Hyde and Seek was ordered to close its four branches last year.

Tusla announced the decision today and revealed that the creches will close on December 31. Hyde and Seek as 21 days to appeal the decision.

Childcare should be a public service for children, not somewhere to “warehouse them” while their parents are at work, the head of the Children’s Rights Alliance has urged.

Tusla has said it has been proactively addressing areas of non-compliance with regulations in three crèches since 2018, following an RTÉ investigation.

Loyalist paramilitaries planted a bomb at the home of an east Belfast man they mistakenly believed was a prison officer, it was claimed today.