Water contingencies in place for Halloween

The Irish Fire and Emergency Services Association has said that water restrictions introduced in Leinster yesterday could not have come at a worse time.

The association said the water shortage will put extra pressure on the service this Halloween and it is appealing to the public to be extra vigilant and responsible.

Dublin City Council said water restrictions will not impact on how the fire brigade deals with incidents tonight. It is reminding the public that all bonfires are illegal.

Dublin Fire Brigade said it has agreed procedures with Dublin City Council and contingency plans are in place if needed.

The capital's fire service responded to more than 600 call-outs in just 16 hours last Halloween night.

It is appealing to the public to enjoy Halloween safely and not to attend illegal bonfires.

Water restrictions in counties Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow, affecting more than 500,000 people are expected to last until at least Monday.

A spokesperson for Dublin City Council said it may take "a couple of hours depending on location" for water supply to return to normal.

Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Engineer Michael Phillips said: "We turned it on earlier than 7am, but water is not like electricity where you flick a switch and it comes back on."

Mr Phillips said if households had been "wasting water with washing machines" large tanks may have been emptied and it would take time for supply to return.

He also said some homes may have airlocks, which is a separate problem.

Consumers can contact Dublin City Council's waterworks department if they have concerns.

The local authority has said water may be discoloured as a result of the shut-off.

Water that is cloudy is safe to drink, while water that is brown/orange/yellow can be resolved by running the tap for two to three minutes.

The council is advising consumers to catch the water in a bucket or basin and use it for any purpose other than drinking and cooking.

Restrictions will resume at 8pm this evening.

Minister insists new water initiative on target

Minister for Environment Phil Hogan said it is not acceptable that a planned supply of water for the eastern region from the Shannon river may not come on-stream for a decade.

Minister Hogan was reacting to comments by a senior official at Dublin City Council, who said that it could be two or three years before the project goes to An Bórd Pleanála for approval and ten years before it becomes operational.

Speaking to RTÉ's News at One, Mr Hogan said that he believed the project which would see water piped from the midlands to the Dublin region would be delivered within the seven year target.

He said planning consultants would be appointed via Dublin City Council to advance the project.

He said that every effort was being made by engineers at the council to resolve what he said was an "unforseen technical issue" at the Ballymore Eustace water treatment facility.

The Minister said that the council could have handled public relations better.

He said the problem at the treatment facility was an issue that had not been seen or experienced before by the city council's engineer.

However, the minister insisted they were working hard at finding a solution to what was a complex problem.

Details on disruption to water supplies are available for each local authority.

Dublin City ¦ South Dublin ¦ Fingal ¦ Dún Laoghaire ¦ Wicklow ¦ Kildare ¦ Meath

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Gardaí seek to issue photo of girl found in Dublin

Gardaí have asked the High Court to allow them to release a picture of a teenage girl found in the capital three weeks ago.

Gardaí say they have exhausted every avenue in their attempt to identify her.

The teenage girl is currently receiving treatment. 

Lawyers representing her legal guardian are challenging the Health Service Executive's plan to place her in a non-secure facility when that treatment is completed.

This morning, Mr Justice George Birmingham said that matters relating to childcare were in the public interest and there was a public interest in how the authorities respond to cases such as this. 

However, he ordered that the media should not report anything that might identify the girl or where she is now located.

The senior counsel representing her legal guardian, Felix McEnroy, handed in a letter to the judge from the girl, written on green paper. 

He said the girl was very pleased about the involvement of the High Court and her remarks in the letter were inviting the court to assist.

Lawyers for the HSE asked the court to adjourn the challenge to the girl's placement for a week in the hope that a solution could be worked out in that time.

Separately, lawyers for the gardaí asked the court to allow them to release a picture of the girl, whose identity has still not been established.  

Lawyer Genevieve Coonan for the gardaí told the court that more than 80 angles had been followed up to try to establish her identity. 

She said gardaí believed criminal offences had been committed, possibly against the girl.  

She said they had exhausted all avenues of investigation and were at deadlock: the only avenue left she said was to release a photo. 

Lawyers for the HSE told the court they believed publication could have a disturbing effect on her and social workers did not believe this would be in the best interests of the girl at the moment. 

However, lawyers for her legal guardian said they believed it would be in her interests to be identified.

Mr Justice Birmingham said he would defer the question of issuing a photo until Monday to allow the girl a few more days to stabilise a bit more and become more comfortable with the professionals who are dealing with her.  

He said he would order the release of the photo on Monday unless there was some change in circumstances.

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Danske Bank Ireland to cut 150 jobs

Danske Bank Ireland, formerly National Irish Bank, is to withdraw from the personal banking market to refocus on its corporate customers.

The refocus will result in the loss of 150 jobs in the Republic of Ireland. 

Irish Bank Officials' Association General Secretary Larry Broderick said the job losses at the bank would be compulsory.

"We are shocked at the decision and the lack of consultation with staff and customers. We would ask the bank to reconsider," he stated.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Broderick said: "Staff are scapegoats for very bad management decisions of this bank."

He said the move would reduce competition in the banking sector.

"The likelihood is that we may have just three banks and, indeed, maybe two banks if Permanent TSB doesn't turn the corner with the Troika," he said.

"That's a very serious position for customers and the Irish economy."

Danske is the second bank in Ireland to announce major changes in the space of a week after ACCBank announced it is handing back its banking licence.

Danske said existing personal and business banking would be discontinued.

It is understood deposits will be repaid and existing customer accounts will be transferred to a non-core unit and wound down.

The bank said the decision was taken against the backdrop of a difficult economic and trading environment.

Danske also said that it will now start talks with the banking unions in relation to the impact of the changes on its staff numbers.

The company has not been able to re-establish a sustainable retail banking business model in Ireland following the financial crisis.

The bank is to write to all customers in the coming weeks to clarify the impact of its move on the individual products or services they currently hold.

Activities in Northern Ireland are not affected by the decision.

The bank has reported a loss before tax of €31.4m for the first three months of its financial year and impairment charges of €22.8m.

Meanwhile, the Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association expressed its deep disappointment at the decision and described it as a blow to SME banking prospects.

The ISME said the shrinking Irish banking system was not fit for purpose in providing an adequate retail service or development funding for Irish SMEs.

ISME Chief Executive Mark Fielding said: "It is critical to restore the Irish banking system to health and return it to its basic function of serving the Irish economy and the Irish people."

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Live Register records 16th monthly fall in a row

New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the number of people signing on the Live Register fell  by 3,700 in October to stand at 409,900 on a seasonally adjusted basis.

The number of people signing on has now fallen for the 16th month in a row. The Live Register figures are now almost 9% below the high of 449,400 seen in August 2011.

The CSO also said that in unadjusted terms, the number of people on the Live Register fell by 5.6% to 396,512 - the first month since May 2009 that the unadjusted total has been below 400,000.

The standardised unemployment rate in October eased to 13.2% from 13.3% in September - its lowest level since March 2010.

Breaking down the CSO figures, they show that on a seasonally adjusted basis the Live Register recorded a monthly decrease of 2,900 male claimants this month, while female claimants rose by 700.

They also show that the number of long term claimants on the Live Register in October stood at 182,401. The number of male claimants fell by 5.6% while the number of female claimants rose by 3.2%.

In the year to October 2013, the number of people aged 25 and over on the dole decreased by 4.7% and the number of people under the age of 25 fell  by 10.5% as high emigration levels continues to exist among this age group.

Commenting on today's figures, Merrion economist Alan McQuaid said that while emigration has clearly been a factor in bringing the unemployment figures down, there are encouraging signs on the labour market front. 

He said that the most recent Quarterly National Household Survey showed a year-on-year net increase of 33,800 in employment in the second quarter of 2013 after a gain of 20,500 in the first quarter. But, unlike the first quarter, most of the annual increase in the second quarter was in full-time rather than part-time jobs. 

"Slowly but surely, overall labour market trends are getting better, though it is still likely to be a few years before the jobless rate is back in single digits," the economist added.

Investec's chief economist Philip O'Sullivan said that encouragingly, the pace of reduction in the Live Register has been accelerating of late. He noted that in the first half of the year, monthly net outflows averaged 1,500 but since then the pace has more than doubled to 3,125 since the beginning of the second half.

"The recent upturn in Ireland's economic fortunes has helped to reduce the unemployment problem in Ireland, but the rising tide has, as yet, failed to lift all boats. Time will tell if the improving economic outlook and the Government measures (in the Budget) help to put the long-term unemployed back to work and provide opportunities in Ireland for the young," he added.

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Brooks and Coulson had six-year affair, court told

Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson had an affair for at least six years, a jury has heard.

Prosecutor Andrew Edis told jurors at the Old Bailey that in February 2004, when the pair were both working at the media giant, they had been having a relationship for some years.

He said a letter was found on Mrs Brooks's computer from February 2004, that made the relationship clear.

Mr Edis said: "The point that I'm going to make in relation to that letter is that over the relevant period, what Mr Coulson knew, Mrs Brooks knew too. And what Mrs Brooks knew, Mr Coulson knew too - that's the point.

"Because it is clear from that letter that, as of February 2004, they had been having an affair which had lasted at least six years."

Mr Edis said the closeness of their relationship showed that both knew as much as each other in how staff at their tabloid were operating. 

Both have denied conspiring to hack into phones or making illegal payments to public officials.

Mr Coulson went on to become the chief media spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron.

