Verona Murphy hits out at "name calling" Fine Gael

Former Fine Gael by-election candidate Verona Murphy has criticised the party, after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he was glad she did not get elected as a TD.

She has accused the Government of using the "race card" to detract from the fact it is "failing rural Ireland".

Ms Murphy was de-selected as a general election candidate after comments in which she said asylum seekers may need to be de-programmed.

Man extradited to Ireland over alleged child porn offences

A man has been extradited to Ireland from Hungary over alleged child pornography offences.

Gardaí arrested the man at Dublin Airport on Friday, following his extradition from Budapest.

He was arrested there on December 11th on foot of a European Arrest Warrant for offences committed here.

Fog warning issued for entire country

A status yellow fog warning has been issued for the entire country.

Met Éireann is forecasting dense fog in many areas. The alert is in place until 10.00am on Saturday.

It comes as thousands of people take to the roads for the Christmas break.

UK MPs back Brexit withdrawal bill in House of Commons

The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has taken the first step towards taking the UK out of the European Union on January 31st.

With a newly-acquired Conservative Party majority in the House of Commons, MPs voted in favour of the EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill by 358 votes to 234 at its second reading - a majority of 124.

The legislation, which will return to British parliament for its final stages after Christmas, is needed to ratify Mr Johnson's Brexit deal - which he agreed with the EU in October - and put the exit agreement into UK law.

Fresh warning to parents over video game 'loot boxes'

Parents are being advised to be aware of the video games their children are playing, amid fresh warnings over so-called 'loot boxes'.

A new report by the Royal Society for Public Health in the UK is recommending that the randomised in-game purchases should be legally recognised as forms of gambling.

Loot boxes allow players to pay for random rewards, such as new outfits (or 'skins') for their in-game characters or - in some cases - stronger characters or gameplay advantages.