LAST UPDATE | 29 Oct 2025

GOOD MORNING. 

Here’s all the news you need to know to start the day.

Spoil your vote

1. After last weekend’s presidential election saw the highest-ever proportion of spoiled votes in Irish electoral history, we asked our readers who may have spoiled their votes to explain why they did so.

Some readers told us that they felt the candidates on the ballot did not represent them, that spoiling their vote was a protest against the government, while others expressed a desire for Constitutional reform that would make it easier for more candidates to stand.

Gaza

2. Dozens of Israeli air strikes have killed at least 50 people overnight, as Donald Trump backed Benjamin Netanyahu’s move and said “nothing” would jeopardise the ceasefire that he helped to broker.

Caribbean 

3. Hurricane Melissa has weakened to a category 3 storm as it heads for Cuba, hours after ripping a path of destruction through Jamaica. 

Fastway

4. Hundreds of jobs are now at risk after Nuvion Group, the parent company of Fastway Couriers Ireland, Parcel Connect and Nügo, entered receivership.

Trolley watch

5. A Sligo senator has called for the return of onboard catering on Irish Rail’s long-distance service to Sligo after posting a video to social media highlighting the lack of basic facilities for passengers.

New South Wales

6. An Irish man has died in an explosion at an underground mine in Australia, police have confirmed.

Operation Tara

7. Gardaí have seized 116 kilos of suspected cocaine worth approximately €8.1 million in a search operation targeting residences in Laois.

Irregular payments

8. A report into financial matters at RTÉ is to be discussed by Cabinet today after the broadcaster yesterday defended a number of unorthodox payments uncovered in a new internal report.

Everything’s fine

9. US President Donald Trump has said it’s “too bad” that he can’t run for a third term, acknowledging the limits laid out in the country’s constitution, but adding: “So we’ll see what happens.”