Kilbarry Bog, Waterford, the day after Storm Frank Noel Browne Noel Browne

NEED TO CATCH up? TheJournal.ie brings you a round-up of today’s news.

IRELAND

• River levels are being monitored closely as towns begin flood clean-ups in the aftermath of Storm Frank
• Tánaiste Joan Burton came a cropper when she was sent flying into flood water from a canoe in Thomastown, Co Kilkenny
• After facing much criticism over his low profile in recent days, Enda Kenny made an appearance amidst the devastation of flood-stricken Athlone
• Sinn Féin became the latest party to become caught up in a controversy over political posters
• An apartment which lost its roof during Storm Frank was built by Tom McFeely of Priory Hall fame
• Wesley Burrowes, the creator of Glenroe, has died
• Today marks the deadline for full accessibility for those with disabilities to be introduced into Irish public buildings
• One person has died in a house fire in Clonmel, Co Tipperary
• Darren Kearns, the man shot dead on Dublin’s Blackhorse Avenue yesterday, was sitting in a car with his wife at the time
• Bank of Ireland customers were left unhappy that their wages had not yet hit their accounts
• It emerged that the Tánaiste’s head of staff is paid €52,000 more than the pay cap for special government advisers
• A man was killed in Galway when his motorcycle collided with a car on the N17

WORLD

A fire climbs 20 storeys of the Address Hotel in Dubai this evening AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

#DUBAI: An enormous fire broke out at the skyscraper Address Hotel in Dubai, close to where New Year’s celebrations were due to take place

#COSBY: The US comedian’s lawyer says he has been “unjustly” accused of a crime

#UK: Labour MP Simon Danczuk has been suspended from the party after telling a 17-year-old that he wanted to spank her

#TERROR: Six people have been arrested in Belgium as cities across the continent remained on high alert ahead of the New Year celebrations

#AIR CANADA: 21 people have been hospitalised after extreme turbulence struck one of the airline’s scheduled flights

INNOVATION

• Microsoft will start telling users if they were the target of government snooping (TheJournal.ie)
• Pirates have apologised for leaking Quentin Tarantino’s new movie (Engadget)

PARTING SHOT

https://www.facebook.com/rtenews/videos/1211390502223283/

Storm Frank has been a royal pain for a lot of Irish people, but at least there was a happy ending for this little fellow in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford (RTE)