The Central Bank is warning that Ireland's economic growth will be "significantly" affected in the event of a no deal Brexit.

In its first Quarterly Bulletin of the year, the bank expects economic growth to slow this year from 5.5% to 4.4%.

However it says that a disorderly Brexit would "permeate all areas of economic activity" here.

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Three people were killed in separate crashes in counties Dublin, Galway and Kildare yesterday.

A woman in her 80s died in Galway after the vehicle she was a passenger in collided with another vehicle on the R446 outside Loughrea.

In Kildare, a man in his 40s was killed when he was struck by a 4x4 on the Dublin Road in Monasterevin at around ten to six yesterday evening.

In Dublin, a woman in her 30s died following a multi-vehicle crash on the M50 involving three cars and a lorry.

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Two separate efforts to end the partial government shutdown in the US have failed.

The competing bills put forward by Republicans and Democrats failed to gain the necessary majority in the Senate.

The longest shutdown in US history is now into its 35th day, with around 800,000 federal workers due to miss their second pay cheque of the year today.

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The decision to remove the Master of the High Court from cases involving debts has been questioned by mortgage relief campaigners.

Edmund Honohan has been highly critical of the way banks and vulture funds treat mortgage holders struggling to pay their debts.

The decision to reduce his caseload was made by the President of the High Court.

David Hall from the Irish Mortgage Holders Association said he believes it's bad news for people trying to hold on to their homes.

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A third day of talks aimed at averting next week's strike by nurses gets underway this afternoon.

Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation are due to stage the first in a series of 24 hour strikes next Wednesday.

They're calling for better pay to tackle recruitment and retention issues in the health service.