is to get a mobile refrigerated unit.

The South/South West Hospital Group has also said a new mortuary will be completed within the next two years

It followed outrage earlier this week, when it was revealed dead bodies were left lying on trolleys due to the lack of storage facilities at the mortuary.

Government considering making vaccines for children mandatory

The Government is considering making vaccines for children mandatory.

Health Minister Simon Harris has written to the Attorney General this week seeking legal advice on the matter.

It comes after figures from UNICEF showed the number of measles cases in Ireland jumped by more than 200% in the space of a year.

Chernobyl: World marks 33 years since nuclear disaster

The world has been marking the 33rd anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

A routine 20-second shut down of the system on April 26th, 1986 seemed to be another test of the electrical equipment.

But seven seconds later, a surge created a chemical explosion.