People are being encouraged to get out of the house this weekend, but in the midst of a pandemic, to use common sense when it comes to their interactions with others.

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

Testing means picking up more cases, this was good he said as it would help identify ‘hot spots’ which could then be isolated and slow down the spread of the virus.

The National Sports Campus in Abbotstown has been closed to the public as of 9pm last night but the facility remains open to business for Ireland's Olympic hopefuls and other athletes.

Two people have so far died from Covid-19 in the Republic, out of 169 cases.

The public has been urged not to panic as a record 27 new cases of coronavirus were confirmed and drastic new measures were introduced to slow the spread of the virus.

Nine new cases of Covid-19 have been diagnosed here by the Department of Health

However, a number of services including dialysis, chemotherapy and radiation therapy will still go ahead.

The patient in the Republic is male, in the east of the country and "associated with travel" from northern Italy.

Ireland's Chief Medical Officer has said that fear and anxiety in relation to the coronavirus is understandable - and said that it is important that the public stay informed.

Domino's Pizza has reported a 2.6% rise in sales from its restaurant operations in the Republic for the fourth quarter of 2019.

The boss of Pepco Goup —which operates the Dealz, Poundland and Pepco discount stores across Europe — said it was “inevitable” that its troubled South African owner Steinhoff would put it up for sale.

Start-up delivery software firm Coll-8 has clinched an agreement with the owner of Spar, Mace, and Londis for shoppers to pick up parcels at 1,100 shops, a move it says will shake up delivery-and-returns for all online purchases made in the Republic.

Budget hotel operator EasyHotel is targeting a 2021 opening date for its first property in the Republic.

Tesco has reported sales of £873m (€1.03bn) for its Irish operations for the 19 weeks up to January 4, which covers the company’s third-quarter and the Christmas trading period.

Three passengers were on board at the time, but got off on the M1.

This is the day many of us will access the Christmas aftermath, focusing our efforts on packing away the decorations for next year and carting the tree to a recycling facility.

British pub group JD Wetherspoon is to invest €30m boosting its Irish pub and hotel portfolio next year.

The Republic of Ireland will head to Scotland for their Elite Round qualifiers to the 2020 European Under-17 Championship.

The battleground for the way Premier League football is consumed will be re-set on today as Amazon Prime begins

British pub group JD Wetherspoon is eyeing more openings in Cork and Dublin as it seeks to push the number of bars it owns in the Republic to around 30 in the coming years.

The final text message sent by a woman who is thought to have perished with 38 others in a refrigerated truck in Essex was to tell her mother she loved her.

Grocery price inflation has eased but is still running above the official rate of inflation across the economy, a major survey suggests.

RTÉ’s environment correspondent, George Lee, wrote on December 6, 2018, that atmospheric CO2 production is deemed as being generated within the state where carbon fuel has been bought, rather than from where the fuel is burned.

Ladbrokes shops in the Republic will avoid being hit by a plan to close hundreds of the British bookmaker's shops over the next two years, but some of its shops in the North may be shut.

Grafton Group shares fell 2% after the builders’ merchants said it had sold its well-known plumbing supplies firm Plumbase in Britain for a net £60.7m (€68.3m), deal analysts said was consistent with it getting out of low-profit yielding and competitive businesses.

Tara McCarthy also said that similar arrangements could follow in the UK depending on how long the beef dispute continues.

Duty-free shopping will be reintroduced for travellers between Ireland and Britain in the event of a no-deal Brexit.