Nurses and midwives will mount the largest strike in the history of the health service this morning.
37,000 INMO members will take to the picket lines outside hospitals and HSE facilities from 8am - demanding pay increases and Government action on staff shortages.
The Government says wage hikes for nurses would open the floodgates for other unions to seek pay claims, which the State cannot afford.
25,000 medical appointments have been cancelled and the HSE is appealing to people not to attend emergency departments unless absolutely necessary.
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British MPs have voted to reject the Brexit backstop.
The House of Commons backed a move last night to replace the measure aimed at avoiding a hard border with "alternative arrangements."
Immediately after the vote, the European Council President and the Irish Government again warned that the backstop cannot be re-negotiated.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May is due to speak with the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar today.
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Children with Down Syndrome are facing damaging discrimination in our school system.
That's according to Down Syndrome Ireland who will tell TDs and Senators at Leinster House today that increased funding is needed to create a level playing field.
The organisation said Down Syndrome students are facing "active discrimination" as they are not offered the extended summer term offered to other children with disabilities.
It said more resources are needed so teachers can give students the individual attention they need.
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Introducing a legal Right to Housing may not require a change to the constitution.
The Raise the Roof group, which is campaigning for the proposal, has said it could be introduced under legislation - without the need for a referendum.
Unions, campaign groups and experts will attend a conference about solutions to the housing crisis today in Dublin.
Raise the Roof spokesperson Macdara Doyle said we “don’t need to re-invent the wheel” to ensure that people have a “basic floor of rights” in relation to housing.
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Amnesty International says online tourism giants Airbnb, TripAdvisor, Expedia and Booking.com are profiting from war crimes by offering services in Israeli settlements.
The human rights organisation says Israel’s settlement of hundreds of thousands of its citizens in the occupied Palestinian territories is a violation of international law.
In a report published today, it says the companies are fuelling human rights violations against Palestinians by listing hundreds of rooms and activities on occupied land.
It calls on them to stop offering accommodation, activities and attractions in the settlements.
