EVERY MORNING, TheJournal.ie brings you nine things you need to know with your morning cup of coffee.

1. #WEATHER: Heavy rain overnight is causing delays for commuters this morning with a heavy downpour in Dublin causing disruption on some Irish Rail services. Roads across the country have also been affected and there is more rain forecast for later today. Here’s what you need to know.

2. #US 2012: The second US presidential debate took place in New York last night with the election less than a month away. Early polls and analysis indicate that it was Barack Obama who came out on top or at least did better than his poor performance in the first debate. You can decide for yourself by reading our liveblog from last night.

3. #ST PATRICK’S: Justice Minister Alan Shatter has vowed to close St Patrick’s Institution in Dublin as a report found systematic violations of human rights of young people at the institution where a number of staff are now under investigation.

4. #QUINN: The Supreme Court is expected to rule today on the appeal by Seán Quinn Jr against his contempt of court. The son of bankrupt billionaire was jailed in July after the High Court ruled that he had been in breach of orders which were aimed at stopping him from asset-stripping the Quinn International Property Group.

5. #BOLD BOYS: Eight Fine Gael TDs who wrote an article in the Irish Examiner which criticised the Croke Park Agreement are to face disciplinary action from the party, the Irish Times reports. Harry Magee writes that the government chief whip spoke to some of the TDs yesterday with one source telling the paper “there will be consequences”.

6. #HEALTH CHECKS: Visiting your doctor for a health check-up offers no benefit and may in fact lead to undue stress according to research in Denmark. More than 180,000 patients were reviewed by the researchers who said that deaths from cancer and heart disease did not reduce as a result of regular health check-ups, BBC News reports.

7. #DRUGS: An increasing number of motorists are driving under the influence of illegal drugs, a report will outline today. The Irish Independent says that a report by the Medical Bureau of Road Safety will report on incidents of drug driving later today as tests on motorists for drug use are set to be rolled-out next year.

8. #WEB SUMMIT: One of the world’s largest technology conferences gets under way in Dublin today. Over 3,000 people are expected to attend the Dublin Web Summit at the RDS with the founders of Skype, Flipboard and Pinterest among the keynote speakers.

9. #COYBIG: The Republic of Ireland returned to winning ways with a 4-1 victory over the Faroe Islands last night but the pressure continues to mount on manager Giovanni Trapattoni in the wake of the Euro 2012 debacle and the 6-1 mauling by Germany last Friday. Today, TheScore.ie are asking should the Italian be given more time?