The US Secret Service director has told lawmakers she takes full responsibility for the serious breach of White House security when an Army veteran with a knife climbed the fence and made his way into the executive mansion before he was tackled.

An intruder who jumped a fence at the White House made it further inside the building than the US Secret Service has publicly acknowledged, according to reports.

A replica of the White House will form the centrepiece of a €460m Las Vegas-style village deep in the Tipperary countryside, it was announced today.