Sinn Féin motion on bin charges fails
A Sinn Féin motion to annul the statutory instrument on bin charges has been defeated in the Seanad by 27 votes to nine.
There were heated exchanges during the two-hour debate with Sinn Féin Senator Pádraig Mac Lochlainn describing the situation as a "farce and a mess".
Minister Simon Coveney accused Sinn Féin of using the situation for political gain.
He said annulling the statutory instrument would do nothing to actually change the bills of households.
Minister warns of tough 2016 for dairy farmers
Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has warned that dairy farmers will experience "a particularly difficult" period financially towards the end of this year.
Opposition TDs have argued that the current dairy crisis is much worse than the last one back in 2009.
Dairy farmers have been hit by falling prices since EU quotas were lifted last year.
Fianna Fáil's Jackie Cahill said the costs of production have increased substantially since 2009 but supports have not and that the level of debt is also higher, as farmers borrowed in anticipation of quotas ending.
Karl Deeter leaves Renua
Financial advisor Karl Deeter has resigned from the Renua party, which was co-founded by former TD Lucinda Creighton.
Mr Deeter was never a member of the party but served as its ethics officer. He confirmed his resignation this afternoon, saying that it was due to family and work commitments.
The party failed to win a single Dáil seat in the general election after running 26 candidates.
Earlier this month Eddie Hobbs, who also co-founded Renua, confirmed that he had left the party.
Japan says North Korean missile shows threat intensifying
North Korea have conducted two back-to-back tests of a powerful new medium-range missile, with at least one launch ending in failure, South Korea's Defence Ministry said.
One of the missiles launched reached an altitude of over 1,000kms showing the Pyongyang regime has made progress developing intermediate range ballistic missiles (IRBMs), Japan's Minister of Defence said.
"We don't know whether it counts as a success, but North Korea has shown some capability with IRBMs. The threat to Japan is intensifying," General Nakatani told reporters in Tokyo.
Woman arrested in Belfast murder investigation released
A 27-year-old woman who was arrested by PSNI detectives investigating the murder of a man in Belfast in 2014 has been released.
The woman was arrested yesterday morning but has been released on bail pending further inquiries.
Edward Gibson, 28, was shot in the thigh and stomach near Divis Tower in west Belfast on 24 October 2014.
The father-of-one died later in hospital.