Mrs Brooks, a close confidante to Rupert Murdoch, ran his British newspaper arm from 2009 to 2011.

Rival journalists voicemails hacked

Earlier the court heard that a news editor at the News of the World had the voicemails of other journalists hacked in a "dog-eat-dog" competition for stories.

Mr Edis told jurors that they will have to consider how much pressure reporters at the Sunday tabloid were under to get stories amid tightening budgets.

He claimed that senior editorial staff must have known how money was being spent, including around £100,000 (€117,000) per year paid to Glenn Mulcaire, who has already admitted phone hacking.

Mr Edis said: "It is, of course, part of the prosecution case that a contract like that, a big contract, involves the senior management, in this case the editor, the deputy editor and the managing editor - the three defendants whom you have to try for phone hacking in addition to Mr (Ian) Edmondson - that is Rebekah Brooks, Andrew Coulson and Stuart Kuttner."

Mrs Brooks, Mr Coulson, Mr Edmondson, and Mr Kuttner all deny conspiring with others to hack phones between 3 October 2000 and 9 August 2006.

The court heard that the police investigation into phone hacking in 2011 was sparked by the discovery of three emails that News International gave to officers.

The messages, from Mr Mulcaire to Mr Edmondson in April 2006, are said to be about hacking phones linked to Tessa Jowell and David Mills; Lord Frederick Windsor, son of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent; and an adviser to Lord Prescott.

The court was told that the News of the World also hacked journalists from rival paper the Mail on Sunday to find out what information they had on a story about Lord Prescott's affair with his secretary, Tracey Temple.

Mr Edis said Mr Mulcaire began hacking Lord Windsor's phone just minutes after allegedly speaking with Mr Edmondson.

He told the jury it was not a secret among News of the World  journalists that Mr Mulcaire worked for the paper and he was described as working for the paper's special investigations team in a story in the newspaper in August 2002.

Mr Edis told jurors: "You're going to have to form a view about how much pressure there was on journalists at the NotW to get stories, so that they strayed sometimes into crime in order to do it.

"And also how much the editor was involved in the whole process."

The jury heard that there was a clampdown on spending at the newspaper in 2001, and as part of a series of warnings staff were told there would be "the most severe consequences" if they exceeded their budgets.

Mr Edis said Mrs Brooks, Mr Kuttner and Mr Coulson were working together to rein in spending, and therefore must have been aware of the sums being paid to Mr Mulcaire.

The prosecutor told the court: "That's the point which we say generates the inference that they must have known what was going on with Mr Mulcaire.

The court heard that in August 2001, when rules about how regular contributors were paid changed, Mr Mulcaire was a "major exception".

Jurors were told that Mr Kuttner authorised 221 separate payments totalling £413, 527 (€487,466) to Mr Mulcaire "over the years", amounting to 72% of what Mr Mulcaire earned during that time.

The court also heard a recording of "accomplished blagger" Mr Mulcaire getting a voicemail password reset by a mobile phone company.

Ex-News of the World and Sun editor Mrs Brooks is also charged with two counts of conspiring with others to commit misconduct in public office - one between 1 January 2004 and 31 January 2012 and the other between 9 February 2006 and 16 October 2008 - linked to alleged inappropriate payments to public officials.

Fellow ex-News of the World editor and former Downing Street spin doctor Andy Coulson is also facing two allegations that he conspired with Mr Goodman, and other unknown people to commit misconduct in public office - between 31 August 2002 and 31 January 2003, and between 31 January and 3 June 2005.

It is claimed that Mr Goodman paid Buckingham Palace policemen for copies of royal phone directories - allegedly authorised by Mr Coulson - to get information on members of the Royal Family.

Mrs Brooks also faces two allegations of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice - one with her former personal assistant Cheryl Carter between 6-9 July 6 2011; and a second with her husband, Charles Brooks, and former head of security at News International, Mark Hanna, and others between 15-19 July 2011.

The allegations relate to the alleged removal of Mrs Brooks' notebooks from the News International archive by Ms Carter, and to "quite a complicated little operation", allegedly involving Mr and Mrs Brooks and Mr Hanna, to hide material from police investigating phone hacking.

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Woman's body found in Blanchardstown, Dublin

The body of a woman in her 20s has been found in Blanchardstown in Dublin.

The discovery was made at a house in Warrenstown Walk at around 8.40am.

It is understood the woman may have suffered head injuries.

The body remains at the scene and a garda investigation is under way.

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Supreme Court reserves decision on care order

The Supreme Court has reserved its decision on whether or not it should hear an appeal relating to the rights of parents and children and the duties of the Health Service Executive in applications to take children into emergency care.

Lawyers on behalf of a baby who was removed from his mother at one day old are appealing a High Court decision that his removal was valid and lawful.

The child is now back with his parents after an emergency care order granted by a district court expired.

The district court refused to grant a longer term care order and imposed a supervisory order instead.

The HSE is arguing that there is no point in this Supreme Court appeal going ahead as the child is now back with his parents.

Lawyers for the child, who is taking the action through his mother, and lawyers for his father, say the case raises issues of exceptional public importance, which could affect all childcare cases and should be decided by the Supreme Court.

Senior counsel for the child, Michael O'Higgins, said the effect of the High Court's ruling was that parents whose child was taken from them under an emergency care order would not have an opportunity to make their case until the second stage of proceedings, after the first emergency care order expires.

He also said where there were serious allegations against one parent, the district court is obliged to consider if the child can be left in the care of the "innocent" parent.

He said the High Court was wrong to rule that this did not have to be done in every case.

Five Supreme Court judges heard arguments this morning.

They will decide at a later date whether they should go on to hear the appeal in full or whether the issue is effectively "moot".

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NASDAQ opens at Web Summit in Dublin

Trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange was opened in Ireland for the first time ever today as part of this year's Web Summit.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny and the NASDAQ's executive vice president Bruce Aust opened the stock market live on stage at the summit at Dublin's RDS.

The event marked the first time that the NASDAQ bell had been rung in Ireland and it was witnessed by 10,000 attendees, the conference's largest audience to date.

"Ringing the NASDAQ bell from Dublin is symbolic of Ireland's prime position as a hub of digital enterprise and innovation," said the Taoiseach.

"Ireland continues to be a global magnet for tech start-ups and I'm confident they will play a large part in shaping the future of the internet."

Mr Kenny said he is sure the summit will have a serious impact on employment.

He said he was "flabbergasted" at the scale and range of things on offer.

Paddy Cosgrave, the founder of the Dublin Web Summit, said hundreds of jobs have been created through the showcasing of Dublin and Ireland through the summit.

"It is important to us that we support Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland in promoting Irish companies and Ireland as an investment location," he said.

Almost 10,000 technology leaders have converged on the RDS in Dublin for the two-day conference, which will see more than 60 events take place across the city.

Just a few hundred people attended the first Web Summit three years ago.

One of the most high-profile attendees is serial tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who founded PayPal, electric car maker Tesla and space exploration company SpaceX. But there is also a strong focus on smaller start-up companies.

More than 300 people will address the summit and the organisers estimate €24m will be spent in Ireland as a result of the two-day event.

The main event will be accompanied by a night summit arts and music festival and a food summit, which is a showcase of Irish food production.

Nest to create Irish jobs

The man widely credited for developing the iPod for Apple has told RTÉ News that his new company is to establish an office in Ireland.

Tony Fadell, CEO of Nest, declined to confirm how many jobs would be created, but said initially it would be "in the tens".

US-based company Nest designs and manufacturers smart thermostats and smoke and carbon monoxide alarms for the home.

Mr Fadell said the initial positions will be in areas such as product localisation, support and logistics.

However, he said the company is currently deciding where to locate its sales and marketing team for Europe and that most likely it will be based in Ireland.

Mr Fadell said the decision followed advice he had received from a large number of people who had recommended Ireland as a place to do business.

He said his decision was influenced by seeing the likes of Google and Facebook had located in Ireland.

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Dublin Bus to decide date for cost-saving plans

Dublin Bus is to implement controversial cost cutting measures from 17 November - despite drivers belonging to SIPTU rejecting the proposals.

All other Dublin Bus grades - including half the drivers who are represented by the National Bus and Rail Union - have accepted the cuts.

SIPTU is to re-ballot members next week on whether or not to take industrial action.

Sources said last night that they wanted to renew the mandate in light of changed circumstances.

If the SIPTU drivers vote to take industrial action, it is unclear whether the union leadership would definitely sanction it.

Sources said they would have to assess what industrial action could achieve - particularly given the fact that the drivers are the only group in the company opposing the cuts.

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Dublin households facing water disruption

Water restrictions are due to begin in the Dublin area this evening, causing low pressure and loss of supply.

Dublin City Council said the situation has arisen because of a problem at its biggest water treatment plant.

Production at the Ballymore Eustace plant has dropped by up to 25%.

Council engineers are still investigating the cause, but believe the recent heavy rain has made the reservoir water more difficult to treat at the plant.

A council spokesperson said that although the incoming water is still of a satisfactory quality, its constituent characteristics have changed.

The issue is not related to the algae problem at another treatment plant at Roundwood, which caused water rationing last March.

The council said the quality of water being supplied to homes has not been compromised.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Dublin City Engineer Michael Phillips said: "The characteristics of water change from season to season, they normally operate within a certain band. We haven't experienced this, in this plant, over the past 20 years.

"So whether it's due to the weather or the climate we do not know."

