Flooding is making driving conditions hazardous this afternoon and causing problems for commuters.

ELSKE Rahill is perturbed. She’s brooding about the first review of her debut novel. It was glowing, and said the 31-year-old was “an intriguing and definitive voice of a new generation of Irish writers.” But Rahill is hard on herself.

Up to 20 families involved in the investigation into the alleged mistreatment of children at three creches are said to be considering suing the childcare facilities.

Champions St Patrick’s crashed out of Wicklow’s senior football championship in sensational fashion in their first-round qualifier match at Aughrim on Saturday.

Work on getting rid of the last bottleneck between Dublin and Cork is getting underway.

Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald has described the mistreatment of children uncovered at three creches for an RTÉ documentary as emotional abuse.

The long-awaited RTÉ documentary on standards in Irish creches saw children spending up to two hours a day being strapped into highchairs as they screamed to get out.

The Prime Time Investigates documentary on creches, 'A Breach of Trust', is to be broadcast tonight.

Childcare organisations are calling on the Government to fund improved training of childcare staff as they try to dampen down a “crisis of confidence” created by revelations about substandard practice at three Dublin creches.

The Tánaiste has said allegations of children being mishandled and yelled at by staff at three Dublin creches will be given “highest priority”.

The Government is deeply concerned over allegations of mistreatment of children at a number of creches, the Tánaiste has said.

An exclusive creche probed during an undercover investigation into allegations of mistreatment of children has confirmed it has sacked one worker and suspended three others.

More than 1,000 jobs are to be created in two road projects that will see the last major traffic bottleneck between Dublin and Cork removed.

The government has signed a €282m contract to upgrade parts of the N7 and N11.

One of the highest number of enforcement orders in 10 years was dished out to cafés and restaurants last month, figures show.

A Wicklow house with links to the first ‘world wide web’ — a trans-ocean cable — is for sale on 186 acres, for €3m.

The Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar, has said the motorway budget has been restored by the Government stimulus plan announced today by the Minister for Public Reform.

Wilf McGuinness never stood a chance.

up to €100m has been set aside to improve accident blackspots on roads around the country this year.

GARDA and rescue services were searching Wicklow harbour yesterday amid fears for the safety of a father who abducted his three children on Wednesday.

Gardaí are continuing to detain a man in his 30s, in connection with a suspected abduction in Co Wicklow earlier today.

Gardaí have arrested a man today after issuing an appeal to locate a blue Nissan Almera in Wicklow.

Funding has been approved for two multi-million euro road projects in Counties Dublin and Wicklow.

WICKLOW GAA officials admitted they are worried at the heightening levels of abuse they received from sideline mentors of participating teams this year.

IRELAND claimed one of the smallest amounts of low-interest loans for infrastructure projects from the European Investment Bank last year.

A technical examination is expected to get underway this morning following a fatal house fire in Co Wicklow.

A man in his forties has died after being hit by a car in Co Wicklow in the early hours of Christmas morning.

LEIGHTON GLYNN insists Ireland are ready for Australia’s biggest hits and won’t view it as an ‘affront to their manhood’ when slung to the ground.

Emotions run high as attempts to house a man who abused a child fail, writes Caroline O’Doherty.

An investigation is underway after a fire at a house that was to become the home of the family of a convicted sex offender.

WATER pressure reductions and cuts in supply are likely to continue this week as local authorities across the country continue to repair existing and emerging leaks.

A MAJOR inter-city road upgrade has been caught up in a web of bureaucratic confusion.

Oscar-winning movie star Daniel Day-Lewis seeks refuge from the limelight in the foothills of the Wicklow mountains, he revealed today.

A Romanian man who imprisoned a woman who thought he was a taxi driver and drove her 35 miles from her destination in Dublin city centre to Wicklow where she managed to escape has been given a three-year sentence.

Gardaí in Wicklow are investigating a shooting incident last night at a housing estate in Rathnew.

ONE of the country’s best-known food and accommodation critics has panned the proliferation of “ugly and uninteresting” mid-range hotels springing up across the nation.

GARDAÍ have said that no arrests were made after machetes, slash-hooks and hatchets were recovered following a riotous incident at a wedding reception in an up-market Co Wicklow hotel.

A garda investigation is underway after a major brawl broke out at a wedding in Wicklow yesterday.

LABOUR Party councillor Nicky Kelly is set to face court accused of a series of road traffic offences next month, including one of dangerous driving.

A FATHER who donated his right kidney to his son urged everybody to carry an organ donor card as it was revealed that more than 200 lives were extended and saved by transplants last year.

Campaigners blocking the M3 motorway near Tara in Co Meath may form a political protest party to run at the next general election, it emerged today.

The closure of a computer frame manufacturer with the loss of 89 jobs will be a major blow to the South Connemara region, it was claimed today.

Seventy workers are facing redundancy in Co Wicklow this morning due to a US company's decision to relocate its Irish operation to eastern Europe.

The M50 motorway around Dublin is central to the economic success of the Irish economy, a Government minister claimed today.