A man is due in court in Ennis this morning charged in relation to an alleged air rage incident on board a flight diverted to Shannon Airport.

Cuba is calling workers across the island to special meetings so that labour leaders can brief them on half a million government layoffs coming in the next six months and suggest ways that those fired can make a living.

Hurricane Ike roared across Cuba today, tearing off roofs and sending waves crashing into buildings, as 900,000 Cubans fled to shelters or higher ground and Havana residents in decaying historic buildings prepared for a direct hit.

Interim President Raul Castro told tens of thousands celebrating Cuba’s revolution yesterday that the nation suffered a serious blow when his brother Fidel fell ill a year ago, but the chaos the United States had long predicted never materialised.