Catch-up with what you've missed so far today with our lunchtime briefing
IRELAND
It is understood that the Taoiseach will wait until tomorrow to dissolve the Dáil and call the General Election.
A member of Fianna Fáil has lost his legal challenge to the law on gender quotas, which allows State funding to be cut for non-complaint parties.
A small village in Co Wicklow is set to be a poster-free zone in the build up to the General Election after 15 candidates in the constituency have agreed not to erect posters in the village.
The brother of the former chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank David Drumm has said that it is a nonsense to suggest that his sibling fled the country.
A Garda sting operation caught a man making three separate heroin sales to undercover officers last year and yesterday the sentencing judge commended gardaí for this attempt to root out the scourge of drug dealing in the community.
A taxi driver who concealed over €100,000 worth of cocaine within his car roof sign when he drove from Dublin to Cork almost 13 years ago has been jailed for five years.
WORLD
The first votes that could decide who will become the next US president have taken place as Democratic and Republican candidates gathered in Iowa to battle it out to win their parties’ nominations for the state. Here are five things you need to know following the vote.
Five people have been arrested outside the French city of Lyon over alleged plans to stage attacks on nightspots before leaving for Syria.
SPORT
Never shy of speaking his mind, Conor McGregor has decided to induct himself into the UFC hall of fame. The sports star didn’t hold his tongue when he took to social media to say he “gifted the fans” and the UFC “back-to-back super-fights”.
The GAA’s 2015 gate receipts accrued a drop of €2.7m from €29.4m the previous season largely due to a decrease in the numbers attending the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship.
A GAA steward has criticised the abuse he received from fans attending Sunday’s League clash between Meath and Armagh in Navan. Ciarán Kearney said he was ‘disgusted’ at language and intimidation he encountered because of a broken ticket scanner at Páirc Tailteann.
BUSINESS
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for January 2016 was 8.6%, according to figures released today. The figure was 8.8% in December 2015, and 10.1% in January 2015.
Oil’s longest rally this year faltered on signs industrial activity in China is deteriorating, potentially hurting demand as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) pumps record amounts of crude.
ANALYSIS
There is an old saying: “It is never too late to do the right thing,” writes However, for the woman we have come to know as ‘Grace’, the move by the Government to establish a Commission of Inquiry into her case, comes very late in the day. Victim of the most horrific abuse over a long period, ‘Grace’ has been failed utterly by the State which promised to cherish her.
LIFESTYLE
With fears that we won’t be able to fill tech vacancies unless more women start studying engineering and IT, went to a girls’ school to ask young girls why they aren’t putting these courses on their CAO forms?
VIDEO
As most of us were taking cover from Storm Henry yesterday, others were out filming the storm battering the country.
VIRAL
Mattress Mick is without a doubt the most famous mattress salesman in Ireland (and possibly the only famous one). But the madcap ads clearly don’t paint the full picture of the man behind the mattress. Michael Flynn was stopped by Peter Vargas who runs the Humans of Dublin Facebook page on the street and he shared this touching story of his first love and the sad circumstances under which they reconnected.
The General Election has yet to be called but the campaigning is already under way. First out of the traps is Kerry South TD Michael Healy-Rae who, this morning, released a music video to promote his campaign to be returned to the Dáil.
TECHNOW
LEGO Star Wars is already a thing, The Force Awakens is already a big thing - put them together and you get LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens!
The best part about this new teaser video for Alice Through the Looking Glass is hearing Alan Rickman's voice once more.
As the launch date for the Samsung Galaxy S7 looms, naturally that means its time for things to get leaked onto the internet
SHOWBIZ
In probably one of the most hyped comedy shows to start on RTÉ 2 since Damo and Ivor, Bridget and Eamon has got off to a fantastic start.
MOST READ RIGHT NOW
The Cork hurlers will swap their traditional red jerseys for this year’s Allianz Hurling League clash against Kilkenny for the colour scheme they wore 100 ago.
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