EU leaders reach Brexit deal

A deal on the UK's relationship with the EU has been "done".

Dalia Grybauskaite, who has been taking part in the negotiations on reforms of the bloc in Brussels, tweeted: "Agreement #UKinEU done. Drama over."

Shortly afterwards, EU Council President Donald Tusk tweeted: "Deal. Unanimous support for new settlement for #UKinEU".

Reuters, which appeared to have access to a draft of the agreement, says it will enshrine UK excemption from the EU principle of ever closer union.

The emergency brake for in-work benefits will be set at seven years, Reuters reports the draft as saying.

#RealityCheck: Will Lucinda Creighton lose her seat?

A poll from suggests she may be in trouble

A new poll in this morning’s Irish Independent indicates that Renua leader Lucinda Creighton is in danger of losing her seat next week in the general election in her Dublin Bay South constituency.

The Millward Brown poll, carried for the Irish Independent, involved face-to-face interviews with 498 voters at 46 sampling points between the 12th and the 16th of February.

It claims that Lucinda has quite a tough fight on her hands against others running in her constituency including Fine Gael's Eoghan Murphy and Kate O'Connell and Sinn Féin's Chris Andrews.

Donald Trump calls for boycott of Apple over FBI row

Donald Trump has called for a boycott of Apple products until the tech giant agrees to FBI demands to unlock a terrorist's iPhone.

Speaking at a rally in South Carolina, the Republican presidential candidate said Apple should help the US government in gathering information from a device owned by one of the killers involved in the San Bernardino shootings.

However, moments after demanding the boycott - Trump, or possibly one of his aides - began writing messages on Twitter... using the social media site's iPhone app.

Conor McGregor becomes immortalised in sculpture

A bust of the Dublin fighter has been created by a French artist

UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor has been immortalised with a bust, ahead of his fight against Rafael dos Anjos next month.

The lifelike bust has been created by French artist Jean-Baptiste Seckler and is based upon McGregor's regular pose at pre-fight weigh-ins. Seckler has already created stunning busts of people like Michael Jackson and Che Guevara.

McGregor fights dos Anjos in Las Vegas on March 5th for the UFC Lightweight Championship. If the Dubliner were to win, he would become the first fighter in the UFC to hold two belts in two separate divisions consecutively. 

Hutch funeral told retaliation is not what the family wants

Rolling checkpoints, armed gardaí, and the Emergency Response Unit in Dublin's north inner city today

The congregation at the funeral of Eddie Hutch Senior has heard calls for an end to the violence that killed him.

The 59-year-old was shot dead at his home in the capital's north inner city last week.

Speaking to those gathered at Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Sean McDermott Street, Fr Richard Ebejer said the family does not want any retaliation for Mr Hutch's death.

It is believed he was killed in response to the murder of David Byrne, who was shot dead at the Regency Hotel in Dublin earlier this month.