Mr Phillips said people can expect very severe reductions and restrictions to their water supply from 8pm to 7am across the four Dublin local authority areas.

He said people will have no water in the cold tap in the kitchen, but they should have 24-hour storage in their tank.

"It's crucial to conserve that water with the minimum use of washing machines, dishwashers, showers and washing your teeth. Please do not leave the tap run," he said.

The supply reduction is expected to last for at least five nights, but an update is due today on how soon it will take to resolve the problem.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said he hoped the restrictions could be sorted soon.

He said it was the subject of a brief discussion at Cabinet this morning and he has asked the Secretary General to make contact with Dublin City Council.

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin said the current water restrictions will have no bearing on water metering.

He said that water metering is part of an overhaul of national water supply.

"We're going to establish the biggest State company since the ESB was established - Irish Water. That will formally come into being on the 1 January, " Mr Howlin said.

"For too long we've had a very disparate water supply system in this country, with every local authority being responsible for their own affairs. 

"We'll have one national authority providing what I hope will be a world-class service to everyone in the country. That obviously has to be paid for."

When asked if there would be adequate infrastructure when people began paying, the minister said: "There has to be an understanding, like the ESB or any other service, if you don't get the service you don't pay for it."

Fianna Fáil has said Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan must accept some blame over lingering problems with Dublin's water network.

Restaurant operators call for later restriction time

Reacting to the water restrictions, Restaurants Association of Ireland Chief Executive Adrian Cummins described Ireland as a "third-world country".

Speaking on the same programme, Mr Cummins said if the restrictions began later in the evening it would give his members a chance to make money to pay rates to local authorities.

He said: "Obviously, they are not going to give us any compensation. They never have and they probably won't in the future, but this has to stop.

"It seems to be every six months in this country. We had a water shortage during the summer, we have a water shortage now, and probably if we have snow in the winter time, we will have a water shortage again."

The RAI are calling on the restrictions to be implemented at a later time of 9.30pm/10.00pm to allow restaurants in the evening trade to have any chance of dealing with the shortages.

Mr Cummins called for tankers of water to be delivered to the business community.

He said a clear strategy should be worked out and there should be more communication from Dublin City Council.

Information on each Dublin local authority is available below.

Dublin City ¦ Dún Laoghaire Rathdown ¦ Fingal ¦ South Dublin

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HSE aims to clarify medical card eligibility

The Health Service Executive has said it wants to clear up any doubts the public may have about eligibility for medical cards.

It has launched a new communications strategy to bring clarity to the process.

The HSE has said it will provide additional information on its website on the process for applying for a card, with further assessment details online.

It plans to distribute information leaflets nationwide and run advertisements in the media.

The HSE has said it also wants to improve engagement with organisations such as Age Action Ireland, the Irish Cancer Society, Down Syndrome Ireland and the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association.

It also plans to increase the opening hours of its information helpline for those seeking assistance.

The HSE has created a new online video on its website, providing information on the medical cards process.

Minister for Health James Reilly welcomed the HSE's plans and said he wants people to have all the information they need.

Mr Reilly said: "People need full information around medical cards. They are naturally worried and become anxious when they can't get full access to all the facts they need.

"No one who is entitled to a medical card need worry. Despite the significant savings to be made by the HSE in the year ahead, nobody who is entitled to a medical card will lose it or be refused one", he said.

Mr Reilly said his department and the HSE were both culpable for a lack of clarity over who was and was not entitled to a discretionary medical card.

He said the number of people in receipt of medical cards or GP visit cards is at the highest level in the history of the State in absolute terms and also in percentage terms.

Meanwhile, the head of primary care at the HSE has said the vast majority of people who have lost a discretionary medical card will be eligible to receive other State supports.

Speaking on RTÉ's News At One, John Hennessy said the health agency was attempting to explain to the general public who was and was not entitled to a medical card.

He said the HSE had recently standardised the regime by which discretionary medical cards were decided, which had led to many people being excluded on the basis of high incomes.

He said the HSE was attempting to save money, but this would not happen at the expense of people who are entitled to a discretionary card.

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Garda accused of sexually assaulting colleagues

A garda has gone on trial at Letterkenny Circuit Court charged with the sexual assault and harassment of two female colleagues.

The married officer in his 30s denies seven charges of sexually assaulting the female gardaí and two charges of harassing them.

The sexual assaults are alleged to have taken place between November 2010 and May 2011.

A number of the offences are alleged to have taken place in a garda station in Co Donegal.

The garda is accused of harassing both colleagues by persistently pestering and communicating with them.

In one case, the harassment is alleged to have taken place over a period of almost a year and in the other case it is alleged to have continued for almost 15 months.

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Obama orders review of US spying operations

US President Barack Obama has ordered a review of US spying operations as European leaders push for new limits on its surveillance programmes.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of the reported targets of the programme, has protested against the surveillance, as have other nations such as Spain and France.

President Obama said he wants to review security operations to ensure privacy is protected.

A series of news reports based on disclosures by former US analyst Edward Snowden described vast National Security Agency powers to monitor phone calls and internet communications throughout the world.

Yesterday, the White House acknowledged the need to rein-in the sweeping nature of the NSA's surveillance practices to ensure that privacy rights are protected.

Amid a growing uproar in Europe and a protest by a key US senator, officials said they would review intelligence collection programmes with an eye to narrowing their scope.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said: "We need to make sure that we're collecting intelligence in a way that advances our security needs and that we don't just do it because we can."

Mr Carney told reporters that with new intelligence-gathering capabilities "we recognise there needs to be additional constraints on how we gather and use intelligence".

This could include greater oversight and transparency, he said.

The comment suggested changes were in the offing on the scale of the electronic spying as part of the White House review of the collection activities of the NSA and other intelligence agencies.

The review is to be completed by year's end.

Collection of data on US allies 'will not continue'

Mr Obama has come under fierce criticism abroad over allegations that the NSA tapped the mobile phone of Ms Merkel and conducted widespread electronic snooping in France, Italy, Spain and elsewhere.

The accusations have caused tension between the US and some of its closest allies and could imperil a US-European trade deal and trans-Atlantic information sharing.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the White House had told her "that collection on our allies will not continue, which I support".

"It is my understanding that President Obama was not aware Chancellor Merkel's communications were being collected since 2002," Senator Feinstein said in a statement.

"That is a big problem," she said, adding that oversight of the NSA "needs to be strengthened and increased".

Ms Feinstein pledged that her committee will conduct a major review into all intelligence collection programmes.

In an interview with ABC's Fusion network, President Obama acknowledged that national security operations are being reassessed to make sure the NSA's growing technical spying capability is kept under control.

A European delegation took the concerns about the issue to Capitol Hill, where members of the European Parliament met US politicians and spoke of the need to rebuild trust.

"Confidence is vanished," said Elmar Brok, a German member of the European Parliament.

"We have to work hard that confidence is re-established between the leaders, between our people."

The Wall Street Journal reported that the NSA ended the programme that involved Ms Merkel after the operation was uncovered in the White House review that began in the summer.

The programme also involved as many as 35 other world leaders, some of whom were still being monitored, the report said.

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Seán Quinn Jnr to sell home to purge contempt

The sale of Seán Quinn Jnr's Dublin home will finally purge his contempt of High Court orders, the court has heard.

The house at Alder Lodge in Castleknock is due to be sold in the next four weeks for between €400,000 and €440,000.

Lawyers for the former Anglo Irish Bank, who initiated the contempt proceedings against Mr Quinn, his father, Seán Quinn Snr and Peter Darragh Quinn confirmed to the court that once the sale is completed, that will be the end of the contempt matter.

Seán Quinn Jnr shares the house with his wife, Karen Woods.  

His half of the proceeds will go to the bank.

The contempt proceedings were brought against him over a High Court finding that he took part in efforts to put the Quinns' International Property Group assets beyond the reach of the bank.

The court found that he participated in a payment of $500,000 to the general director of Quinn Properties Ukraine on the eve of the bank's takeover of that company.

He was jailed for three months for contempt, but he was still required to take steps to repay the money involved in order to fully purge his contempt.

He had offered to sell his house. His lawyers told the court he had received two valuations of €400,000  and €440,000.  

A buyer had made an offer allowing Seán Quinn Jnr's 50% share of the house to be paid as directed by the court.

Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne said this went some way towards meeting the requirement for Seán Quinn Jnr to purge his contempt.

While it was not the full amount, it was the best that could be done under the circumstances, she said.

Once the sale is complete, the matter should come back before her in December for the court to direct what should be done with the money received, she said.

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Suspected letter bomb found at Stormont Castle

The offices of the Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness have been evacuated following a security alert.

The alert at the Stormont estate in east Belfast began after a suspicious package, thought to have been a viable letter bomb, was found in the internal postal system.

Reports say the letter bomb was addressed to the Northern Ireland Secretary of State Theresa Villiers.

The bomb alert led to the evacuation of Stormont Castle, which houses the offices of Mr Robinson and Mr McGuinness and where meetings of the power-sharing executive are held.

Ms Villiers has offices nearby. 

Three other letters bombs have been discovered recently. One was addressed to the PSNI Chief Constable.

Dissident republicans have been blamed.

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Ryanair Pilot Group calls for negotiations

A group that says it represents more than 50% of Ryanair pilots has called on the company to enter into negotiations on industrial relations and professional matters.

The Ryanair Pilot Group held its first news conference in Brussels this morning.

