Cyclist killed in collision with Luas

A cyclist has died after he was hit by a Luas tram in Dublin.

Gardaí said it happened on Charlemont Bridge at Peter’s Place at around 3am this morning.

The Charlemont stop is between Harcourt and Ranelagh on the Green Line.

The tram was operating as part of the Luas Christmas Night Service.

Fianna Fáil TDs Lisa Chambers (C), Stephen Donnelly (R) and James Browne (L) at Leinster House, 16-01-2019. Image: Brian Lawless/PA Archive/PA Images

New ‘votegate’ footage emerges

New footage has emerged suggesting Fianna Fail TD Lisa Chambers cast votes on behalf of a colleague in the Dáil on a previously unknown occasion.

The Sunday Independent reports that seven votes were cast from Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley's seat while she was sitting in it last January.

The paper reports that votes were being cast from Deputy Chambers' seat at the same time - while Fianna Fáil health spokesperson Stephen Donnelly was sitting in it.

Votes were also being cast from Deputy Donnelly’s seat; however, the footage does not record who was sitting in his seat.

Two arrested as rival demonstrations face-off

Two people have been arrested after rival demonstrations came face to face outside Leinster House in Dublin this afternoon.

Around 300 people who gathered outside Leinster House for a demonstration against the Far Right and the “politics of hatred” were met by a second group who said they were there to “defend free speech.”

The second group was carrying tricolours and placards saying “no to hate speech laws” and “keep Ireland Irish.”

There was a heavy Garda presence as the two groups faced off and a man and a woman were arrested on public order offences.

Woman in critical condition after Arklow assault

A woman is in a critical condition after a serious assault in County Wicklow.

Gardaí said it happened at a house in Arklow at around 4:25am this morning.

Investigators said the woman, aged in her early 30s, was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin with serious injuries.

She is now in a critical condition.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon joins the SNP's newly elected MPs for a group photo call outside the V&A Museum in Dundee, 14-12-2019. Image: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire/PA Images

Sturgeon says Scotland won’t be “imprisoned” in UK

The Scottish National Party has warned Boris Johnson that he can’t keep Scotland in the UK against its will.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said the landslide victory the party won in the last week’s UK general election offers a mandate for a new independence referendum.

The party won 48 of Scotland’s 59 House of Commons seats.

Ms Sturgeon said: “Scotland cannot be imprisoned within the United Kingdom against its will.”