Health Minister Simon Harris also pleaded with people to “keep your distance”.

"Not all superheroes wear capes - some wear scrubs and gowns."

The images last year of the small boy eating a plate of carbonara off a cardboard sheet laid on the pavement sparked public outrage and shone the spotlight once again on the homeless crisis. Noel Baker meets the boy and his mother to see how their lives have fared since and spends the night with the homeless freephone service in Dublin.

Staff at Cork's Bon Secours Hospital have been told of a confirmed case of Covid-19, bringing to two the number of cases of the virus now in hospitals in the city.

Questions linger over how former Christian brother Edward Bryan, jailed last month for sexual offences, remained working with young offenders for so long - and whether it should have been handled differently, writes Noel Baker

Those were the words of one woman to Margo Noonan, head of the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit at Cork's South Infirmary-Victoria University Hospital. It is a situation she and staff at the Cork and other SATUs are hoping to change, writes Social Affairs Correspondent Noel Baker.

The ship had been adrift in the Atlantic for almost a year and a half, after its engine failed and its crew were rescued.

Former manager has misgivings about using the historic site for commercial filming, says Noel Baker.

Shocked locals struggled to comprehend how a promising athlete and engineering student had his life cut short in a "senseless, heartbreaking" incident.

Recreational drug users should be left in “no doubt” that they are supporting gangs that prey on children and murder people, leading experts have said.

Health Minister Simon Harris has said he is pressing ahead with plans to introduce exclusion zones around maternity hospitals after tweeting that he was “appalled” at new video images of a New Year’s Day protest outside the National Maternity Hospital.

A visit to a district court here by a delegation of judges from the Eastern European country shows the advantages and disadvantages of both structures, writes Noel Baker.

Discovering the joys of the Monaghan and Armagh landscapes while venturing north, comes highly-recommended by Noel Baker

Blockades are continuing at meat processing plants around the country as just four of the 20 pickets have been lifted.

The Government has warned protesting beef farmers the future of their industry is “hanging in the balance”, insisting they will cause “irreversible damage” to their families and livelihoods if they refuse to end their stand-off with the State.

So that’s nearly Monday wrapped up. Here’s some of the stories we published on irishexaminer.com today which we hope will help you make sense of it all this evening.

Earlier this year, an 85-year-old sheep farmer was in court for allegedly allowing her sheep to wander under an 1851 law. What happened next? Noel Baker found out.

Update: Gardaí are seeking mobile phone and dash cam footage in connection with the alleged assault of a teenager in south Dublin.

Noel Baker The director and assistant director of the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) have apologised for the mishandling of a case in which a bank is seeking to repossess a house but where the householders lodged an appeal and money was taken from their account, only for the RTB to rule that the bank could proceed.

One of the country’s main homelessness campaigners has described the Government’s Rebuilding Ireland plan as “an abject failure” which exacerbated the problem it was meant to address.

At both primary and secondary level, school places for special needs children are at a premium and parents are under huge pressure with the lack of supports, writes Noel Baker

Noel Baker A man has been arrested and charged for allegedly taking €20,000 to carry out work on a building and then failing to do so.

Outlining unpleasant-looking tariffs that will cost Irish farmers dearly could cause the alliance between Ireland the other EU member states to creak a little, says Noel Baker.

The memorial event also served to highlight the simmering sense of injustice felt by many, writes Noel Baker.

There is a groundswell of opposition to the factory plan in Skibbereen, writes Noel Baker.

In some cases, this delay in providing services to a young child will impact the child’s development for life.

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The sidle exists in every sport, writes Michael Moynihan

Fine Gael has seen a major drop in support among its traditional farming base, a national opinion poll for the Irish Examiner reveals.

The Tuam Home Survivors Network has savaged the appeal to the Pope by Children's Minister Katherine Zappone for funds for the Mother and Baby Home site, calling it "nothing more than a publicity stunt".

According to Karen Walsh of Walsh and Partners Solicitors, communication is key — and the earlier the better.

Ian Bailey has said he will now go to the European Court of Human Rights after the French Supreme Court threw out his legal challenge to efforts by French authorities to try him for the voluntary homicide of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.

Pope Francis will visit Ireland later this year, but will find a different country to that which welcomed his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, almost four decades ago.

Just how does a busy parish operate in today’s Ireland? Clonakilty in West Cork is an example of the new model, writes Noel Baker

Heavy snow and treacherous driving conditions have already caused travel chaos nationwide — with the worst of the weather yet to hit the country.

Ireland’s “unique exposure” to Brexit means it faces potentially devastating cuts in exports and production levels and a huge threat to jobs that could cost the country billions each year.

INMO defends figures as hospital boss says ‘many patients are appropriately on trolleys’ for assessment.

After 105 years in business, MacCarthy’s newsagents in Clonakilty closes on Christmas Eve, writes Noel Baker.

Older people with an intellectual disability can face “serious social isolation” which can have a negative impact on their health, writes Noel Baker.