It said it represented more than half of pilots directly employed by the company and more than 50% of those on contract.

Captain Evert van Zwol, the group's chairman, said Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary gave a commitment last August that he would engage with the group's representatives if they had the support of more than 1,601 company pilots.

Mr van Zwol said the group now had "well over" that figure.

Asked if he would hand over a list to Ryanair of the pilots who had registered with the group, Mr van Zwol said he would not give the names to the company.

However, he said he would allow the group's membership to be independently verified.

In a letter sent from the group to Mr O'Leary, Mr van Zwol said: "We will be very happy to agree a mutually convenient time and location to open discussions on behalf of the majority of pilots flying for Ryanair."

He told the news conference that he hoped pilots currently working for Ryanair would "sooner rather than later" take over leadership positions in the group.

There are no existing Ryanair pilots on the RPG Interim Council.

 van Zwol said due to a "vortex of litigation" initiated by Ryanair against the group, they would not be making any comment about safety issues.

One of the group's leaders, Captain John Goss, who attended today's conference, was fired by Ryanair after appearing in a Channel 4 documentary that discussed aspects of the airline's operations.

Captain Goss said because Ryanair was currently taking legal proceedings against him, he would not comment other than to say he was "very grateful" for the unwavering support of the Ryanair Pilot Group and pilots around the world.

In response, Ryanair issued a single sentence statement: "We don't comment on the activity or false claims of KLM or Aer Lingus pilots."

The statement alludes, in part, to the fact that no pilot currently employed by Ryanair is in a leadership position in the Ryanair Pilots Group.

It also suggests that the chances of talks taking place between the two sides any time soon are very remote.

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Two-speed housing market evident in CSO figures

The price of property in Dublin has continued to accelerate, figures from the Central Statistics Office show.

The latest CSO property price index shows the cost of buying a home in the capital has risen by 12.3% over the past year.

Prices rose by 3.6% nationally in the past 12 months, according to the CSO index.
 
The figures show the rising cost of property in Dublin is behind the increase in the figures nationally. The price of residential property in the rest of Ireland, excluding Dublin, was down 2.6% over the past year.

Nationally prices rose by 1.8% last month, but in Dublin the price rise was 3.9%.

The CSO index is based on mortgages draw downs and excludes the purchases by cash buyers.

Today's figures show that in the month of September, Dublin house prices grew by 4.2% and were 12.2% higher than the same time last year. The price of apartments in the city were up 11% last month.

But despite the recent increase in prices, there have been steep falls since the crash.

House prices in Dublin are 49% lower than at their highest level in early 2007. Apartments in Dublin are 59% lower than they were in February 2007.

Residential property prices in Dublin are 51% lower than at their highest level in February 2007, while the fall in the price of residential properties in the rest of Ireland is somewhat lower at 48%.

Commenting on today's figures, Merrion economist Alan McQuaid said that the fourth year-on-year rise in residential property prices in a row is very encouraging and is a clear sign that the housing market is recovering after more than five years in the doldrums.

While he said that an urban/rural divide is evident, it would be more worrying if the trend was the other way around given that the greatest mass of people live and work in the Dublin area and the general surrounds. 

The economist also said that while there is no doubt that lack of supply has driven Dublin house prices up, talk of another property bubble is "overdone in our view". 

"It is clear from recent comments from Finance Minister Michael Noonan that the Government is keeping a close eye on developments and will take corrective action if required," he said.

Investec economists said the Dublin property price increases reflect both tight supply and superior economic fundamentals in the city.

They said that as the Irish banks gear up for another round of stress tests over the coming months, they will welcome the improving overall trend in property prices, which has important consequences for provisioning levels.

Davy economist David McNamara said that the "stark" divergence between Dublin and the rest of the country points to a market currently supported by a lack of supply, with an influx of cash buyers compensating for weak mortgage lending.

"Transactions in Dublin were up 17.8% year on year in the third quarter, but the latest mortgage approvals data point to only a modest recovery in lending in the same period following the new year slump. Evidently, cash buyers are attracted by rising rental values, attractive yields and the current perception of property as undervalued," he said.

Looking ahead, he said that the strong double-digit rise in house prices in Dublin should start to moderate as some of the big gains at the tail end of 2012 fall out of the annual comparison. But he cautioned that prices look set to fall further in many oversupplied regions outside Dublin.

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WHO fears polio outbreak in Syria could spread

Polio has broken out among young children in northeast Syria and could spread inside and outside the country, the World Health Organisation has said.

The disease is caused by a virus transmitted via contaminated food and water.

It can spread rapidly among children under five, especially in the kind of unsanitary conditions endured by the displaced in Syria or crowded refugee camps in neighbouring countries.

Twenty-two children in Deir al-Zor province bordering Iraq became paralysed on 17 October.

The WHO's regional laboratory in Tunis has isolated the wild polio virus in samples taken from ten victims.

Results on the other 12 are expected within days.

"Out of those 22 being investigated, ten are now confirmed to be due to polio virus," Oliver Rosenbauer, spokesman of the WHO polio eradication programme, told a news briefing in Geneva.

Most victims are under two years old and are believed never to have been vaccinated or to have received only a single dose of the oral vaccine instead of the three which ensure protection from polio, he said.

Half a million children in Syria have not been vaccinated against polio and diseases such as measles, mumps and rubella because of war, according to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

It is Syria's first polio outbreak since 1999, according to WHO, the United Nations health agency.

"Immunisations have started in that area," Mr Rosenbauer told Reuters, referring to Deir al-Zor.

The city of Deir al-Zor is partly controlled by Syrian government forces, while the surrounding countryside is in the hands of rebels fighting to remove President Bashar al-Assad.

About 65,000 children under five in Deir al-Zor province are deemed vulnerable, according to the WHO's latest estimate.

Deputy Prime Minister dismissed

Separately, Syria's Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil has been dismissed from his post, state media has said.

It cited government complaints about his performance and lack of coordination with other officials.

Mr Jamil had been in Geneva recently and met US officials there, according to US sources in the city.

It was unclear if his dismissal was linked to the meetings.

"Jamil was dismissed because he left his centre of work without prior permission and did not follow up on his duties ... additionally, he undertook activities outside the nation without coordinating with the government," said a statement posted in a news flash on Syria TV.

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Competitor collapses during Dublin Marathon

A male competitor at this year's Dublin Marathon is in a serious condition in hospital after collapsing during the event.

Race organisers say they are "very concerned" for the man's welfare.

Officials from St John's Ambulance treated the man before he was removed to hospital.

A record 14,500 people are participating in the 34th annual Dublin Marathon.

Motorists are being warned of traffic restrictions in and around Dublin city centre due to the event which began at 9am.

Merrion Square North and Merrion Square South will be closed to traffic until 9pm.

Dublin Bus is advising passengers that diversions will be in place on some routes.

Organisers have advised participants and spectators to wear appropriate clothing as there is a risk of strong winds and occasional heavy showers. 

Irishman, Sean Hehir won the men's race in a time of two hours, 18 minutes and 19 seconds.

The Clare athlete and primary school teacher is the first male, Irish winner since John Treacy in 1993.

Dublin's Maria McCambridge won the women's race in a time of two hours, 38 minutes and 51 seconds.

Her victory follows Sonia O'Sullivan's win in 2000.

Participants can be tracked by name, number or home city on the Dublin Marathon website.

AA Roadwatch is advising that rolling road closures will take place along the marathon route, from O'Connell Street, to the North Circular Road, Phoenix Park, Chapelizod and Inchicore Road.

The Crumlin, Drimnagh and Walkinstown Roads will be closed, along with Kimmage Road West, Templeogue Road and Terenure Road East.

There will also be restrictions on Orwell Road, Dartry Road, Milltown Road, Clonskeagh Road, Fosters Avenue, Stillorgan Road, Nutley Lane, Merrion Road, Shelbourne Road, Grand Canal Street and Pearse Street.

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American tourists rescued in Co Antrim

Two American tourists have been rescued from the Co Antrim coast after they were stranded for several hours overnight.

The two men were missing for around 12 hours after starting out to walk around Fair Head.

They were airlifted by helicopter at 4am during a major cross-border search operation involving the Coast Guard helicopter from Sligo.

The two men, aged in their 20s suffered cuts and bruises and minor exposure.

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Tabloid phone hacking trial due to start

The trial of Rupert Murdoch's former British newspaper chief and Prime Minister David Cameron's ex-media head, Rebekah Brooks begins today.             

Ms Brooks and Andy Coulson, both former editors of Mr Murdoch's now defunct News of the World tabloid, are accused of conspiring to illegally access voicemail messages on mobile phones.

The phones allegedly belonged to politicians, the rich and famous, as well as victims of crime and ordinary people.          

They deny all charges.                  

The furore has revealed the close ties between Britain's press barons, police chiefs and senior politicians, and prompted a year-long public inquiry into newspaper ethics.     

The industry is still at loggerheads with the government over how it should be regulated.        

Detectives launched an investigation in January 2011 and since then more than 125 people have been arrested and more than 40 charged with offences.             

The most prominent are Mr Coulson and Ms Brooks, a close friend of David Cameron. He attended her wedding in 2009 along with the then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown.             

Ms Brooks was the first female editor of Mr Murdoch's top-selling Sun newspaper and had risen to become head of News International, News Corp's British newspaper arm, when the furore over phone-hacking arose, leading to her resignation.             

