CMO Dr Tony Holohan has said the new restrictions beginning today will substantially cut the volume of total social contact across society if people follow "not just the letter but the spirit" of the guidelines.

Record case numbers of the Omicron Covid-19 variant are expected in the coming days, according to Tánaiste Leo Varadkar.

A photograph of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and more than a dozen other people drinking wine in the garden of his Downing Street residence during a lockdown last year does not show a party, his deputy said.

The death toll from the strongest typhoon to hit the Philippines this year has surpassed 200, as desperate survivors pleaded for urgent supplies of drinking water and food.

A Status Yellow fog warning is in place for all counties this morning, with dense patches expected to give reduced visibility and poor driving conditions.

From today, just 100 guests will be permitted to attend wedding receptions, leaving many couples scrambling to make difficult decisions.

Il Divo singer Carlos Marin has died aged 53, the group has announced.

In the fight against the coronavirus, antibodies have been to the fore, but they are not the only defence against the virus.

Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai has said that she had never accused anyone of sexually assaulting her, and that a social media post she had made early last month had been misunderstood.

The Omicron Covid-19 variant has been reported in 89 countries and the number of cases is doubling in 1.5 to three days in areas with community transmission, the World Health Organization has said.

Afghanistan's finance ministry under the Taliban has prepared a draft national budget that, for the first time in two decades, is funded without foreign aid.

US prosecutors and defence attorneys are to lay out their closing arguments in Ghislaine Maxwell's sex crimes trial today before a jury starts considering the fate of the British socialite.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is to take over responsibility for the UK's future relationship with the EU, Downing Street has said, following the resignation of Brexit minister David Frost last night.

Dublin Airport has said there has been an increase in the number of people not showing up for flights following the recent changes to travel requirements.

The Department of Health has confirmed 5,124 new cases of Covid-19, with the Omicron variant now the dominant strain in Ireland.

Stormont Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill has warned that Omicron will hit Northern Ireland "like a ton of bricks".

The Netherlands have begun a strict "lockdown" over the Christmas period to try to stop a surge of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

There may have been fewer people than anticipated passing through the doors on Dublin Airport's busiest day over Christmas but the scenes at the arrivals gate were no less emotional for that.

Britain's Health Secretary Sajid Javid has not ruled out the chance of further coronavirus measures in the UK before Christmas, saying that the spread of the Omicron variant was a very fast moving situation.

The Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan has tested positive for Covid-19 and is self-isolating at home.