Politicians have condemned a suspected car bomb attack in Derry yesterday evening.

The explosion erupted near a court house in the Northern Irish city at around 8pm.

No one is believed to have been injured in the blast – however hotels, bars and clubs in the area were evacuated.

Tánaiste Simon Coveney said there is "no place and no justification possible for such acts of terror, which seek to drag Northern Ireland back to violence and conflict.”

The city’s mayor John Boyle warned that “this type of violence “achieves nothing,” adding “it didn't achieve anything in the past, it didn't achieve anything right now.”

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A ceremony will take place in Tipperary today marking the centenary of the event that is widely cited as the starting point of the War of Independence.

Two RIC officers were killed by members of the Third Tipperary Brigade of the IRA in the Soloheadbeg Ambush 100 years ago.

The policemen were transporting gelignite to a quarry in the area near Limerick Junction.

Culture Minister Josepha Madigan will lay a wreath at the Tipperary memorial in remembrance of all who suffered and died during the struggle for independence.

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Democrats in the US have rejected a proposal from President Donald Trump aimed at ending the Federal Government shutdown.

In a televised address last night, President Trump offered temporary protection to around a million immigrants in exchange for billions of dollars in funding for his border wall.

He offered the immigrants – including 700,000 so-called ‘Dreamers,’ brought to the US illegally as children – three years protection, in return for nearly $6bn in funding to build his wall along the Mexican border.

Democrats described the offer as a “non-starter” and said the plan was a “compilation of several previously rejected initiatives.”

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The British Prime Minister Theresa May is due to hold a conference call with her Cabinet colleagues this afternoon to outline her latest Brexit strategy.

It comes amid reports that two separate groups of backbench MPs are considering moves aimed at removing the government's power to deliver Brexit.

The separate amendments would block a no-deal Brexit and force the government to extend the Article 50 process.

Downing Street has described the reports "extremely concerning" with one Cabinet minister warning there will be a "political tsunami" if the government fails to deliver on leaving the EU.

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Climate change campaigners say legal action being taken against the Irish government in the High Court next week is essential to cut our greenhouse gas emissions.

Protestors gathered outside the Dáil yesterday to hold a ‘Children's Rally’ warning that the young people of the world – and the generations that will follow them – will face the worst consequences of climate change.

The case, taken by Friends of the Irish Environment, aims to compel the Government to take the required action to mitigate the climate catastrophe facing future generations.

The group said it is “the first case in Ireland in which citizens are seeking to hold their government accountable for its role in knowingly contributing to dangerous levels of climate change.”