Mr Coulson, who quit the News of the World in 2007, had acted as David Cameron's communications chief until he too resigned in 2011 saying the issue had become a distraction for the government.

They were both arrested in July 2011 and later charged with conspiracy to illegally intercept communications.            

Rebekah Brooks is also accused of two counts of conspiracy to commit misconduct in a public office during her time at the Sun, and two counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.        

Mr Coulson is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.            

Joining them in the dock accused of some of the charges are Stuart Kuttner, the long-time former managing editor of the News of the World; Ian Edmondson, the tabloid's ex-news editor; Clive Goodman, former royal editor at the News of the World; Cheryl Carter, Ms Brooks's personal assistant; Ms Brooks's husband Charlie; and Mark Hanna, News International's head of security.

A jury is due to be chosen for the six-month trial with prosecutors expected to outline the case against the accused on Tuesday.      

Dozens of other journalists are due to go on trial next year following the conclusion of this case, while police are also actively considering bringing corporate charges against Mr Murdoch's British newspaper business.

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US accused of monitoring Spanish phone calls

Spanish media reports have claimed that the US National Security Agency secretly monitored 60 million phone calls in Spain during a single month last year.

Spanish newspapers said details of the alleged monitoring were included in documents provided by the fugitive US whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The content of the phone calls were not recorded during the alleged monitoring, but the duration of the calls and the serial numbers of the phones involved were. 

The revelations come following similar allegations of US surveillance in France and Germany. 

Spain's government has so far said it was not aware its citizens had been spied on by the NSA.

It has resisted calls from Germany for the European Union's 28 member states to reach a "no-spy deal", similar to an agreement Berlin and Paris are seeking.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the country was looking for more information.          

An EU parliamentary delegation is due to meet United States security officials and members of congress later to express concern over alleged spying. 

El Mundo newspaper has reproduced a graphic, which it said was an NSA document showing the agency had spied on 60.5 million phone calls in Spain between 10 Dec 2012 and 8 Jan this year.    

The newspaper said it had reached a deal with Glenn Greenwald, the Brazil-based journalist who has worked with other media on information provided to him by Mr Snowden, to get access to documents affecting Spain.             

Spain's European secretary of state and the US ambassador in Spain are scheduled to meet today, after Mr Rajoy said he would seek more details from the ambassador.            

"We'll see once we have more information if we decide to join with what France and Germany have done," Mr Rajoy told a news conference in Brussels on Friday.

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Man killed crossing road in Drogheda, Co Louth

Gardaí are appealing for witnesses after a 19-year-old man was killed as he crossed the road in Drogheda.

The pedestrian was struck by a car five miles north of Drogheda on the old N1 at around 8.30pm on 27 October.

The male driver of the car was uninjured.

The Monasterboice exit from the M1 travelling south was closed overnight to facilitate garda forensic collision investigators and has since reopened. 

Anyone with information is asked to contact Drogheda Garda Station 041-9874200 or the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111.

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Four dead as violent storms hit Britain

Two people have died, hundreds of thousands of homes have been left without power and rush-hour commuters suffered transport chaos as hurricane-force conditions battered Britain.

A man in his 50s was killed when a tree fell on the car he was driving in Watford, at around 6.50am.

In Hounslow, west London, a man and a woman have died following a suspected gas explosion.

In Kent, a 17-year-old girl was also killed after a tree fell onto the caravan she was sleeping in at Hever.

Elsewhere, a 14-year-old boy is feared dead after being swept into the sea in rough weather in East Sussex.

Prime Minister David Cameron said the loss of life as a result of the storm was "hugely regrettable".

Aer Lingus has cancelled a number of flights to and from the UK due to the adverse weather conditions 

The airline cancelled flights to Heathrow, Leeds, Bristol and Cardiff airports. Ryanair is also warning its passengers of potential delays.

Several fast-craft ferry services have been cancelled including some Irish Sea crossings, although slower cruise ferries are operating.

Intending passengers are asked to check the status of their flight or sailing with their airline or ferry company.

Winds of 160kph hit Britain

The weather front arrived on the south west of Britain late last night before tracking north eastwards across England and southern Wales throughout the morning.

More than 40 railway lines have been cleared of fallen trees, with many more expected throughout the morning, Network Rail said.

Transport for London (TfL) said there was disruption to six Underground lines due to debris from the storm on the tracks.

The Environment Agency has 141 flood alerts in place across England and Wales, warning people to be prepared.

Police said at least 70 trees had been blown down across the county.

The storm has been named St Jude after the patron saint of depression and lost causes, whose feast day is today. 

A crane at the back of the UK Government's cabinet office in central London was dislodged by the storm, and is currently resting on the roof. 

At around mid-afternoon, the British Met Office and the Highways Agency advised road users that it was still very windy in places.

Drivers have been urged to continue to take extra care on the roads.

Gusts up to around 64Kph were expected and drivers of high-sided vehicles, caravans, motorbikes and other vulnerable vehicles should continue to drive with caution for the next few hours.

For up to date information for travel services between Ireland and Britain:

Aer Lingus ¦ Ryanair ¦ CityJet ¦British Airways ¦ P&O Ferries ¦

Stena Line ¦ Irish Ferries 

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US may have bugged Merkel's phone since 2002

The US may have bugged Chancellor Angela Merkel's phone for more than 10 years, according to German news reports.

Germany's outrage over reports of bugging of Ms Merkel's phone by the US National Security Agency prompted it to summon the American ambassador this week for the first time in living memory - resulting in an unprecedented post-war diplomatic rift.

Der Spiegel said Ms Merkel's mobile telephone had been listed by the NSA's Special Collection Service since 2002 - marked as "GE Chancellor Merkel" - and was still on the list weeks before US President Barack Obama visited Berlin in June.

In an SCS document cited by the magazine, the agency said it had a "not legally registered spying branch" in the US embassy in Berlin, the exposure of which would lead to "grave damage for the relations of the United States to another government".

From there, NSA and CIA staff were tapping communication in Berlin's government district with high-tech surveillance.

Quoting a secret document from 2010, Der Spiegel said such branches existed in about 80 locations around the world, including Paris, Madrid, Rome, Prague, Geneva and Frankfurt.

The magazine said it was not clear whether the SCS had recorded conversations or just connection data.

Mr Obama apologised to Ms Merkel when she called him on Wednesday to seek clarification on the issue, Der Spiegel wrote, citing a source in Ms Merkel's office.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung also said Mr Obama had told Ms Merkel he had not known of the bugging.

Ms Merkel's spokesman and the White House declined comment.

Germany will send intelligence chiefs to Washington next week to seek answers on the allegations around Ms Merkel's phone.

Mr Obama ordered a review of US surveillance programmes after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents that raised alarm in the United States and abroad.

Washington protest

Meanwhile, hundreds of protesters have marched on Capitol Hill in Washington to protest the US government's online surveillance programs, whose vast scope was revealed this year by former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden.

People carried signs reading: "Stop Mass Spying," "Thank you, Edward Snowden" and "Unplug Big Brother" as they gathered at the foot of the Capitol to demonstrate against the online surveillance by the National Security Agency.

The march attracted protesters from both ends of the political spectrum as liberal privacy advocates walked alongside members of the conservative Tea Party movement in opposition to what they say is unlawful government spying on Americans.

The event was organised by a coalition known as "Stop Watching Us" that consists of some 100 public advocacy groups and companies, including the American Civil Liberties Union, privacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, Occupy Wall Street NYC and the Libertarian Party.

The groups have been urging Congress to reform the legal framework supporting the NSA's secretive online data gathering since Mr Snowden's disclosure of classified information about the programmes that are designed to gather intelligence about potential foreign threats.

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Saudi women vow to continue driving campaign

Saudi women demanding the right to drive have said they would keep up their campaign a day after government warnings and a heavy police presence thwarted their call for many women to get behind the wheel.        

Activists are asking Saudi women to go on driving in public and posting online photographs or films of themselves doing so, after putting dozens of such videos on YouTube in recent weeks.      

A video posted online today showed a woman in the black headscarf typically worn by Saudi women driving with her son to and from Kingdom Hospital in north Riyadh earlier in the day.

"The campaign continues, in order to normalise driving in our country, whose laws allow the practice of this right," said a Tweet posted on the campaign's Twitter feed.

Campaigners are fighting for women's right to drive in Saudi Arabia under the slogan ' driving is a choice '. 

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world where women do not have the right drive.

The activists say no specific law in Saudi Arabia bans women from driving, although women cannot apply for driving licences.

Government officials say a ban is in effect because it accords with the wishes of society in the conservative kingdom.

Activists posted 12 films on YouTube said to be of women driving yesterday, and said some other women had also driven but without recording their exploits on video or in photographs.

Those who did drive were defying government admonitions backed up by a hefty police presence in the capital Riyadh. Interior Ministry employees had also contacted leaders of the campaign individually to tell them not to drive on Saturday.

"Yesterday there were lots of police cars so I didn't take the risk. I only took the wheel for a few minutes. Today I drove and nobody stopped me. For sure I will drive every day doing my normal tasks," Azza al-Shamasi, the woman who filmed herself driving to the hospital on Sunday, said.

In Riyadh, police erected impromptu roadblocks yesterday and peered through car windows to ensure women were not driving. Many traffic patrols were also in evidence as the authorities tried to foil any defiance of the men-only road rules.

A report on Sabq.org, a Saudi news website, late yesterday said six women had been stopped for driving by Riyadh police.    

In Jeddah, Samia el-Moslimany, a half-Egyptian half-American woman married to a Saudi for 27 years, said she was briefly held and made to sign a pledge that she would not drive again.

"I drove around the neighbourhood in Jeddah," she said.

When she drove in the kingdom's second city earlier in the evening, several cars followed with young men waving at her. Minutes after she relinquish the wheel to her driver, police surrounded her car and took her into detention, she said.

Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and a U.S. ally, is an absolute monarchy that forbids political protests.

The al-Saud family, which has ruled with the aid of clerics from Sunni Islam's strict Wahhabi school, finances the religious establishment and allows it significant control over Saudi law.

Saudi Arabia is the only country on earth to bar women from driving. It also forbids them from travelling abroad, opening a bank account or working without permission from a male relative.

King Abdullah has pushed some cautious reforms to give women more employment opportunities and a greater public voice in Saudi Arabia, but has often faced resistance from senior clergy.

Last week some ultra-conservative clerics staged a protest outside the royal court against the campaign for women to drive.

A YouTube film made by male Saudi comedians went viral yesterday, parodying the Bob Marley song 'No Woman No Cry' as 'No Woman No Drive', to support the women's driving campaign.

In the short film, comedian Hisham Fageeh sang, whistled and danced with lyrics that included "I remember when you used to sit in the family car but back seat... in this bright future you can't forget your past, so put your car key away".

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Travel affected as storm warning issued

Irish Ferries has announced that all Jonathan Swift fast craft sailings for today have been cancelled as Met Éireann issues a weather warning of strong to gale force winds gusting up to 90km/h.

Passengers can, however, avail of its Cruise Ferry sailings. All the company's fast craft sailings tomorrow are yet to be confirmed.

Irish Ferries spokesperson Dermot Merrigan, urged any intending passengers to check the status of their sailing in advance.

The Stena Line sailing from Rosslare to Fishguard at 9am this morning was cancelled as is the 2.30pm sailing.

The west and northwest of the country will be worst affected.

Organisers of the Dublin City Marathon are reassuring participants that tomorrow's event will go ahead as planned.

Some of the marathon's marquees and stages may be curtailed as bad weather hampers preparations.

However, the event will proceed tomorrow with a record 14,500 athletes taking part.

Because of the bad weather and concerns for public safety, the Samhain event in Marlay Park in Dublin today has been cancelled.

Some 17,000 people were due to attend the event.

Meanwhile, in Britain the Met Office issued a warning to millions of people in Wales and southern England to expect hurricane force winds overnight.

It said winds in excess of 130km/h could bring down trees and cause structural damage, leading to power cuts and transport disruption.

The Environment Agency in the UK warned of surface water flooding incidents across most of England as forecasters predicted 20-40mm of rain could fall within six to nine hours.

The storm will develop over the Atlantic and is expected to hit the southwest of Britain before moving northeastwards.

Heavy rain is due to arrive on Sunday night with strong winds in the early hours of Monday, and the storm is expected to be out over the North Sea later that day.

If you have photos or video of the weather in your area contact us - yourphotos@rte.ie

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Cannabis seized after raid on house in Dublin

Cannabis herb and resin with an estimated street value of €700,000 have been seized in Tallaght in Dublin.

The discovery was made following a planned garda search of a house in Hazel Grove Court, Tallaght, yesterday evening.

The seizure was part of an ongoing operation into the sale and supply of drugs in the Tallaght area.

No arrests have been made.

Investigations are ongoing.

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49 killed in Baghdad bomb attacks

A wave of bomb attacks have left at least 49 people dead in Baghdad. 

Ten cars rigged with explosives have blown up in predominantly Shia Muslim areas in and around Baghdad, while a suicide bomber has attacked soldiers queuing up for their pay in northern Iraq, according to police.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for any of the blasts.

The deadliest attack took place in the northern city of Mosul, when a man driving a car blew himself up outside a government bank where soldiers were waiting to collect their salaries.

Twelve people were killed in the blast.

A further 37 people died in apparently co-ordinated blasts in and around Baghdad.

In the worst of those, two car bombs exploded moments apart near a busy market in the town of Nahrawan, south of the capital, killing seven.

Shia have been targeted by Sunni Muslim insurgents, including al Qaeda who have been regaining momentum this year after being forced underground in 2007.

Insurgents have exploited growing anger among Iraq's Sunni minority, who complain they have been marginalised under the Shia-led government that came to power following the US-led invasion in 2003.

Violence, which reached a climax in 2006-07 before starting to ease, is now on the rise again, with around 3,000 civilians killed so far this year, according to monitoring group Iraq Body Count.             

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18 dead after minibus blown up in Afghanistan

A roadside bomb in east Afghanistan has killed 18 people in a minibus on their way to wedding party.

A local government official said five women were also wounded, he added.
              
"They were going to attend a wedding party when their minibus was hit by a roadside bomb... which killed 18, mostly females, including children," said the governor's spokesman, Shafiq Nang Safai.

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At least 40 dead in Damascus mosque bomb attack

At least 40 people have been killed and several others have been injured in a car bomb explosion at a mosque near the Syrian capital, Damascus.

The blast came just before the end of Friday prayers.

Both the government and rebels have blamed each other for the attack.

Several children are among the dead. 

Meanwhile, medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières says more than 130,000 Syrians have fled heavy bombing in Aleppo province, in the past two weeks.

They have been forced to flee to areas already struggling with a huge influx of displaced people.

MSF says humanitarian aid is insufficient and medical establishments are often targeted.

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Brazil and Germany prepare UN motion on spying

Brazil and Germany are preparing a resolution for the United Nations General Assembly that would demand an end to excessive spying and invasion of privacy. 

The move follows allegations that US security services tapped the phone of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and accessed tens of thousands of phone calls made by French citizens.

Germany said it would send senior intelligence officers to Washington next week to seek answers from the White House.

A delegation from the EU is planning a similar visit.

The US government has acknowledged that the allegations had led to tensions with European governments.

The revelations flow mostly from disclosures in the media relating to files taken by former US spy agency contractor and whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

These have revealed the global extent of US spying operations, including targeting close allies like Germany. 

US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki claimed the revelations had created a public distraction, but she acknowledged that they have "posed a moment of tension" with America's allies.

Ms Psaki also said the US will now review the way in which it gathers intelligence and that a working group would assess what changes might be made.  

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Jimmy Savile's chauffeur in court on sex charges

Jimmy Savile's former flatmate and chauffeur was today released on bail after appearing at Manchester City Magistrates' Court charged with a series of serious sex offences against young girls.

Ray Teret, 72 was freed on strict bail conditions until mid- November when he will appear at the city's Crown Court.

Mr Teret, a former pirate radio DJ, spoke only to confirm his name and address during the 30 minute hearing and made no plea.

He is accused of 32 offences in all, involving 14 youngsters and one adult who was aged 17 at the time of the alleged offence.

He is charged with 15 counts of rape of a female under 16, one count of rape, one count of attempted rape of a female under 16, and six counts of indecent assault of a female under 16.

He is also charged with three counts of indecent assault of a female under 14 and one count of gross indecency with a child under 13.

Mr Teret, of Woodlands Road, Altrincham, also faces two counts of conspiracy to rape a girl under 16, one count of possession of extreme pornography, one count of possession of prohibited images and one count of possession of an indecent image of a child.

He was bailed until November 15, to appear at Manchester Crown Court.

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Security alerts in Lurgan and Derry

A controlled explosion has been carried out on a suspicious object in Derry while a similar alert which had disrupted rail services has ended in Lurgan. 

Irish Rail says the line between Newry and Belfast has now been reopened.

Train services linking Belfast and Dublin were cancelled or delayed while British Army bomb experts assessed two suspicious objects found at Lake Street in the town. 

Earlier in Derry, a controlled explosion was carried out on a suspicious device in Mimosa Court. 

Dissident republicans have escalated their campaign of planting devices and making hoax calls in recent months.

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President Higgins visits Archbishop Romero's tomb

On the last day of his visit to El Salvador, President Michael D Higgins has visited the tomb of Archbishop Oscar Romero, murdered by then government forces in 1980.

He also visited an exhibition featuring projects helped by Irish Aid

President Higgins' first engagement was at the country's Wall of Remembrance on which up to 30,000 names of the dead and disappeared are inscribed.

He described it as a moving experience and a monument to the need not to forget.

He then visited the tomb of Oscar Romero at the Cathedral in San Salvador where dozens lost their lives when his funeral was attacked by the army. 

President Higgins praised the role of the church in the region which he said preached a message of Christ that was one of rights and equality.

Irish Aid has provided over €7m over the last nine years to projects managed by the Salvadorean government and President Higgins toured an exhibition featuring some of them.  

He met one man now in his 30s who he had first met as a small child in a refugee camp on an earlier visit.

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Fitzgerald to re-examine Child Care Act

Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald has said Section 12 of the 1991 Child Care Act, which is used to remove children at risk from their home, is to be re-examined.

Her comments came following the temporary placing of two Roma children into State care earlier this week.

Ms Fitzgerald said the powers of investigation given to  Ombudsman for Children Emily Logan into the procedures and protocols used by the authorities would complement the independence of the office and ensure that public trust was maintained.

Yesterday, it was confirmed Ms Logan is to investigate the gardaí and the HSE  after the children were removed from families in Dublin and Westmeath due to concerns about their parentage.

In an interview on RTÉ Radio 1 Ms Fitzgerald said she hopes to publish the Children First legislation during the current Dail term or early in the New Year.

Asked about the Ombudsman's investigation raising the potential need for additional resources in child protection, Minister Fitzgerald said the use of Section 12s would be looked at.

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Govt to decide on ESM support before bailout ends

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the Government will decide on whether or not to avail of an EU precautionary support programme before Ireland formally exits its bailout programme on 15 December.

He said that none of the talks the Government has had with its international lenders so far had touched on the question of the conditionality which would be attached to any credit line, should the Government chose one.

Speaking at the end of an EU summit in Brussels, Mr Kenny said there were a range of views from other EU leaders about whether or not Ireland should opt for a precautionary programme.

However, officials later clarified his remarks saying that there was no formal discussion of the issue at the summit.

Any exchanges were "in the margins" and informal, officials stressed.

They added that some EU heads of government were "curious" about the modalities of leaving a bailout programme, but beyond that had expressed no firm views.

Mr Kenny said, however, that he would be holding further talks with EU leaders before the Government made its decision.

The Taoiseach told reporters that Ireland was in a "very favourable" position in terms of its cash buffers as it moved towards a bailout exit. 

He added that economic growth was projected to rise.

He said that no matter what decision Ireland made, the State would have the credibility, respect and support of Ireland's EU partners.

When asked if German chancellor Angela Merkel had reassured him that European bailout funds from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) could be used to support Irish banks, Mr Kenny insisted that the pledges to Ireland on legacy debt made in June 2012 had already been reaffirmed both by Chancellor Merkel and French President François Hollande.

He said the principle of breaking the link between bank and sovereign debt had been enshrined in today's summit conclusions, and he was "happy with the outcome."

Last week, German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble appeared to rule out retroactive ESM support for Irish banks.

Mr Kenny said today that Ireland would be returning to the issue of ESM funds and Ireland's pillar banks since nothing would be agreed until the first element of the proposed Banking Union - a single bank supervisor under the auspices of the ECB - was in place.

Separately, Mr Kenny said he had not been contacted by gardaí regarding any possible monitoring of his mobile phone, nor had he made any complaint to the gardaí.

Mr Kenny repeated his view that if Chancellor Merkel's phone had been monitored by the US authorities then it was "appalling", but he said she wanted to "move on" and look to the future.

When asked about possible US surveillance of Irish telephone calls and emails, Mr Kenny said he had not raised any of these issues with the US.

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Wicklow council fined €350,000 over fire deaths

Wicklow County Council has been fined €355,000 for breaches of health and safety laws in relation to a fire in which two firefighters died six years ago.

Brian Murray and Mark O Shaughnessy died fighting a blaze at a derelict factory in Bray on 26 September 2007.

A representative of the Council pleaded guilty to three charges of health and safety breaches half way through the criminal trial last June. 

The first charge was amended to exclude a claim that the breaches had caused the deaths of the two men.

Judge Desmond Hogan said in his view the training provided by the council in the use of a new system was "wholly inadequate" and this was evident on the day.

He said the system of work used was "antiquated, inefficient and flawed."

While mindful of the fact that tragic deaths had occurred on that fateful day, that was not the issue on which he was passing sentence, he said.

He said a charge of causing the deaths of the two men had not been proceeded with and any sentence imposed today must be related to what Wicklow County Council had pleaded guilty to.

The families of the two men said they were disappointed with the leniency of the fines but said they welcomed the remarks made by the judge and acknowledged the fines would be paid by the taxpayer.

Firefighter representatives repeated calls for a national fire and ambulance service.

The judge imposed a €50,000 fine for failing have enough fire engines at the scene and failing to have a proper communications and command system to call up additional fire engines.

He imposed a €5,000 fine for failing to update a safety statement.

He said the most serious offence was that of failing to provide adequate training and imposed a €300,000 fine. In doing so he took into account that the council would also have to pay €95,000 in costs.

At a sentence hearing in July the council had asked the judge to consider the cuts to its annual budget when imposing sentence. The maximum fine for breaches of the health and safety laws is €3m.

Fire described as 'time bomb'

The fire was started in a derelict building off the Lower Dargle Road when welding work involving sparks caused debris materials to smoulder inside the building.

The fire began 20 minutes after the works had been completed.

The trial heard that six firefighters were sent to the blaze, however there should have been twice that number.

One firefighter said it was working on a time bomb. The scene was like a plane crash.

Others said it was like working in an incinerator, the intense heat had set their gloves on fire.

There was harrowing evidence from those who found their colleagues. Several times during the evidence the men broke down in the witness box as they described crawling through the fire to find the dead bodies.

The local authority's lawyers said because the charge of causing the deaths had been dropped, the court should approach sentence as if the deaths had not occurred.

A council representative pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the safety of employees by ensuring there was enough fire engines available and that there was an adequate central command system to call up fire crews from other stations.

The council also admitted failing to review an outdated safety statement and failing to provide adequate training in a new foam system.

Senior Counsel Aileen Donnelly asked the court to accept they were not deliberate breaches and that the council regretted them and had remedied them since the fatal fire.

She said the authority had a duty to provide services to the county and that since 2008 its budget had been reduced by 29%. Wicklow had the smallest budget of all the local authorities in the greater Dublin area.

She said the maximum fine was €3m under health and safety law but it was there for major multinational companies.

The council should not be penalised to the point that it could not pay, she said.

Speaking after the sentencing hearing, Chief Executive of the Health and Safety Authority Martin O'Halloran said: "This case highlights the importance of having safe systems of work and updated safety statements in place as well as appropriate training for the work being carried out.

"It is vitally important that every employer ensures, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work of his or her employees."

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France and Germany want US spying agreement

France and Germany have called for an agreement with the United States by the end of the year to try to resolve a dispute over spying.

It follows revelations that US intelligence agencies may have been monitoring the telephone calls of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as millions of French phone conversations.

Classified documents, published by The Guardian newspaper, reveal that the National Security Agency may have monitored the telephones of 35 world leaders.

Speaking at an EU summit in Brussels, Mrs Merkel said the seeds of mistrust had been sown, but she wanted to look for a basis to move forward with the US.

Mrs Merkel said she wanted action from US President Barack Obama, not just apologetic words.

Germany and France would seek a "mutual understanding" with the US on co-operation between their intelligence agencies and other EU member states could eventually take part.

"That means a framework for co-operation between the relevant (intelligence) services. Germany and France have taken the initiative and other member states will join," she said.

In a statement issued after the first day of the summit, the EU's 28 leaders said they supported the Franco-German plan.

Mrs Merkel first raised the possibility of a "no-spying" agreement with Mr Obama during a visit to Berlin in June this year, but nothing came of it.

The latest revelations, part of the vast leaks made by former US data analyst Edward Snowden, would appear to have renewed her determination for a pact.

The US has a "no-spying" deal with the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, an alliance known as "Five Eyes" that was struck in the aftermath of World War II.

However, there has traditionally been a reluctance to make similar arrangements with other allies, despite the close relations that the US and Germany now enjoy.

Mrs Merkel said an accord with the US was long overdue, given the shared experiences the countries face.

"We are in Afghanistan together. Our soldiers experience life threatening situations. They sometimes die in the same battles," she said.

"The friendship and partnership between the European member states, including Germany, and the United States is not a one-way street. We depend on it. But there are good reasons that the United States also needs friends in the world."

Condemnation of NSA activities

As EU leaders arrived for the two-day summit, there was condemnation of the alleged activities by the NSA, particularly the monitoring of Mrs Merkel's mobile phone, a sensitive issue for a woman who grew up in East Germany, living under the Stasi police force and its feared eavesdropping.

Some senior German officials, and the German president of the European Parliament, have called for talks between the EU and US on a free-trade agreement, which began in July, to be suspended because of the spying allegations.

Mrs Merkel, whose country is one of the world's leading exporters and stands to gain from any trade deal with the US, said that was not the right path to take, saying the best way forward was to rebuild trust.

The series of Snowden-based leaks over the past three months have left the US at odds with a host of important allies, from Brazil to Saudi Arabia, and there are few signs that the revelations are going to dry up anytime soon.

The Guardian reported yesterday that one NSA contact, a US official, had provided the telephone numbers of 35 world leaders that had then been monitored.

As well as raising questions about the EU-US trade negotiations, the spying scandal could also have an impact on data-privacy legislation working its way through the EU.

The European Parliament this week backed legislation, proposed by the European Commission in early 2012, that would greatly toughen EU data protection rules dating from 1995.

The new rules would restrict how data collected in Europe by firms such as Google and Facebook is shared with non-EU countries, introduce the right of EU citizens to request that their digital traces be erased and impose fines of €100m or more on rule breakers.

The US is concerned the regulations, if they enter into law, will raise the cost of handling data in Europe. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and others have lobbied hard against the proposals.

Given the spying accusations, France and Germany, the two most influential countries in EU policy, may succeed in getting member states to push ahead on negotiations with the parliament to complete the new data regulations by 2015.

For the US, it could substantially change how data privacy rules are implemented globally.

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Bulgarian couple confirmed as 'Maria's' parents

A Bulgarian Roma couple are the biological parents of a four -year-old blonde girl found in a Roma camp in Greece last week.

DNA tests proved the couple were 'Maria's' parents.

Bulgarian prosecutors are investigating whether the mother, Sasha Ruseva, 35, agreed to sell her child in Greece, an accusation she denies.

Ms Ruseva said she left a seven-month old baby in Greece -where she worked as an olive-picker - in 2009 because she could not look after the child and needed to return to Bulgaria.

The four-year-old was found last week hiding under a blanket at a Roma settlement in central Greece.

DNA tests showed the Roma couple she was with were not her real parents.

Maria, whose case has drawn parallels with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in 2007, is being looked after by a Greek charity, which says it has received over 10,000 calls with leads or from parents of missing children. 

Ms Ruseva and her 37-year-old husband, parents of nine other children aged between two and 20, live in extreme poverty in town of Nikolaevo, around 280km east from Sofia.

"We all live in one room - my husband, I and all the kids," she told reporters yesterday.

DNA analysis proved that Sasha Ruseva is the biological mother of the girl named Maria," Interior Ministry Chief Commissioner Svetlozar Lazarov said.

"It also showed Atanas Rusev as the biological father," he said.

There are an estimated 10 million Roma living across Europe, and they are one of its oldest minorities.

The Council of Europe, which monitors human rights, says they are also the most discriminated-against.                

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, the head of Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation at Interpol said the crime was a reality for all societies.

Michael Moran said cases brought before the courts in relation to child trafficking, such as organised begging gangs, organised marriages, and illegal adoptions, represented only the tip of the iceberg.

Asked about child trafficking within the Roma community in Europe, Mr Moran said it was a problem the community itself had acknowledged and it was working with the authorities to tackle.

He said Interpol was about human rights-based policing and it did not target particular groups because of who they were.

Mr Moran said the migration habits of the Roma community made it susceptible to trafficking.

However, he stressed that "while it exists in the Roma community, it exists in other communities within our society".

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Grain company fined following death of workers

A grain company has been fined €125,000 and costs following an accident that claimed the lives of two men in August 2009.

Father-of-three, Paul Farrell, 34, and student Terry Brennan, 19, both died while working in an elevator pit over a grain silo at the Drummonds Ltd plant at Knockbridge, Co Louth.

The company pleaded guilty to a single breach of the Safety Health and Welfare at Work regulations.

The Health and Safety Authority investigated the accident.

Dundalk Circuit Court heard how the company manager had found both men lying on the ground in the elevator pit and efforts by him to pull them out failed because he became faint and at one point collapsed.

The pit could only be accessed by firemen using breathing apparatus.

The court was told the men had been working in a confined space and the carbon dioxide levels were elevated while the oxygen levels were severely depleted.

Health and Safety Authority inspector Vincent Darcy said oxygen levels are normally at 20-21%, but that in the pit, levels were 11.5%.

The level of carbon dioxide, which is normally 0.03% was in the region of 20-30%.

He said the men would have died instantly.

In response to Judge Michael O'Shea, Mr Darcy said there are warning systems in relation to the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide but there was "nothing in the facility to warn anybody of any danger in the elevator system."

In her victim impact statement, Mr Farrell's widow, Frances, said: "My heart is not just broken it is shattered."

She spoke of trying to live without, "the love of my life, my childhood sweetheart, the one person I built my dreams with and planned to grow old with."

Frances Brennan, mother of Terry, said his death has left "a vacuum that can never be filled."

She said he had been the eldest of her five children and, "was a great role model for his four brothers and sister and friends."

Passing sentence Judge O'Shea said a warning device would have been a "proper precaution and system" for the men and instead they were exposed to excessive levels of carbon dioxide which resulted in their deaths.

He told the families that a fine cannot reflect the loss they have suffered.

He imposed a fine of €125,000 plus expenses of €19,600.

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180 ACCBank jobs to go in services withdrawal

ACCBank is to cut 180 jobs, stop providing deposit and current accounts and focus solely on debt recovery.

In a statement, the bank said it will close all of its public business centres and give up its banking licence.

ACC employs 470 people in Ireland and it said it will reduce this by 180 through a voluntary severance scheme.

It said the bank would write to all customers shortly and communicate its plans.

The bank has been reporting losses since 2007.

Country manager Kevin Knightly said losses incurred because of the property crisis will see its costs exceed income during 2014 and that is unsustainable.

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Aer Lingus cutting 87 cabin crew jobs at Shannon

Aer Lingus has told unions it is axing 87 cabin crew jobs at Shannon because the staff refused to fly new transatlantic routes using smaller planes with lower staffing levels.

It is understood staff will be offered the options of redeployment to Dublin or Cork, voluntary severance, or possibly redundancy.

However, a spokesman declined to confirm whether there would be compulsory redundancies.

Staff may also be offered the option of leave of absence to work for ASL Aviation/Air Contractors Ltd, the company from which Aer Lingus is leasing the planes for the new transatlantic services.

Last July, Aer Lingus announced it was increasing its transatlantic services from Shannon and was leasing planes from ASL Aviation/Air Contractors Limited.

Serving Aer Lingus pilots agreed to fly the new smaller planes, but the cabin crew union IMPACT said it would not operate the flights with the four-member staff complement sought by the company.

Aer Lingus warned unions in recent weeks that if they did not accept the new staffing levels, they would instruct ACL to recruit the staff themselves and operate the services, which commence in January.

The company had said that if the new staffing levels were accepted, they would create 40 jobs.

IMPACT has condemned the move and described it as an act of "wanton destruction" on the livelihoods of loyal workers.

The union said its members will fight the decision and said the action of Aer Lingus management was entirely unnecessary.

It said cabin crew are balloting for industrial action, with the ballot due to be completed on 30 October.

In a memo to staff, Aer Lingus Chief Executive Christoph Mueller said that it was not a commercially viable option to retain a single short-haul crew base in Shannon.

He stressed that there would be no reduction to the Shannon schedule or fleet, but that the resultant job creation would not be happening within Aer Lingus, but within ACL.

He said this was a situation the company had never contemplated being in.

Mr Mueller said that what started out as a great opportunity to protect existing jobs for Aer Lingus crew, to create 40 extra jobs, and to provide promotional opportunity has ended up making the Shannon cabin crew base unviable.

Airline sources also stressed that the expansion in their services from Shannon would still benefit the Shannon area, but any resultant job creation would now happen outside of Aer Lingus rather than within the company.

The company is now entering a 30-day consultation period with unions.

IMPACT official Michael Landers accused management of attempting to bully its own staff into submission with an ultimatum and then slamming the door on discussions when it announced it would outsource crew.

He said cabin crew representatives had made it clear they were willing to discuss the matter further, and had not, contrary to claims by management, refused to crew the flights with a complement of four crew members.

Pilots' union IALPA, which has agreed to fly the new routes, said it was monitoring developments at Shannon and urged management to return to talks with cabin crew.

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Kenny warns EU pledges crucial for bailout exit

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has warned that commitments made by eurozone leaders to supporting Irish banks will be a factor in how successfully Ireland exits the EU-IMF bailout.

In a letter to EU leaders, Mr Kenny said the decision on how Ireland should exit its bailout is now "a finely balanced one".

He warned that eurozone leaders should stick to a commitment made in June 2012 to help Irish banks through the use of the EU's new permanent bailout fund.

In the letter, sent ahead of a two-day summit in Brussels, Mr Kenny made a direct link between the promise of help for Irish banks and the terms of Ireland's exit from its bailout.

He said commitments made by eurozone leaders at the summit in June 2012 were "important for ensuring that Ireland's return to full market financing is sustainable and that Ireland can be a durable success story for the entire eurozone",

Last week, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble appeared to rule out the kind of support that Mr Kenny is referring to.

In the letter, which was also sent to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, Mr Kenny said the Government would "soon review the best options for our exit, in discussions also with the Troika".

Mr Kenny said the Government was aiming for a deficit of 4.8% for 2014, which was within Ireland's pledge under EU rules to get the deficit to 5.1%.

He said the Government would deliver a primary balance and a small surplus next year.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has been holding talks with EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn and the ECB on how Ireland should exit the EU-IMF bailout.

Mr Noonan will travel to Washington to hold further talks with the IMF at the end of this month.

The Government could decide to opt for a precautionary credit line from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which would have to be approved by eurozone finance ministers and which would come with monitoring and conditionality.

There are two versions of this approach, with the second, an Enhanced Conditions Credit Line (ECCL), seen as the more likely option.

Commenting ahead of the summit, Mr Kenny said it would be an opportunity for him to brief European leaders about the situation as it now stands in relation to Ireland's planned exit from its bailout programme.

The Taoiseach said it was critical for Ireland and other countries that decisions made in relation to banking union within Europe should be followed through to completion before moving on to other agendas.

He said he would be discussing this issue at the council meeting today.

EU shutdown avoided

The European Parliament has voted in favour of covering a €2.7bn shortfall in the EU budget for 2013, preventing a threatened shutdown of the European Commission by mid-November.

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso had appealed to MEPs in Strasbourg to pass the vote and ensure there was no "rupture" in payments.

Speaking after today's vote, European Parliament President Martin Schulz said MEPs had worked effectively and swiftly, guaranteeing that the EU can pay its bills.

However, referring to an ongoing but separate row over a €3.9bn shortfall to cover the outstanding bills for this year, Mr Schulz said has said it was a matter of deep regret that the commission and member states had not acted in an equally effective and swift manner with other financial problems.

This dispute has held up the passing of the EU's seven-year budget, known as the Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF), worth nearly €1 trillion.

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